0:00:02 > 0:00:04This programme contains strong language.
0:00:04 > 0:00:08As another day draws to a close in the capital, the night-time world of London's wholesale food markets
0:00:08 > 0:00:10is beginning to stir.
0:00:10 > 0:00:15Between them, these London institutions have been supplying the city with fish, meat
0:00:15 > 0:00:18and fruit and veg for centuries,
0:00:18 > 0:00:20and are a rich seam in London's history.
0:00:20 > 0:00:24But how relevant are these markets today?
0:00:24 > 0:00:27And what will be their role in the London of tomorrow?
0:00:34 > 0:00:38Lying in the shadow of Canary Wharf,
0:00:38 > 0:00:40between the banks and their billions,
0:00:40 > 0:00:43is Britain's biggest inland fish market.
0:00:44 > 0:00:47What goes on here is very similar to what goes on
0:00:47 > 0:00:49just over there in Canary Wharf.
0:00:50 > 0:00:54You've got to know when to hold, to sell, to buy. You know,
0:00:54 > 0:00:56ours is probably a little bit more precarious,
0:00:56 > 0:00:58because it's a perishable item.
0:00:58 > 0:01:01Billingsgate is a slice of old London,
0:01:01 > 0:01:04whose values and traditions are as old as the city itself.
0:01:04 > 0:01:09The job's still the same as what it was, I don't know, centuries ago.
0:01:09 > 0:01:13A bit Victorian, I know, but it works.
0:01:15 > 0:01:16But London's changing.
0:01:16 > 0:01:20And Billingsgate must adapt to the changing tastes of the city's people.
0:01:20 > 0:01:22Wholesale is 70% of our business.
0:01:22 > 0:01:25If it weren't for them, it wouldn't even be worth opening.
0:01:26 > 0:01:29These are tough times for fish merchants.
0:01:29 > 0:01:33Dwindling fish stocks, the rise of the supermarkets
0:01:33 > 0:01:37and a deep recession means making money is harder than ever.
0:01:38 > 0:01:41It's the toughest time I've known in business,
0:01:41 > 0:01:44and nearly all the tenants will tell you the same.
0:01:44 > 0:01:48The pressure to survive is beginning to threaten the traditions
0:01:48 > 0:01:50of the market itself.
0:01:54 > 0:01:59Even the job of the licensed fish porter, once a job for life,
0:01:59 > 0:02:01could be thrown open to all-comers.
0:02:01 > 0:02:05So what's next? Getting rid of the beefeaters in the Tower Of London?
0:02:05 > 0:02:07Get rid of them.
0:02:07 > 0:02:10Get rid of red buses, we'll get rid of black cabs.
0:02:10 > 0:02:12Yeah, we'll be well on the way, won't we?
0:02:14 > 0:02:16London's oldest wholesale market
0:02:16 > 0:02:21is on the verge of its biggest change in over 1,000 years.
0:02:22 > 0:02:27The market is divided. Will ancient custom or modern commerce win out?
0:02:28 > 0:02:33The Battle Of Billingsgate has just begun.
0:02:39 > 0:02:41'It's terrible weather, Rog.'
0:02:41 > 0:02:45When they were coming over from Dunkirk, they never moaned about the weather, did they?
0:02:45 > 0:02:47'But I thought you were God.'
0:02:47 > 0:02:50Yeah, OK, well, do your best for me, please, there's a good boy.
0:02:50 > 0:02:51'You bastard. Goodbye.'
0:02:53 > 0:02:56Roger Barton is one of the market's most successful merchants.
0:02:56 > 0:03:00He's worked in Billingsgate for 51 years.
0:03:00 > 0:03:03The mackerel we'll have at a price, a price, my friend.
0:03:03 > 0:03:07It's November. Violent storms are sweeping the country,
0:03:07 > 0:03:11- keeping our fishing fleet in port. - I want them. Yeah, I will want 'em.
0:03:11 > 0:03:13With fish scarce and prices high, Roger spots an opportunity.
0:03:13 > 0:03:16I've already got many boats at sea at the moment.
0:03:18 > 0:03:20If I can get hold of more fish than any of my opponents,
0:03:20 > 0:03:22I'll buy the lot.
0:03:24 > 0:03:27Then it helps me. Put it like that.
0:03:27 > 0:03:32If I can beat them to the gun, then that's what I've got to do.
0:03:32 > 0:03:37That's what I get paid for. And if I'm not good enough, they'll beat me.
0:03:37 > 0:03:39Help me. Help your brother, please.
0:03:39 > 0:03:42I'm going to go Peterhead, I'm going to go Brighton,
0:03:42 > 0:03:46I'm going to go Wales, I'm going to go anything I can.
0:03:46 > 0:03:50Got to try to get something. Can't stand here with an empty stall.
0:03:51 > 0:03:55- Right, I've got that there.- Right. Take that one for me, Chrissy.
0:03:55 > 0:03:58What are you doing? What ARE you doing?
0:03:58 > 0:04:00Well, I'd like to let you do these, but you won't,
0:04:00 > 0:04:03cos you're not good enough. Right, pick all the scraps up.
0:04:03 > 0:04:05HE WHISTLES
0:04:05 > 0:04:07Mind your backs.
0:04:07 > 0:04:10Mind your backs...
0:04:10 > 0:04:12The market floor is just the shop window.
0:04:15 > 0:04:18Behind the scenes, an army of porters move boxes of fish
0:04:18 > 0:04:23from cold store to fish store, then out to the battalions of white vans
0:04:23 > 0:04:24that keep the city fed with fish.
0:04:27 > 0:04:29Chris Gill is the latest in a long line of Gills
0:04:29 > 0:04:32to work as a fish porter.
0:04:32 > 0:04:33I work for Roger Barton.
0:04:33 > 0:04:36There's four of us on here. Yeah.
0:04:36 > 0:04:39Geoff's worked here the longest. Geoff, how long you worked here?
0:04:39 > 0:04:41- 18.- 18 years.
0:04:41 > 0:04:43I'd have got less for murder.
0:04:44 > 0:04:46He used to be six foot six, he did!
0:04:47 > 0:04:50Mind your back, love.
0:04:50 > 0:04:52From schools to hospitals,
0:04:52 > 0:04:54Michelin-star restaurants to the fish and chip shop
0:04:54 > 0:04:56at the end of your road,
0:04:56 > 0:05:01Billingsgate's customers buy 25,000 tons of fish each year.
0:05:01 > 0:05:03Come on, out of the way.
0:05:03 > 0:05:06Fish cannot be moved by merchant nor customer,
0:05:06 > 0:05:08but only by the licensed porters.
0:05:10 > 0:05:14Walking up to 13 miles a night, they each carry around a ton of fish.
0:05:14 > 0:05:15Excuse, please!
0:05:15 > 0:05:19Men like these have been moving fish since Elizabethan times.
0:05:19 > 0:05:25Between 1579 and 1584, there was...
0:05:25 > 0:05:31The Fellowship Of Porters was set up to establish a licensed body of men.
0:05:31 > 0:05:33You had to be a person of good character
0:05:33 > 0:05:36and you were issued with a licence.
0:05:36 > 0:05:40The bylaws by which the porters operate have changed little for centuries.
0:05:41 > 0:05:44BELL TOLLS
0:05:46 > 0:05:49Whilst trading begins at 2am, fish cannot be moved
0:05:49 > 0:05:51until the 5 o'clock bell tolls.
0:05:51 > 0:05:56At five o'clock, the bell goes for delivery to the outside customers.
0:05:58 > 0:06:00It's a market bylaw, 1878.
0:06:01 > 0:06:05Porters are paid by an archaic system called insure and bobbin,
0:06:05 > 0:06:09which sets a price in pence for each stone of fish carried.
0:06:09 > 0:06:13The insure dates back to when the boats used to come up the Thames
0:06:13 > 0:06:16and certain porters used to have to go onto the boats
0:06:16 > 0:06:20and walk the stuff off on their head to go onto the shore.
