What was your first job in the fresh produce industry and how did you become chief executive of Spitalfields Market Tenants’ Association?

I wanted to go to sea and join the Merchant Navy, so I packed off to a mercantile marine trading college in Anglesey, HMS Conway, for three years to try to make a career as a deck officer.

However, in 1954, they were very strict on eyesight tests, which I failed. So I had to change my emphasis and I joined a shipping company working ashore.

I saw an advert in 1968 to become committee secretary for the National Federation of Fruit & Potato Trades Ltd, which represented the interests of wholesalers and importers. I applied and got the job.

Our offices were in Russell Chambers in the old Covent Garden Market and that was a really fascinating role. Covent Garden relocated in 1974 and the federation moved to Finsbury Park in 1976.

After 15 years at the federation, I joined Spitalfields Market Tenants’ Association on 11 February, 1983. In those days, all the associations had secretaries, but the jobs were poorly paid, as the organisations relied on subscriptions. To entice a better class of applicants, they then decided to give secretaries the title of chief executive, so along with me there were also chief executives at Covent Garden and Western International. It was a trade-off between salary and job title!

How has the role of the tenants’ association changed since you took over?

When I joined, the role of the association was to foster good labour relations, as all the porters in the London markets were members of the Transport & General Workers’ Union. I also had to run the association, convening meetings, etc.

Over the years, the role has definitely changed. At Spitalfields, we terminated our joint trade agreement with the union in 1995. Now, our primary role is to promote the market, plus our representative role.

The City of London Corporation, our landlord, recognises us as the representative body of the tenants, so we discuss rents, service charges and health and safety regulations with the team there.

Although our main role has shifted from labour relations to promotion, the office remains the same size, with my full-time role and a part-time secretary.

Has the market changed much during your time as chief executive?

There have been tremendous changes, because on 13 May, 1991, we relocated to this Sherrin Road site from our old position just outside the city of London, going from 10 to 32 acres.

One of the biggest changes has to be the influx of ethnic traders. When we moved, we had three or four traders specialising in Asian and Afro-Caribbean products. Now, we are 65 per cent occupied by ethnic traders, including Chinese, Turkish, Asian and Afro-Caribbean businesses. We have even had an Egyptian trader. That’s the strength of New Spitalfields Market.

The supermarkets did hurt the wholesale trade, as we used to be the focal point for fresh produce distribution. Wholesalers in general adapted badly to the rise of the supermarkets. However, over the years, there have been reports that wholesale is dead on its feet and just a dumping ground for the food that supermarkets don’t want, and that there are too many markets and too many wholesalers. The trade was projected to die - but we’re still here, fully tenanted, and not many markets can proudly boast this fact.

In the old Spitalfields site, we were too cramped and were trading on public roadways, with access poor. We have survived well here because of this Sherrin Road location, with direct access to the motorways.

How important is it for wholesale markets to engage with their local community?

This is very important, as you never know when you will need the support of the local community. The residents around the old market moaned about the mess, but when we started talking about relocating, they didn’t want us to move because they could see the property developers coming in. Then, the residents here at the new site didn’t want us to come.

We are well established in this area now and there are a lot of things we should look to do in the community. Last year, we tried to set up a pre-apprenticeship scheme with the local council and college, to highlight the fact there are job opportunities available on the market. But we started with 12 applicants and then about 10 dropped out for one reason or another. It is hard to get youngsters into the market and it is disappointing that the local college was not able to find a sufficient number of students to come on the scheme.

Is there a strong future for New Spitalfields Market, and wholesale in general?

There is a future of course, but the question is, will there be such a big market here? We have 116 trading units and 100 per cent occupancy. There will always be a need for wholesalers, but in the future how many, and what shape will they take?

The projection was that supermarkets would take over the retail trade, and they have. But the new generation [of retailers] is not scared of the big supermarkets. They look for pitches near supermarkets because they know they can offer better, fresher products. The supermarkets themselves are changing and are making their mark-up today in electrical goods, clothing and financial services.

The strength of wholesaling as an industry is that businesses can specialise. The strength of New Spitalfields in particular is the number of street market traders around here. There are 23 street markets in East London and the majority of traders come in here to buy their fresh produce.

How would you like to see New Spitalfields Market develop in the future?

I would like to see us linked as a composite market with the other markets operated by the City of London Corporation - the fish market, Billingsgate, and the meat market, Smithfield. The greenfield area next to our site will be converted to coach parks for the 2012 Olympic Games and the intention is that after the event, it will be dug up and sent back to a greenfield site. But it would be perfect for a composite market.

It is up to us as tenants to club together and work for an Olympic legacy. We have seen what happened in Sydney and even more so in Athens, where a lot was spent on building plots that have now gone to wreck and ruin.

A composite market like Rungis here in London would be good for the environment and for sustainability. It would mean one vehicle per company coming to one site to pick up all of its products, rather than three vans going to three separate sites across London. It would also be great for the East End in terms of provision of jobs.

It would be a long job that would take a lot of time, especially in parliament, and require a lot of money. But that would be my ideal future for New Spitalfields.

What has been your highlight as chief executive of Spitalfields Market Tenants’ Association? What will your legacy to the market be?

Overseeing the relocation to the Sherrin Road site and all the work that was involved was my highlight. To actually see the project come to fruition and develop from when the developer walked through my door in 1985 was really good.