0:00:02 > 0:00:08This programme contains strong language
0:00:08 > 0:00:11The night time world of London's wholesale food markets is beginning to stir.
0:00:11 > 0:00:15These London institutions have been supplying the city with fish, meat and fruit
0:00:15 > 0:00:20and vegetables for centuries, and are a rich seam in London's history.
0:00:20 > 0:00:22But how relevant are they today,
0:00:22 > 0:00:26and what will their role be in the London of tomorrow?
0:00:35 > 0:00:39Smithfield, Britain's biggest and oldest wholesale meat market,
0:00:39 > 0:00:42is the last of the Corporation of London's food markets
0:00:42 > 0:00:44still trading on its original site.
0:00:48 > 0:00:52Once the location of London's livestock market in the 12th century,
0:00:52 > 0:00:55it began trading in meat when this building was completed
0:00:55 > 0:00:57nearly 150 years ago.
0:00:59 > 0:01:01For decades, it went unchallenged
0:01:01 > 0:01:04as the sole supplier of wholesale meat and poultry to the capital.
0:01:04 > 0:01:08And with this monopoly, it could afford to play by its own rules.
0:01:10 > 0:01:12It ain't the same as it was years ago.
0:01:12 > 0:01:14If someone had a go at one of us,
0:01:14 > 0:01:18then you had a go at 2,000 of us, because we all stick together.
0:01:18 > 0:01:20It's murder.
0:01:20 > 0:01:22If you ever come down the market to cause trouble,
0:01:22 > 0:01:24then you're in the wrong place.
0:01:26 > 0:01:29The customer service, although it's there, it's...
0:01:29 > 0:01:33the political correctness isn't as strong here
0:01:33 > 0:01:35as it would be in, like, an office.
0:01:35 > 0:01:37We're lucky, in that sense.
0:01:39 > 0:01:43Today, the market's 42 businesses and 500 employees
0:01:43 > 0:01:46have to come to terms with a new world.
0:01:47 > 0:01:51Supermarkets, and increasingly the catering and butcher trade,
0:01:51 > 0:01:54now buy their meat direct from abattoirs,
0:01:54 > 0:01:57so Smithfield's dominance is in decline.
0:01:59 > 0:02:01And with the country in the grip of recession,
0:02:01 > 0:02:04it now needs its customers more than ever.
0:02:04 > 0:02:10But for some, it's hard to change the habits of a lifetime.
0:02:10 > 0:02:13- What is it?- One that's rolled up.
0:02:14 > 0:02:17Boneless, all ready for the oven.
0:02:17 > 0:02:20Yeah, boneless, what, what... How is it? I don't want that one.
0:02:20 > 0:02:23Well, I'm not giving you that one, I'm giving you this one.
0:02:23 > 0:02:25It's not like that, is it?
0:02:25 > 0:02:28Well, of course it ain't, that one's like that, that one's like that.
0:02:28 > 0:02:31Norman and Steve are salesmen for Warman & Guttridge,
0:02:31 > 0:02:34and between them have clocked up over 60 years' service on the market.
0:02:34 > 0:02:38- I want it on the bone. - Sweetheart, I don't think we're going to be able to agree.
0:02:38 > 0:02:40- You want a pork loin?- Yeah, yeah.
0:02:40 > 0:02:42She just said she don't want it like that.
0:02:42 > 0:02:45- With some fat.- With a bit of fat?
0:02:45 > 0:02:47Yeah.
0:02:47 > 0:02:49HE WHISTLES
0:02:49 > 0:02:51Sweetheart, you're always best to come on a Saturday.
0:02:51 > 0:02:55- Saturday, is it open on Saturday? - No.- So, why am I...?
0:03:04 > 0:03:06You sure?
0:03:07 > 0:03:10I've been giving that out for you. You're not sure?
0:03:12 > 0:03:14Pardon?
0:03:16 > 0:03:18OK.
0:03:20 > 0:03:21The rudeness of some people -
0:03:21 > 0:03:26when you have a busy day and you're right under it, there's no manners.
0:03:26 > 0:03:29Standing there, clicking their fingers at you, tapping the window.
0:03:29 > 0:03:32Like the Africans, for example, but it's not rude,
0:03:32 > 0:03:33it's not being rude to them.
0:03:33 > 0:03:37They'll just come up and go, "How much?" Like that.
0:03:37 > 0:03:42It's not the way it gets served in this shop.
0:03:44 > 0:03:47It's mid-November, and the nightly deliveries have arrived,
0:03:47 > 0:03:51bringing nearly 400 tonnes of produce to Smithfield
0:03:51 > 0:03:53from all corners of the globe.