0:06:20 > 0:06:21Excuse me, please!
0:06:21 > 0:06:24To earn a reasonable week's money,
0:06:24 > 0:06:28you've got to shift a considerable amount of fish.
0:06:30 > 0:06:33This is me parchment, this is me licence.
0:06:33 > 0:06:35It gets stamped every year.
0:06:35 > 0:06:38You pay a shilling.
0:06:38 > 0:06:42And you can see on there, the date is 1878.
0:06:42 > 0:06:44That's when these bylaws were made.
0:06:45 > 0:06:46Are you proud of that?
0:06:46 > 0:06:49Yeah, I am. Cos I'm quite...
0:06:49 > 0:06:53I love history, especially London history,
0:06:53 > 0:06:58and we are part of the old traditions that...
0:06:58 > 0:07:01I don't know, being in the City of London.
0:07:04 > 0:07:07But many believe the age-old traditions are detrimental
0:07:07 > 0:07:09to commercial success.
0:07:09 > 0:07:12The market's owners, the Corporation Of London,
0:07:12 > 0:07:15want Billingsgate to modernise.
0:07:15 > 0:07:17After 400 years,
0:07:17 > 0:07:19the job of the licensed fish porter is under threat.
0:07:21 > 0:07:25Basically, we'll all be put out of work. We'll all lose our jobs.
0:07:25 > 0:07:28That's the rumour going round, anyway.
0:07:29 > 0:07:34It's all part of London's tradition and heritage.
0:07:34 > 0:07:37I think it's really important that we keep it.
0:07:47 > 0:07:51550, and there's ten boxes.
0:07:51 > 0:07:54Trading on the market floor is a cut-throat business.
0:07:54 > 0:07:57They're either like that or they're like that,
0:07:57 > 0:07:59there's nothing in between!
0:07:59 > 0:08:01Right, what d'you want, mate?
0:08:01 > 0:08:04- All right, 540.- 'Oh, thanks a bunch.'
0:08:04 > 0:08:08Oh, please, don't be horrible. I got two kids in Texas.
0:08:08 > 0:08:10THEY LAUGH
0:08:10 > 0:08:12They might suit you, pal.
0:08:12 > 0:08:16Tenants, or fish merchants, must source the freshest fish
0:08:16 > 0:08:21at the lowest prices and shift it quickly, before it goes off.
0:08:21 > 0:08:24The faster the sale, the fresher the fish, the higher the price.
0:08:24 > 0:08:28Excuse me, can you wait? He's waiting and there's a queue.
0:08:30 > 0:08:34These are predators at the top of a highly competitive food chain.
0:08:34 > 0:08:35Yeah, 25 and the case.
0:08:38 > 0:08:40It's no place for a minnow.
0:08:42 > 0:08:44This is Thusitha.
0:08:44 > 0:08:47He's been sent from Sri Lanka by his family to try and sell fish
0:08:47 > 0:08:49into the lucrative British market.
0:08:49 > 0:08:53I've never dealt with such a skulduggerous bunch in all my life,
0:08:53 > 0:08:55and I've dealt with some real villains.
0:08:55 > 0:08:58I think I will be next.
0:08:58 > 0:09:02And tell Ramone to come on the stand, and I'll stick the bottle of booze straight up his arse!
0:09:05 > 0:09:09Right, OK. Now...
0:09:09 > 0:09:12Roger has agreed to try out some of Thusitha's fish.
0:09:12 > 0:09:15And now he's come to oversee the delivery.
0:09:15 > 0:09:17£3,000-worth of tuna and swordfish.
0:09:17 > 0:09:19£10 for the swords....
0:09:19 > 0:09:21He promised me if we deliver good stuff,
0:09:21 > 0:09:23he will continuously buy from us.
0:09:23 > 0:09:27I know one thing, if I do the right thing, the right way,
0:09:27 > 0:09:30the way they like, then it's not very difficult.
0:09:30 > 0:09:32So we're waiting on...
0:09:32 > 0:09:35But the consignment is three hours late.
0:09:36 > 0:09:40It's now ten-to-three in Billingsgate and I'm still waiting for the stuff.
0:09:40 > 0:09:43It should be in to Billingsgate, I should be checking it, looking at it,
0:09:43 > 0:09:46and if it's good, I should be on the phone and I should be selling it!
0:09:46 > 0:09:50The 300 kilos of fish arrived at Heathrow over 12 hours ago.
0:09:50 > 0:09:53It seems to have got lost somewhere in between.
0:09:53 > 0:09:5515 minutes, huh? Please.
0:09:55 > 0:09:59OK, OK. We are waiting for you. OK, bye-bye. OK, bye.
0:10:01 > 0:10:03Another 15 minutes.
0:10:05 > 0:10:07- Do you believe him?- No.
0:10:09 > 0:10:10Come on!
0:10:10 > 0:10:1445 minutes later,
0:10:14 > 0:10:16the consignment from Colombo finally arrives.
0:10:19 > 0:10:21But not quite all of it.
0:10:22 > 0:10:24There, look, look.
0:10:24 > 0:10:2630.63.
0:10:26 > 0:10:27Come up the scale, look.
0:10:31 > 0:10:34See? Straightaway, it's short weight.
0:10:35 > 0:10:37Check every box. Every box now got to be checked, right?
0:10:37 > 0:10:39The 27-pounders.
0:10:43 > 0:10:45No, this is not good at all.
0:10:45 > 0:10:50The amount of fish in each box is less than the packaging claims.
0:10:50 > 0:10:53Roger has paid for fish which doesn't exist.
0:10:53 > 0:10:56If I don't check these weights,
0:10:56 > 0:11:02and we're three kilos short, at £11 a kilo, that's £33.
0:11:02 > 0:11:06You see? And if you have ten boxes, that's 330 quid.
0:11:06 > 0:11:09That's my profit just went down the drain.
0:11:09 > 0:11:13Keep checking the boxes, Sid, check 'em! Go with him.
0:11:13 > 0:11:16Go up there, go with him. Check it for me. Let me know the weight.
0:11:18 > 0:11:22We have to build up the trust. But this way, it's not going to work.
0:11:29 > 0:11:34Billingsgate is a miniature city built on fish.
0:11:35 > 0:11:39300 men and just a few women work through the night to keep London
0:11:39 > 0:11:42in trout and turbot, salmon and sole.
0:11:46 > 0:11:49A team of unloaders empties the convoy of lorries,
0:11:49 > 0:11:52bringing fish from the four corners of the Earth.
0:11:56 > 0:11:59There are cafes, changing rooms, a laundry service,
0:11:59 > 0:12:0550 vast fridges, and Britain's biggest deep freeze,
0:12:05 > 0:12:08where the members work in pairs in case they freeze to death.
0:12:10 > 0:12:12Fish inspectors patrol the stalls.
0:12:13 > 0:12:17No need to put my nose there, I can smell it coming out the bag already.
0:12:17 > 0:12:18We'll take those three.
0:12:20 > 0:12:23It even has its own police force.
0:12:23 > 0:12:26My favourite fish at the moment now is tilapia.
0:12:29 > 0:12:34Outside, among the white vans, are the cart minders, like Pikey Bill.
0:12:34 > 0:12:38He's paid no salary, but works for tips and cups of tea
0:12:38 > 0:12:40to guard customers' fish.
0:12:40 > 0:12:42Like many here,
0:12:42 > 0:12:46he's a retired porter who can't quite leave this twilight world...
0:12:46 > 0:12:49caught between the past and the future.
0:12:49 > 0:12:52I'll never forget standing on London Bridge
0:12:52 > 0:12:55looking down at the fish market and seeing it.
0:12:55 > 0:12:58I always thought, "I'd like to work there,"
0:12:58 > 0:13:00and that's what I done when I left school.
0:13:01 > 0:13:06The people there, the life there, that's what it is, isn't it?
0:13:07 > 0:13:10Bill's Billingsgate was a different place back then.