0:03:53 > 0:03:57Beef from Argentina, Africa, Argyle and Derbyshire.
0:03:57 > 0:03:59Lamb from New Zealand, Yorkshire and Devon,
0:03:59 > 0:04:03pork from Belgium, Spain, and all around Britain.
0:04:03 > 0:04:06Selling over the counter to members of the public
0:04:06 > 0:04:11and trading from the back of the shops with butchers, caterers, hotels and restaurants,
0:04:11 > 0:04:16Smithfield market turns over around three quarters of a billion pounds a year.
0:04:19 > 0:04:23Greg Lawrence joined the market as a trainee salesman in 1969,
0:04:23 > 0:04:27and has since become one of Smithfield's most successful businessmen.
0:04:27 > 0:04:34'We serve caterers, restaurants, butchers' shops,'
0:04:34 > 0:04:36anyone who buys meat.
0:04:36 > 0:04:39From the top level down to the pub on the corner.
0:04:42 > 0:04:48On a daily basis, we'll cut 300 pigs, 500 lambs, beef.
0:04:48 > 0:04:51We try to fill the premises up every night,
0:04:51 > 0:04:52we try to put volume through.
0:04:52 > 0:04:55It's a low margin, low percentage on profit.
0:04:56 > 0:04:58Unlike the supermarkets,
0:04:58 > 0:05:01whose meat is largely cut and packaged at the abattoirs,
0:05:01 > 0:05:04Smithfield still has a team of skilled meat cutters
0:05:04 > 0:05:06working at the back of the shops.
0:05:09 > 0:05:11John, better known as Biffo,
0:05:11 > 0:05:14has been butchering pigs for the last 37 years.
0:05:14 > 0:05:17There's not a lot of skilled men left on the market now,
0:05:17 > 0:05:21only about 20, 30 men on the market now.
0:05:21 > 0:05:25The technique of the truly skilled cutter has hardly changed,
0:05:25 > 0:05:29having been handed down from man to man from decade to decade.
0:05:30 > 0:05:34My grandfather worked down here when they first opened up,
0:05:34 > 0:05:37when they had to queue up for a job.
0:05:37 > 0:05:38They used to queue for jobs.
0:05:38 > 0:05:43Then my father worked down here - you know, it's like family.
0:05:43 > 0:05:46Years ago, if you never - it was a closed shop -
0:05:46 > 0:05:49if you never knew anyone, you never got in the market.
0:05:50 > 0:05:54This is called the outer belly, what I'm taking off now,
0:05:54 > 0:05:56they have to be a certain size for the chops.
0:05:58 > 0:06:04We go four bones up, this is the neck end, that's the neck end,
0:06:04 > 0:06:05and this is your loin.
0:06:12 > 0:06:13This is your outer belly,
0:06:13 > 0:06:16you've taken it off, come to the joint,
0:06:16 > 0:06:17and it's off.
0:06:19 > 0:06:23That's your belly, and that's where you get your spare rib chops from.
0:06:23 > 0:06:26Now, if you have barbecue or spare rib chops,
0:06:26 > 0:06:27that's where you get that from.
0:06:27 > 0:06:31These, it's your neck end.
0:06:31 > 0:06:33He's left with the loin.
0:06:35 > 0:06:38Which you get all your chops off of.
0:06:39 > 0:06:42Where you get your pork chops. Then it comes to your leg.
0:06:42 > 0:06:44So, everything gets used?
0:06:44 > 0:06:46Yeah, tails, tails,
0:06:46 > 0:06:49trotters, trotters.
0:06:54 > 0:06:55What do people do with those?
0:06:55 > 0:06:59Three of these are a yard of meat. Three feet!
0:06:59 > 0:07:01HE LAUGHS
0:07:02 > 0:07:06It's a good life down here, all laughing and joking -
0:07:06 > 0:07:10I mean, Paul's been down here as long as me.
0:07:10 > 0:07:13To see the changes up here, you wouldn't believe it, would you?
0:07:13 > 0:07:15No, it's not the same market.
0:07:15 > 0:07:17It ain't the same market as it was years ago.
0:07:17 > 0:07:22I mean, I come up here one day, opened my locker up,
0:07:22 > 0:07:23and all my clothes were gone.
0:07:23 > 0:07:27They'd left me an African war suit, green, blue, you name the colour.
0:07:27 > 0:07:29So, I put it on and I went home in it.
0:07:30 > 0:07:33Cos once you're bit up here, that was your lot.
0:07:35 > 0:07:38If they can get the better of you, they'll slaughter you.
0:07:38 > 0:07:41Biffo's been a shop steward in the union for over 30 years.