0:13:12 > 0:13:16Lorry loads and lorry loads of salmon from Ireland, Scotland,
0:13:16 > 0:13:20and then you'd be here till eight o'clock at night.
0:13:20 > 0:13:21Back then, porters wore bobbins,
0:13:21 > 0:13:26leather hats with flat tops, to carry boxes of fish on their heads.
0:13:26 > 0:13:30They had gutters in their brims to catch the fish blood.
0:13:30 > 0:13:34What you've got to realise, in those days, all those boxes were wood.
0:13:35 > 0:13:39What they had to do, they had to be nutted in.
0:13:39 > 0:13:43I mean, you're talking about a 12-stone box a man had to carry on his head.
0:13:45 > 0:13:51In the 1950s, men like Bill carried five times as much fish as today
0:13:51 > 0:13:52and the money flowed.
0:13:54 > 0:14:00I was earning about 18, 20 quid a week in 1960, which is a good wage.
0:14:00 > 0:14:03I used to have Italian suits and God knows what,
0:14:03 > 0:14:05I was always having suits made, with shoes.
0:14:05 > 0:14:06HE LAUGHS
0:14:09 > 0:14:16In them days, kids had the opportunities of the docks, the markets or the print.
0:14:16 > 0:14:19So I chose the market, fortunately, this is the last one left,
0:14:19 > 0:14:24you know, and it's seen me right out, which I'm happy.
0:14:24 > 0:14:27The docks are gone, the print's gone, nothing left, is there?
0:14:27 > 0:14:30This is the last market to change,
0:14:30 > 0:14:34and eventually, if it don't happen now, it'll happen sooner or later.
0:14:38 > 0:14:41I think the 21st century, it needs a change,
0:14:41 > 0:14:43everything's got to change.
0:14:43 > 0:14:46And that's what it's got to be, I'm afraid, you know,
0:14:46 > 0:14:50a lot of people don't like it, but that's what it is.
0:15:04 > 0:15:08I will make it, or I will lose it today.
0:15:08 > 0:15:10Thusitha is due back at Billingsgate
0:15:10 > 0:15:14to oversee the second shipment from Sri Lanka.
0:15:14 > 0:15:17He's carrying the hopes of his family business.
0:15:18 > 0:15:25If we lose today, back there, somebody's losing money from their salary,
0:15:25 > 0:15:28or somebody might totally lose their job.
0:15:28 > 0:15:34If unsuccessful, the impact will be felt across the local community.
0:15:34 > 0:15:38If I cannot sell this fish in the UK market,
0:15:38 > 0:15:43what's going to happen is, they will add to the market in Sri Lanka,
0:15:43 > 0:15:47and what will happen is, the price will come down.
0:15:47 > 0:15:52Once the price comes down, people who are relying on the business
0:15:52 > 0:15:54can make very little money,
0:15:54 > 0:15:59so the impact to everybody who is involved is very bad.
0:16:00 > 0:16:05After the problems with the first shipment, tonight needs to go well.
0:16:05 > 0:16:10It is our family business. If I lose this, everybody will think,
0:16:10 > 0:16:13"What did you do? Why did you do this?"
0:16:13 > 0:16:14Of course, I can go home,
0:16:14 > 0:16:19but how I'm going to face these people, that is a problem.
0:16:25 > 0:16:29Urgh, well, this is fucking pants.
0:16:30 > 0:16:37Bad weather around the coast is constricting the market supply of British fish.
0:16:37 > 0:16:43Some merchants are looking further afield to secure their stock.
0:16:43 > 0:16:45Mark Morris works for LeLeu and Morris,
0:16:45 > 0:16:48the longest established family firm in Billingsgate.
0:16:48 > 0:16:51Bass and bream, all farmed, Greek and Turkish.
0:16:51 > 0:16:54I've got plaice fillets there,
0:16:54 > 0:16:55they've come in, flown in from Iceland.
0:16:55 > 0:16:58They arrived at Heathrow midnight last night.
0:16:58 > 0:17:01We've been flying in fish from Iceland for the last ten years,
0:17:01 > 0:17:04and ten, 15 years later and we're doing about a million,
0:17:04 > 0:17:07a million and a half pounds in business with them.
0:17:07 > 0:17:10It's not cheap, there's a lot of expense involved
0:17:10 > 0:17:11in bringing it in by airfreight.
0:17:11 > 0:17:14You have to pay a levy on it, you have to pay a duty on it.
0:17:14 > 0:17:17And they're very partial to a public holiday in Iceland as well,
0:17:17 > 0:17:18and they won't tell you,
0:17:18 > 0:17:21so you ring them up and there'll be no-one in the office,
0:17:21 > 0:17:22and they're all out getting drunk.
0:17:28 > 0:17:33Roger employs three shop boys, Michael, Sammy and Sidney,
0:17:33 > 0:17:35to help display and sell his fish.
0:17:35 > 0:17:38I've got the best staff in the market.
0:17:38 > 0:17:42Reliable, they're honest, they're here, yeah, they're good men.
0:17:42 > 0:17:44Hand-picked, each one of them.
0:17:45 > 0:17:49They'd go to the trenches with me, I have no doubt whatsoever,
0:17:49 > 0:17:52but I've got my eye on them, cos I was as slippery as they are.
0:17:55 > 0:17:59No, there's no razors up here, cos the weather's stopped that as well.
0:18:01 > 0:18:03Yeah, there isn't a razor in Billingsgate.
0:18:03 > 0:18:06No, no, no, don't put them on show, don't put them on show,
0:18:06 > 0:18:07Sidney, get them off.
0:18:07 > 0:18:10My God, quick, get them out of sight, quick!
0:18:10 > 0:18:12Oh, my God, they would cause a riot,
0:18:12 > 0:18:15that is the only box of razor clams in London.
0:18:15 > 0:18:17And I've told a lot of people I haven't got any,
0:18:17 > 0:18:19there isn't enough to go round.
0:18:19 > 0:18:21It puts me in an awkward position.
0:18:21 > 0:18:23I'll kill him, I'll fucking kill him.
0:18:23 > 0:18:26Right, you and I, you and I, ready?
0:18:26 > 0:18:28Sid, get out the way, you're a fucking idiot.
0:18:28 > 0:18:31When I say I want them on show, I want them on show,
0:18:31 > 0:18:33not when you think so.
0:18:34 > 0:18:38Sid, today's your last, you're driving me crazy.
0:18:38 > 0:18:40Right, let me have a look.
0:18:40 > 0:18:43With domestic supplies unpredictable,
0:18:43 > 0:18:47Roger has developed a network of trusted overseas agents,
0:18:47 > 0:18:50guaranteeing supply, keeping ahead of the game.
0:18:50 > 0:18:54This is really pissing me off, we haven't sold a fish in over an hour.
0:18:55 > 0:18:59He's hoping Thusitha can be his man in Sri Lanka.
0:18:59 > 0:19:02- How many do you make it, Sid?- 15, sir.
0:19:02 > 0:19:05The second shipment has arrived on time, at least.
0:19:05 > 0:19:07How much? How many?
0:19:09 > 0:19:1117 boxes, right?
0:19:13 > 0:19:16Roger, it's 17 boxes.
0:19:18 > 0:19:21- There's only 15 boxes. - Only 15 boxes?
0:19:21 > 0:19:23I swear to you, there's only 15.
0:19:23 > 0:19:25Yeah, I understand, nothing wrong with you,
0:19:25 > 0:19:27- but any way I can find them? - Two's gone missing.
0:19:27 > 0:19:33£600-worth of top-quality yellowfin tuna is missing,
0:19:33 > 0:19:36somewhere between Billingsgate and Colombo.
0:19:36 > 0:19:40You and I go out, come on, we'll go out and see Nicholas.
0:19:40 > 0:19:44That's the problem, there are two boxes missing, there's only 15.
0:19:45 > 0:19:47Morning, Nick!
0:19:47 > 0:19:51- 17, 17, that's the packing list. - Yes.
0:19:51 > 0:19:55The document confirms that the shipment arrived at Heathrow complete.
0:19:55 > 0:19:59You know, you'd think the whole load would come together.
0:19:59 > 0:20:01- You'd think so.- Yes.
0:20:02 > 0:20:06You can bet your life that if my boy says there's only 15,
0:20:06 > 0:20:07there is only 15.
0:20:07 > 0:20:11- It's not worth their life to lie to me.- Yes.
0:20:11 > 0:20:14They know if I found out they were lying, I'd kill them,
0:20:14 > 0:20:17and Sid wouldn't know how to lie. Sid hasn't got a brain.
0:20:17 > 0:20:21He's a nice kid, but you couldn't teach him to steal if you tried.
0:20:26 > 0:20:30This is not good, this is not what's supposed to happen.
0:20:32 > 0:20:33So...
0:20:36 > 0:20:38..I've really got no idea what to do now.
0:20:40 > 0:20:43I believe something happened during the transportation
0:20:43 > 0:20:48between Heathrow and Billingsgate.
0:20:55 > 0:20:59- Who brought them in from outside? - I brought three boxes.
0:20:59 > 0:21:01Then you're responsible.
0:21:01 > 0:21:03The two missing boxes are discovered,
0:21:03 > 0:21:05they had been on the stand all along.
0:21:05 > 0:21:08You make us look idiots, between you, you do. ..Hello?
0:21:08 > 0:21:12Could I have 25 of the 400s from Rod, please?
0:21:13 > 0:21:15And unfortunately,
0:21:15 > 0:21:18one of the staff didn't do his job to the best of his ability.
0:21:18 > 0:21:20He will be shot at seven o'clock this morning.
0:21:22 > 0:21:25Never send a boy to do a man's job, I do apologise.
0:21:26 > 0:21:30Sidney may have let Roger down, but the new supplier has not.
0:21:30 > 0:21:33One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten.
0:21:33 > 0:21:361,000, OK?
0:21:36 > 0:21:39What do you think about our quality today?
0:21:39 > 0:21:41The quality of the fish today,
0:21:41 > 0:21:43um, 90 out of 100.
0:21:43 > 0:21:48We'll have another 200-300 kilo of each on Friday, if possible.
0:21:48 > 0:21:51He's one of the best.
0:21:51 > 0:21:53I really like to work with him.
0:21:53 > 0:21:59Obviously, to work with him will help us to build up our market
0:21:59 > 0:22:01and do a very good business.
0:22:01 > 0:22:06- OK, see you Friday.- Bye-bye. - Good luck, and God bless you.
0:22:06 > 0:22:10- Same to you.- Take care, look after the money.
0:22:10 > 0:22:13Be careful this time of the morning,
0:22:13 > 0:22:16stick it down your pants.
0:22:30 > 0:22:34The porters give the customers their fish, and the market
0:22:34 > 0:22:37its distinctive character.
0:22:37 > 0:22:40SHOUTING AND LAUGHING
0:22:42 > 0:22:45Proud of it? I'm very proud to be a fish porter.
0:22:45 > 0:22:50Might be pissing with rain, it might be snowing, it's cold.
0:22:50 > 0:22:51Fuck me, have I laughed!
0:22:51 > 0:22:53Do you know what I mean?
0:22:59 > 0:23:03We all know each other's history, we all know each other's problems,
0:23:03 > 0:23:07we've all had, well, a lot of us have had bust-ups with our marriages,
0:23:07 > 0:23:11we've had kids, and we all kind of talk about it.
0:23:11 > 0:23:14I suppose, we are like, a bit like a family, I suppose.
0:23:14 > 0:23:17It's pretty unique.
0:23:17 > 0:23:22When you try to explain to people the way we work,
0:23:22 > 0:23:24the hours we do...
0:23:25 > 0:23:30..the whole package, it's completely alien to people.
0:23:32 > 0:23:33HE LAUGHS
0:23:42 > 0:23:44Seal, seal!
0:23:44 > 0:23:46Look, here we go, ready?
0:23:46 > 0:23:47HE WHISTLES
0:23:47 > 0:23:50I think if it sees me, he thinks I'm going to be like Big Greg.
0:23:50 > 0:23:52He's put that in the fucking bank, he has.
0:23:52 > 0:23:53Here he is, look.
0:23:53 > 0:23:58- Five pound of salmon. - Oh, you greedy fucker.
0:23:58 > 0:24:01Do you know why it's nice? Because he gets it for nothing, it tastes better.
0:24:04 > 0:24:07We had members of the public, never been to Billingsgate before,
0:24:07 > 0:24:10they went, what a wonderful place!
0:24:10 > 0:24:13We get foreign people down here, they love it.
0:24:13 > 0:24:15I say, it's marvellous, I do it every day.
0:24:15 > 0:24:17It's a pleasure to come to work.
0:24:17 > 0:24:21But not recently, because it's doom and gloom
0:24:21 > 0:24:23and you can see people's heads dropping,
0:24:23 > 0:24:25and it's such a fucking shame.
0:24:25 > 0:24:30But I don't know, perhaps we've had it too good too long, maybe we have.
0:24:37 > 0:24:38For the last 18 months,
0:24:38 > 0:24:41the porters have been fighting the plans of the market's owners
0:24:41 > 0:24:44to revoke the Billingsgate by-laws,
0:24:44 > 0:24:46throwing open the job to all-comers.
0:24:55 > 0:24:59Despite intense negotiations, the plans are advancing.
0:25:01 > 0:25:05If they abolish the by-laws, it means they do away with the licensed porter system,
0:25:05 > 0:25:09which, eventually, I suppose will enable them to sack us all,
0:25:09 > 0:25:13get rid of us all, who knows? I don't know.
0:25:13 > 0:25:15So, I'd be out of work, lose my house,
0:25:15 > 0:25:18that's pretty bad case scenario, I reckon, don't you?
0:25:24 > 0:25:26Are you worried?
0:25:26 > 0:25:28Fucking right, I'm worried, yeah.
0:25:33 > 0:25:34Would you be worried?
0:25:39 > 0:25:44But it's not only the market's owners who are pushing through change.
0:25:46 > 0:25:48In all industries, things change.
0:25:50 > 0:25:52Henry Ford doesn't build his own cars,
0:25:52 > 0:25:56and he has now a production line where he used to have 30 men,
0:25:56 > 0:25:58it's all done by robots,
0:25:58 > 0:26:00probably controlled by three men.
0:26:01 > 0:26:04Considering his long history in the market,
0:26:04 > 0:26:07Roger's stance has shocked the market porters.
0:26:07 > 0:26:10He started out as a stand boy, he then went on to be a porter,
0:26:10 > 0:26:15he then went on to be a trade union, top trade union representative.
0:26:16 > 0:26:18And then he...
0:26:21 > 0:26:24..was sewing mail bags for a little while.
0:26:25 > 0:26:28And then he come back to the market,
0:26:28 > 0:26:31and the union got him his licence back.
0:26:31 > 0:26:32And he came back to work,
0:26:32 > 0:26:36and he bought a business, or he set up his own business.
0:26:37 > 0:26:39And that's where we are now.
0:26:39 > 0:26:40He's turned his back on us.
0:26:42 > 0:26:46I feel really let down, I've known him for 32 years.
0:26:46 > 0:26:49The very first day I came to this, well, to the old market,
0:26:49 > 0:26:52I was introduced to him as our top union official.
0:26:52 > 0:26:55Um, he shook my hand,
0:26:55 > 0:26:57and, um...
0:26:57 > 0:27:00I've known him all that time.
0:27:00 > 0:27:03You know, I just feel really let down by him.
0:27:13 > 0:27:20There isn't the money and the profit in the fish industry as there was.
0:27:20 > 0:27:24Supermarkets, that's changed the whole game,
0:27:24 > 0:27:27they've got fish, they don't buy in Billingsgate fish market.
0:27:27 > 0:27:29They buy direct from the coast.
0:27:29 > 0:27:31We are losing customers.
0:27:32 > 0:27:35Week in and week out, month in and month out.
0:27:35 > 0:27:37Something has to be done.
0:27:39 > 0:27:43I've felt on many occasions that I'm not running my own business.
0:27:43 > 0:27:47Tell me any other industry where...
0:27:47 > 0:27:51you're told times, what to do,
0:27:51 > 0:27:54when to start, etc, etc, etc.
0:27:56 > 0:27:58Things have to change.
0:27:58 > 0:28:02Um, and one of the things is the portering system
0:28:02 > 0:28:04that we have in Billingsgate fish market.
0:28:08 > 0:28:13Chrissie Gill and the porters, you know, believe it or not,
0:28:13 > 0:28:15it's very difficult for me.
0:28:15 > 0:28:19One time, I was a porter, I'd like to think a good porter,
0:28:19 > 0:28:22and, of course, now I'm on the other side, and to them, I'm a Judas.
0:28:24 > 0:28:28Which is sad, it's painful, and I'm not without feeling.
0:28:31 > 0:28:36There's now a wall, where people that I used to speak to every morning
0:28:36 > 0:28:40now don't look at me, avoid me.
0:28:40 > 0:28:43Wouldn't speak to me now if I was the last person on the planet.
0:28:46 > 0:28:52The tail is wagging the dog, and it cannot go on.
0:28:53 > 0:28:56The tenants of Billingsgate must be the bosses.
0:29:02 > 0:29:05On his way home through Essex,
0:29:05 > 0:29:07Roger often delivers fish to some of his customers.
0:29:09 > 0:29:11Wait a minute, what have we got here?
0:29:14 > 0:29:17Um, razor clams, all alive, have a look.
0:29:19 > 0:29:21And nice, live scallops, good scallops, look.
0:29:21 > 0:29:23Oh, they're beautiful.
0:29:23 > 0:29:28Restaurateur Maggie knows her fish merchant better than most.
0:29:28 > 0:29:32Maggie was married to Roger, but Roger was married to something else.
0:29:32 > 0:29:35We were married for 28 years,
0:29:35 > 0:29:38we did not have a honeymoon.
0:29:38 > 0:29:41We got married on a Monday because that's the day the market was shut.
0:29:41 > 0:29:43Um...
0:29:43 > 0:29:49We had no holidays probably for 25 years, none.
0:29:49 > 0:29:52Love these best,
0:29:52 > 0:29:55these are nice, all tight, look.
0:29:55 > 0:29:58Willies, that's what the Chinese girls call them,
0:29:58 > 0:30:01cos when they stick their little thing out,
0:30:01 > 0:30:05then they go back really quickly.
0:30:06 > 0:30:09At least ten years before the end,
0:30:09 > 0:30:13I knew I wasn't going to stay for the long haul.
0:30:13 > 0:30:14Um...
0:30:15 > 0:30:18The reason I didn't leave was more because of him,
0:30:18 > 0:30:21how he was going to cope, looking after himself.
0:30:22 > 0:30:25His clothes in the morning used to have to be laid out
0:30:25 > 0:30:29with his socks on the top, the underpants, the long johns,
0:30:29 > 0:30:31the trousers, the T-shirt, the top,
0:30:31 > 0:30:34so that it was all in order for him to put on in the morning.
0:30:34 > 0:30:36And I did wonder, when I left him,
0:30:36 > 0:30:38how he'd manage to get himself dressed.
0:30:40 > 0:30:44Everything he did was geared, theoretically, say, to earning money.
0:30:44 > 0:30:47But the money wasn't the long-term goal somehow,
0:30:47 > 0:30:52it's very complicated how his mind works on that one.
0:30:52 > 0:30:56His father gave them nothing, ever.
0:30:56 > 0:31:00I think on his 16th birthday, he bought him a suit to go to work
0:31:00 > 0:31:04and said to Roger, "That is the last money I will ever spend on you."
0:31:05 > 0:31:08Never, ever bought him a birthday card, a Christmas card,
0:31:08 > 0:31:11nothing, till the day he died.
0:31:22 > 0:31:25Roger has bought several tonnes of fish from a Scottish supplier.
0:31:25 > 0:31:27Fish is short and prices are high,
0:31:27 > 0:31:31but if he's secured more than his opponents, he'll corner the market.
0:31:31 > 0:31:35It is a competition, it's tenant versus tenant.
0:31:35 > 0:31:37I think, yes, come on,
0:31:37 > 0:31:40let's go get the bastards, see what we can do today.
0:31:43 > 0:31:45With the deliveries now in,
0:31:45 > 0:31:49there's time to find out if his gamble has paid off.
0:31:51 > 0:31:54There we are, gentlemen, look, it's just come now,
0:31:54 > 0:31:57this is from GJ Jacks of Fraserburgh.
0:32:00 > 0:32:02But there's two other people who get Jack's fish,
0:32:02 > 0:32:04that's Lawrence Brothers and Wicker,
0:32:04 > 0:32:06and I've noticed they've got some,
0:32:06 > 0:32:09but they haven't got as much as I've got, thank God.
0:32:10 > 0:32:12That's because of all the barracking, see.
0:32:12 > 0:32:15Kept on all day yesterday every 20 minutes,
0:32:15 > 0:32:17"What have you got, what have you got, what have you got?"
0:32:17 > 0:32:21And it's paid off, because here we have some lovely turbot,
0:32:21 > 0:32:24some lovely halibut, lovely hake.
0:32:24 > 0:32:30Out of all this lot, we've got, um, three fifths, three fifths.
0:32:30 > 0:32:32Tomorrow, I want four fifths.
0:32:32 > 0:32:35If I don't get it, he'll get a kick up the goolies.
0:32:35 > 0:32:39Right, gentlemen, standing by, thank you!
0:32:45 > 0:32:48Most people are competitive, they don't want to come second.
0:32:48 > 0:32:51It's the old saying - they don't remember who comes second.
0:32:54 > 0:32:57There's no good coming second and say, oh, I feel good.
0:32:57 > 0:33:00I'd much rather come first and say, fuck me, I'm absolutely dead,
0:33:00 > 0:33:03I'm out on my feet, I'm empty, I'm gasping for air.
0:33:05 > 0:33:06You give it your best.
0:33:15 > 0:33:17Don't need to smell that, guv,
0:33:17 > 0:33:20you don't need to smell that one, governor.
0:33:20 > 0:33:21Use your eyes, use your eyes.
0:33:22 > 0:33:27Mark Morris' firm specialise in predominantly British species.
0:33:27 > 0:33:31For over 100 years, they've been a major supplier of cod and haddock
0:33:31 > 0:33:33to London's fish and chip shops.
0:33:33 > 0:33:35But fashions and tastes are changing.
0:33:35 > 0:33:39Go back three or four years ago, you couldn't give pollock away,
0:33:39 > 0:33:41you couldn't give it away, no-one wanted it.
0:33:41 > 0:33:43Gordon Ramsay, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall,
0:33:43 > 0:33:45they all jump on the bandwagon, pollock, pollock.
0:33:45 > 0:33:48Now pollock is going short and making more money than cod.
0:33:48 > 0:33:53No-one wants cod, they want pollock, they think they're doing their bit for the environment, they're not.
0:33:53 > 0:33:55There's a pollock.
0:33:55 > 0:33:58That's a pollock, lovely piece of fish, stiff alive,
0:33:58 > 0:34:00lovely bright colours, that sort of thing.
0:34:00 > 0:34:02Tastes like shit.
0:34:02 > 0:34:04Then you get a cod.
0:34:04 > 0:34:06When you compare that
0:34:06 > 0:34:09to something like that, yeah?
0:34:09 > 0:34:14It will literally, it will stand up on its own, that's what it does.
0:34:14 > 0:34:16That's the muscle tone in the fish.
0:34:16 > 0:34:19That's a piece of fish that's been swimming in the north Atlantic,
0:34:19 > 0:34:22feeding on the right products since the day it was born.
0:34:22 > 0:34:24That's a human being,
0:34:24 > 0:34:27the cod's a human being that goes to the gym every day,
0:34:27 > 0:34:31that eats all the right foods, it probably drives a Porsche.
0:34:31 > 0:34:35This pollock is sitting at home on the settee in a tracksuit,
0:34:35 > 0:34:38watching Jeremy Kyle, eating a burger.
0:34:40 > 0:34:44White fish and salmon caught from British waters
0:34:44 > 0:34:47was once the staple diet of the Billingsgate customer.
0:34:47 > 0:34:50But as London has changed, the market has too.
0:34:50 > 0:34:54Billingsgate's increasingly multi-racial clientele
0:34:54 > 0:34:58don't want just British fish, but what they once ate back home.
0:35:02 > 0:35:05Nowadays, some of the market's biggest buyers
0:35:05 > 0:35:08come from London's growing Chinese community.
0:35:13 > 0:35:18I've got millions of work to do, tell me what you want,
0:35:18 > 0:35:21because I can't read your mind.
0:35:21 > 0:35:26Mick Jenrick is doing a roaring trade in live eels.
0:35:26 > 0:35:29Right, you want a big one?
0:35:29 > 0:35:33Mick's customers would once have been predominantly white Londoners.
0:35:33 > 0:35:3835 years ago, all there was was jellied eels stalls.
0:35:38 > 0:35:40Winkles, shrimps, cockles, muscles.
0:35:40 > 0:35:48Because that was pre-Indians, Chinese, takeaways.
0:35:48 > 0:35:50That was all people could eat.
0:35:50 > 0:35:52But now, there's anything,
0:35:52 > 0:35:54there's nothing that you can't...
0:35:54 > 0:35:55that you want, you can't have, is there?
0:35:55 > 0:35:5915 quid. No, mate, do you want it, or don't you?
0:35:59 > 0:36:02The Chinese are now some of Mick's most important customers,
0:36:02 > 0:36:04wanting the freshest fish possible.
0:36:04 > 0:36:07There's nothing fresher than a live eel.
0:36:07 > 0:36:09Can't understand why they want to cook a live eel,
0:36:09 > 0:36:10and why they want them big.
0:36:10 > 0:36:14Imagine putting one of these eels into a lovely kitchen, can't you?
0:36:14 > 0:36:18Blood all over the place, all over the walls.
0:36:18 > 0:36:20Yes, young man, yes, no?
0:36:25 > 0:36:27The booming Chinese market
0:36:27 > 0:36:29is also important for shellfish merchant Gary Chapman.
0:36:29 > 0:36:33He's just taken delivery of three quarters of a tonne
0:36:33 > 0:36:35of live crab from Newlyn in Cornwall.
0:36:35 > 0:36:39We've got to get it away by half past five.
0:36:39 > 0:36:42And it'll be in Shanghai by tomorrow evening, by six o'clock.
0:36:42 > 0:36:45Which is quite mad, really, isn't it?
0:36:45 > 0:36:46Other side of the world.
0:36:47 > 0:36:50The Chinese will take only female crabs.
0:36:50 > 0:36:51With smaller claws,
0:36:51 > 0:36:56they contain a greater proportion of their favoured brown meat.
0:36:56 > 0:37:00As you can see, female's got a rounder body, smaller arms.
0:37:00 > 0:37:02It's like women, really, they're rounder.
0:37:02 > 0:37:04When they eat crab, they put it in sauces,
0:37:04 > 0:37:06so the brown meat flavours the sauce.
0:37:06 > 0:37:09When they cook stuff, it's a raging temperature,
0:37:09 > 0:37:11and it's quickly cooked.
0:37:11 > 0:37:15So, when you quickly cook something, it's got to be fresh.
0:37:19 > 0:37:23As you can hear, they're still moving in the box because they're live.
0:37:23 > 0:37:28The exporter, Jacqui Lynn, is meeting the demand of the Chinese middle classes,
0:37:28 > 0:37:32who prefer the larger Cornish brown crab to the smaller native species.
0:37:32 > 0:37:36If you're actually having a banquet and treating customers,
0:37:36 > 0:37:37treating your friends and family,
0:37:37 > 0:37:41and it's good to have something, size is big, and looks really presenting,
0:37:41 > 0:37:42that's why.
0:37:47 > 0:37:51The fish inspector must sign the export certificates before departure.
0:37:53 > 0:37:57But the crabs won't be going anywhere without a courier.
0:38:00 > 0:38:03Oh, fucking hell, where the hell is he?
0:38:03 > 0:38:06This is an export certificate for China.
0:38:06 > 0:38:08- To Shanghai?- Shanghai, yeah.
0:38:09 > 0:38:12Could miss the flight.
0:38:12 > 0:38:14That'll cost me a few thousand.
0:38:14 > 0:38:19The last thing I want is 30 boxes of dead crabs sitting at Heathrow.
0:38:21 > 0:38:23Just my luck if he's got the wrong day.
0:38:28 > 0:38:32The van has arrived, the crabs are still on schedule.
0:38:32 > 0:38:37Jacqui has already exported between 30-50 tonnes of crab per week.
0:38:37 > 0:38:40With a population of over a billion people,
0:38:40 > 0:38:41it's a market which is only going to grow.
0:38:44 > 0:38:47We've got 1.4 billion people now,
0:38:47 > 0:38:51let's say we got only one percent who is having the crabs,
0:38:51 > 0:38:54for one, for each year, it's a huge market.
0:38:56 > 0:38:59Two shrimps, please, Sid!
0:38:59 > 0:39:01What are you doing?
0:39:01 > 0:39:04Yeah, well, I suggest you move your arse a little bit quicker.
0:39:06 > 0:39:08Yeah, £30, madam.
0:39:08 > 0:39:12You bought the last batch, I had six kilo boxes.
0:39:12 > 0:39:16Life's easy when you've cornered the fish market.
0:39:16 > 0:39:19As I predicted, I could have sold miles more,
0:39:19 > 0:39:23but as the market gets less and less, so they'll come to old Roger,
0:39:23 > 0:39:25"Can you help me out of trouble?"
0:39:25 > 0:39:28Well, of course I can. It might cost them a premium,
0:39:28 > 0:39:31but nevertheless, we're here to help.
0:39:31 > 0:39:3333, how many, three or four?
0:39:33 > 0:39:345.49!
0:39:37 > 0:39:39Four sixes.
0:39:39 > 0:39:44This week, I'd like to turn over anything between £150-175,000.
0:39:45 > 0:39:50As the only merchant with mackerel, Roger's a man in demand.
0:39:50 > 0:39:53Adrian, a processor, five by six of mackerel
0:39:53 > 0:39:55we started with in at four quid.
0:39:55 > 0:39:59Viviers, in the trade again, two by six of mackerel, 4.30.
0:39:59 > 0:40:04Upstream, 12 by six of mackerel, 4.50.
0:40:04 > 0:40:06And so it goes on, you know,
0:40:06 > 0:40:09they didn't have to forage around.
0:40:09 > 0:40:10They knew if anybody had mackerel,
0:40:10 > 0:40:13it would be the old bastard of Billingsgate.
0:40:13 > 0:40:17But as you can see now, I believe we are down to our very last one.
0:40:17 > 0:40:23£6 a kilo, six multiplied by 12 equals... What does it say?
0:40:23 > 0:40:24- Ah.- Ah!
0:40:31 > 0:40:37Foreign people like the Chinese and the Afghans and whoever,
0:40:37 > 0:40:40they love fish, and they eat plenty of it.
0:40:40 > 0:40:43Without them, this place would shut up, it would be gone.
0:40:43 > 0:40:45It would be gone.
0:40:45 > 0:40:47Because it's them that keeps it going.
0:40:49 > 0:40:53They've grown up with markets, they know markets,
0:40:53 > 0:40:55and markets are their life.
0:40:55 > 0:40:56Not some supermarket.
0:40:58 > 0:41:01They are the soul of the market now, they are it.
0:41:01 > 0:41:03Here, look at that, look.
0:41:05 > 0:41:08There's a fish, look at that.
0:41:08 > 0:41:12That's cream, cream. Lovely fat content there.
0:41:13 > 0:41:16Better than a page three girl, that!
0:41:16 > 0:41:18HE LAUGHS
0:41:19 > 0:41:24Whilst the porters tidy away at the end of the day, their boss cashes up.
0:41:24 > 0:41:27Yes, mate. What do you want?
0:41:27 > 0:41:32If he earned a million pound, he'd go, "Why haven't I got a million and one?"
0:41:32 > 0:41:37If we went out there and found 99 pound, he'd want another one fucking hundred.
0:41:37 > 0:41:40That's true. That's the sort of man he is.
0:41:41 > 0:41:45They're growing increasingly angry at the man they feel has betrayed them.
0:41:45 > 0:41:49- Can you just describe Roger as a boss?- I'd rather not.
0:41:56 > 0:42:00If the market by-laws are revoked, merchants will be free to decide
0:42:00 > 0:42:03whether to sack or re-employ their porter.
0:42:03 > 0:42:07I've been here 18 years and he hasn't said to me, yes or no.
0:42:07 > 0:42:11So I think I deserve to be told, one way or the other.
0:42:13 > 0:42:17I don't know. I have asked him and he won't answer me, won't tell me.
0:42:17 > 0:42:19He won't commit himself.
0:42:21 > 0:42:23Will you re-employ Chris?
0:42:23 > 0:42:25That remains to be seen.
0:42:30 > 0:42:32Anyway, he might not want to work here.
0:42:32 > 0:42:34He might have had a bellyful of me.
0:42:34 > 0:42:37They say I'm the Bastard of Billingsgate.
0:42:39 > 0:42:41We'll see. We'll see.
0:42:41 > 0:42:46We've heard rumours they're going to get people in that work for half the money.
0:42:46 > 0:42:51How are they going to do it? How do they know what they're doing? How will they know? Dunno.
0:42:57 > 0:43:01By 9am, the working day is over.
0:43:01 > 0:43:06We've probably turned over 35, 40 grand-worth of fish, so very good.
0:43:06 > 0:43:10Excellent day's work.
0:43:10 > 0:43:13It's a lovely scene. It's lovely. You can drive home and feel...
0:43:13 > 0:43:18It's not just about the money, it's job satisfaction.
0:43:18 > 0:43:21London will have its fish today. Or so much of it.
0:43:43 > 0:43:47Thusitha's boss, his cousin, is putting pressure on him
0:43:47 > 0:43:52to start supplying other merchants in Billingsgate, not just Roger Barton.
0:43:52 > 0:43:56'Many Billingsgate buyers, they're calling me
0:43:56 > 0:43:57'and think, why you cannot give me
0:43:57 > 0:44:00'and why you are giving to Barton only?
0:44:00 > 0:44:04'The thing is, that's the problem.'
0:44:04 > 0:44:06They way I understand,
0:44:06 > 0:44:12Roger does not like to see that someone else
0:44:12 > 0:44:15having the same product from the same supplier in the market.
0:44:15 > 0:44:20He likes to keep the monopoly. He's quite a volatile person.
0:44:20 > 0:44:25And any moment, he can explode, very simply.
0:44:25 > 0:44:32- What that means...- Sure, sure. - That means we will lose him.
0:44:32 > 0:44:34That's my only fear.
0:44:39 > 0:44:42Sammy, Roger's specialist in exotics,
0:44:42 > 0:44:47has taken delivery of 1,200 kilos of Indian Ocean fish from Sri Lanka,
0:44:47 > 0:44:51including black pomfret, trevally and red snapper.
0:44:51 > 0:44:55But what's on the label does not match the contents.
0:44:55 > 0:44:57Snappers, yeah? Snappers?
0:45:01 > 0:45:06Are you saying that's trevally? It's something else. You don't trust me? Come with me, I will show you.
0:45:09 > 0:45:12What is this? Black pomfret?
0:45:15 > 0:45:17Now, you tell me, what is this?
0:45:17 > 0:45:20What you got on the books is black pomfret. Why?
0:45:20 > 0:45:23Stop using your iPhone, man!
0:45:23 > 0:45:25I need to take a photograph, right?
0:45:28 > 0:45:32After emailing photos of the wrong fish,
0:45:32 > 0:45:34Thusitha calls his cousin in Sri Lanka.
0:45:34 > 0:45:41Black pomfret, the one you think is not black pomfret. It is a batfish.
0:45:41 > 0:45:45We must have what we want. Not what they want to send us.
0:45:45 > 0:45:47If you went in to buy some salmon,
0:45:47 > 0:45:50you wouldn't want to come out with them.
0:45:50 > 0:45:54- You understand what I mean?- Yeah. - We've got to work together.
0:45:54 > 0:45:56There's no good them just piling it in.
0:45:56 > 0:46:01I mean, I can take it, but there's not a guarantee I'll sell it.
0:46:01 > 0:46:04You must specify to them. Come on, please, play the game.
0:46:04 > 0:46:10If the fish cannot be sold, Thusitha will take the hit.
0:46:10 > 0:46:12I mean, I'm talking about a loss.
0:46:15 > 0:46:17It's about £7,500.
0:46:23 > 0:46:25He's new into the game.
0:46:25 > 0:46:30He's gone into something that he really knows little about.
0:46:30 > 0:46:35I think he's being manipulated by the Sri Lankans at the other end.
0:46:35 > 0:46:37The attitude, "Oh, do that.
0:46:37 > 0:46:40"Send that up to them, let them get on with it."
0:46:44 > 0:46:49If you can see, it looks like now he's been hit with a fucking shovel, poor bastard.
0:46:49 > 0:46:55He's gone out now, like that. But really, unfortunately, their headache is now my headache.
0:47:00 > 0:47:04But Thusitha's fish is not Roger's only headache.
0:47:04 > 0:47:09He's continued his strategy of bulk-buying fish
0:47:09 > 0:47:12to prevent his competitors getting it.
0:47:12 > 0:47:16After Chinese New Year, trade across the market has slumped.
0:47:18 > 0:47:21Roger's fish are outnumbering his customers.
0:47:21 > 0:47:24Is everything all right?
0:47:24 > 0:47:28And of those that do stop at his stand, not all have come to buy.
0:47:32 > 0:47:36It ain't that bad. It ain't that bad. These are today's.
0:47:36 > 0:47:41Times like these are busy for the market's fish inspectors.
0:47:41 > 0:47:45Top class. Top class. All the fish are lovely.
0:47:45 > 0:47:49They're dry, a little bit. You can't help that, they're under lights.
0:47:49 > 0:47:52If you were under lights now, you'd dry a bit.
0:47:52 > 0:47:58- Do you want to take them?- I'm going to go through them, get them out. - OK, all right.- We'll take them now.
0:47:58 > 0:48:01- OK?- No problem, sir. Take them, by all means.
0:48:03 > 0:48:05He's just going through them.
0:48:07 > 0:48:12Roger, he's one of the last characters down this market.
0:48:12 > 0:48:15And truth of the matter is, you got to be in it to win it.
0:48:15 > 0:48:21I won't turn nothing down. Roger is really a cowboy, isn't he?
0:48:21 > 0:48:25He is, anyway. Got more Indians round him than anyone I know.
0:48:25 > 0:48:31To make matters worse, Sidney, one of Roger's staff, has been missing for four days.
0:48:31 > 0:48:33Look, look, look, one should be packing and one icing.
0:48:33 > 0:48:38Two years working for the self-proclaimed Bastard of Billingsgate has taken its toll.
0:48:38 > 0:48:43Two people working here are... More pressure.
0:48:43 > 0:48:46It's a lot of pressure of work.
0:48:46 > 0:48:52So we do it, three, four people's work, two people can't do it, yeah?
0:48:52 > 0:48:58So that's why my back pain is starting. I'm feeling cold fever.
0:48:58 > 0:49:00That's why I'm not coming.
0:49:01 > 0:49:04No! There's no ice on it!
0:49:04 > 0:49:06Fucking hell! What are you doing?!
0:49:07 > 0:49:09He's lost it this morning.
0:49:11 > 0:49:15No, no, no! What are you doing? Do it nicely! Pack them nicely!
0:49:15 > 0:49:20Short of both regular staff and customers, Roger is in a bad mood.
0:49:21 > 0:49:24- Sid, is that you or is it a ghost? - Morning, sir.
0:49:24 > 0:49:29We'd like to thank you for all the wonderful support and cooperation you've given us this week(!)
0:49:29 > 0:49:34Can you tell us exactly, in your own words, what took place?
0:49:34 > 0:49:37- I'm not...- What the fucking hell happened?- I'm not well.
0:49:37 > 0:49:40- That's why I'm not coming. - I didn't think so.
0:49:40 > 0:49:42I want four or five weeks off, sir.
0:49:42 > 0:49:47- Four or five weeks off?- I want to rest.- You want to rest?- Yes, sir.
0:49:47 > 0:49:50- Sid, I've been in the frontline for 51 years.- Yes, sir. I know.
0:49:50 > 0:49:55I've never had a rest. You're one of my top men, Sid. I rely on you.
0:49:55 > 0:50:00- I mean it, as your father.- Yes, sir. - Now, will you be with me on Tuesday?
0:50:00 > 0:50:04- Maybe, sir.- Please, Sid. Don't let me down.- OK, sir.- Please, Sid.
0:50:38 > 0:50:42An emergency meeting has been called to announce the decision
0:50:42 > 0:50:45on whether the market by-laws will be revoked.
0:50:45 > 0:50:50If they are, the job of the porter will be opened up
0:50:50 > 0:50:53to all-comers for the first time in 400 years.
0:50:53 > 0:50:58Is it the end of the line for everybody here?
0:51:00 > 0:51:02Yeah. Fish porters.
0:51:02 > 0:51:06Thing of the past now, fellas.
0:51:06 > 0:51:08In the past. Progress.
0:52:06 > 0:52:11All right, lads. It's a bit of a sad day.
0:52:11 > 0:52:15We're at this point now, we've held them out for another 16 months,
0:52:15 > 0:52:18so you've had another 16 months' wages.
0:52:18 > 0:52:21I'd like to thank our committee for standing up
0:52:21 > 0:52:26and fucking defending your jobs that long, but we're at the end now.
0:52:26 > 0:52:29We was never going to beat this fucking mob, was we?
0:52:29 > 0:52:32The by-laws, I believe, go today.
0:52:32 > 0:52:35So from midnight tonight, you're all unlicensed fish porters.
0:52:38 > 0:52:42The ancient by-laws have been revoked.
0:52:44 > 0:52:46The porters have lost their licences.
0:52:46 > 0:52:49And with it, the security of their employment.
0:52:51 > 0:52:53Fucking Revenue! It's greed.
0:52:54 > 0:52:58That's all they wanted. That's all they've ever wanted.
0:53:01 > 0:53:07I get very emotional about this because it's the end of an era.
0:53:07 > 0:53:10It is the end of something that London...
0:53:10 > 0:53:12It's been part of London for so long.
0:53:12 > 0:53:17But I get bloody angry as well that they're just sort of dismissing people.
0:53:18 > 0:53:21It's outrageous.
0:53:22 > 0:53:24Having lost their cherished licences,
0:53:24 > 0:53:26the porters will continue to work
0:53:26 > 0:53:31until a compensation payout agreement is reached in a few weeks' time.
0:53:35 > 0:53:38This is a family.
0:53:38 > 0:53:40All of these boys.
0:53:45 > 0:53:48It's upsetting.
0:53:49 > 0:53:52Gutted. Really gutted.
0:53:52 > 0:53:56You know, it's just another part of our history just disappeared.
0:53:56 > 0:53:59Just disappeared. It's a choker.
0:53:59 > 0:54:01It really is.
0:54:01 > 0:54:04I don't know what to say, really.
0:54:05 > 0:54:09Merchants are now free to employ whoever they wish to move their fish.
0:54:17 > 0:54:20Lemon sole are seven pound a kilo.
0:54:24 > 0:54:26No, sir. Box of sprats, look.
0:54:26 > 0:54:29Poor trade in the market has continued.
0:54:29 > 0:54:34Sidney never returned to work and Roger's other regular staff are on leave.
0:54:34 > 0:54:36Unsold stock is piling up.
0:54:40 > 0:54:45The fish inspectors move in on Roger's cold store.
0:54:45 > 0:54:48Absolutely appalling. Absolutely in appalling condition.
0:54:48 > 0:54:53There's quite an aroma coming from that one box alone, let alone from the whole lot.
0:54:53 > 0:54:57Use-by date, 2nd of the 2nd, 2012.
0:54:57 > 0:54:59Today's date is the 16th of February.
0:55:02 > 0:55:05Mr Barton doesn't seem to learn.
0:55:05 > 0:55:09This is just a small percentage of what we took from him this morning.
0:55:10 > 0:55:14During the course of a week, two tonnes of Roger's fish,
0:55:14 > 0:55:18including over a ton of exotics from Sri Lanka, are condemned.
0:55:18 > 0:55:22It's very serious. If they wished to, they could throw me out the market.
0:55:22 > 0:55:26I said to him, "As far as I know, nobody's died of fish poisoning."
0:55:26 > 0:55:28He said, "That's not the point.
0:55:28 > 0:55:32"The point is, you're selling fish that really shouldn't be on show."
0:55:34 > 0:55:38I suppose he's 100% right because it's out of date.
0:55:39 > 0:55:44But all this date nonsense has only come in in the last ten years.
0:55:49 > 0:55:52The world's changing. Maybe I'm too old.
0:55:52 > 0:55:56But I'm sure there's many things I could tell them about fish.
0:55:56 > 0:55:59And whatever they bring on, they bring on.
0:56:00 > 0:56:04They'll be getting rid of one of their best men, but still.
0:56:12 > 0:56:16Yeah, it's been half me life, I suppose, really.
0:56:16 > 0:56:18It's almost part of me family.
0:56:19 > 0:56:21Erm... Yeah, it's been good.
0:56:23 > 0:56:27I've felt safe and stable with it.
0:56:27 > 0:56:29And now, all that's changing.
0:56:31 > 0:56:34Could have been a lot worse, I suppose.
0:56:34 > 0:56:36But it could have been a lot better.
0:56:40 > 0:56:46I've put the money and the job a bit before me...wife and me kids.
0:56:48 > 0:56:51Me kids have come out all right, but me marriage is fucked!
0:56:59 > 0:57:03Stay there. I'll get you something. Stay there, my boy. Stay there.
0:57:04 > 0:57:10Badgers and foxes really like salmon. Yeah. They know what they like!
0:57:10 > 0:57:13Yeah. Here, mate. Come on.
0:57:13 > 0:57:16There you are. Good luck to you. Don't eat it all at once.
0:57:16 > 0:57:18Good boy. Off he goes.
0:57:20 > 0:57:23Has it been a good fight? Was it worth it?
0:57:25 > 0:57:30Don't think when I come home, I stop thinking about it.
0:57:30 > 0:57:32You don't.
0:57:32 > 0:57:36You know, I mean... Excuse me.
0:57:38 > 0:57:42Erm... One of the porters who I literally brought up as a son...
0:57:45 > 0:57:47..we hardly speak.
0:57:50 > 0:57:54So there are a lot of casualties. On both sides.
0:57:54 > 0:57:57But it's life. It's part of life.
0:57:57 > 0:58:00There's wars and people don't come back.
0:58:30 > 0:58:34Is the British fishing industry in trouble?
0:58:34 > 0:58:39Listen to the experts and share your views. Go to...
0:58:39 > 0:58:43Follow links to the Open University.