0:07:41 > 0:07:45In Smithfield's heyday from the 1950s to the '80s,
0:07:45 > 0:07:47the union ruled the market,
0:07:47 > 0:07:50protecting the 2,000 men who worked there,
0:07:50 > 0:07:53and who each had their own specific job title.
0:07:55 > 0:08:00On the lorry, you'd have what they call fullerbacks,
0:08:00 > 0:08:03the fullerbacks pull the meat off, put it on to the pitchers' backs,
0:08:03 > 0:08:04and they'd pitch it into the shops.
0:08:04 > 0:08:06That was the idea of pitchers,
0:08:06 > 0:08:09they just put it on all the hooks, that was that.
0:08:09 > 0:08:12That's when it was ranked union up here,
0:08:12 > 0:08:16I mean, the governors never had a say, they run the market.
0:08:16 > 0:08:19Any governor upset them, they won't put their meat in the shop,
0:08:19 > 0:08:22they'll pitch everyone else's meat in, they won't pitch your meat in.
0:08:25 > 0:08:26You used to have, like,
0:08:26 > 0:08:30there could be 150 pigs in the shop that had to be chopped down.
0:08:30 > 0:08:33But then there were eight of us in the shop,
0:08:33 > 0:08:35and you have three or four cutters.
0:08:35 > 0:08:38Then you'd have what they called humpers.
0:08:38 > 0:08:41As you cut the meat they used to hump it on to the scales.
0:08:41 > 0:08:44Then you'd have the scalesman to weigh the meat over,
0:08:44 > 0:08:49that was a job on its own, they never moved from behind the scale.
0:08:49 > 0:08:53Finally, the purchased meat was delivered to waiting vans
0:08:53 > 0:08:57by self-employed porters, otherwise known as bummarees.
0:08:57 > 0:09:01But when the market was forced to modernise to meet EU regulations
0:09:01 > 0:09:04in the mid-nineties, most of these roles became defunct,
0:09:04 > 0:09:08and the union's power diminished, along with its members.
0:09:08 > 0:09:14Many of the old guards still mourn the loss of the golden age of Smithfield.
0:09:14 > 0:09:19They paid all the pitchers and fullerbacks 20 grand to leave the market,
0:09:19 > 0:09:21and that was the end of the union, that was it.
0:09:21 > 0:09:23It was a big change, because years ago it was a laugh,
0:09:23 > 0:09:26it used to be absolute... a laugh a minute.
0:09:28 > 0:09:29But for Biffo's boss, John,
0:09:29 > 0:09:33there was nothing funny about the union's dominance of the market.
0:09:35 > 0:09:39A lot of people in Smithfield 20, 30 years ago,
0:09:39 > 0:09:41didn't consider they worked for the company,
0:09:41 > 0:09:45they almost felt as if they worked for the union.
0:09:45 > 0:09:48And, um, thankfully, those days are gone now.
0:09:48 > 0:09:51With the modernisation of the market,
0:09:51 > 0:09:55the 21st century is bringing new faces and new ways to Smithfield,
0:09:55 > 0:09:57whether it likes it or not.
0:09:59 > 0:10:00At JF Edwards, single mother Dee
0:10:00 > 0:10:04is the first woman ever to take the 2-8am shift
0:10:04 > 0:10:07amongst the meat cutters at the back.
0:10:08 > 0:10:11How long have you been working down here, Dee?
0:10:11 > 0:10:12Six months, yeah.
0:10:14 > 0:10:18- How did you end up at the market? - I was a housewife,
0:10:18 > 0:10:20I was a stay-at-home mum for nearly ten years,
0:10:20 > 0:10:23and I literally couldn't find any... no-one would employ me.
0:10:23 > 0:10:25SHE LAUGHS
0:10:25 > 0:10:28And I know John, our manager, and he said,
0:10:28 > 0:10:33"If you want to come down and try it, you're quite happy to do so,"
0:10:33 > 0:10:35and I've been here ever since.
0:10:35 > 0:10:39The amount of men's a bit daunting, first of all, really,
0:10:39 > 0:10:44but they're all quite nice, really. Very nice boss, he's very fair.
0:10:45 > 0:10:47They're all OK.
0:10:47 > 0:10:49How do I do here, Ken, am I OK?
0:10:52 > 0:10:54Have you had women here before?
0:10:54 > 0:10:55- No.- No.
0:10:55 > 0:10:57We've had a few salesmen,
0:10:57 > 0:11:00but nothing on the back site, on the actual physical side of it.
0:11:00 > 0:11:05- Yeah, I'm unique. - As far as I know, you're the first.
0:11:05 > 0:11:07They don't like early mornings,
0:11:07 > 0:11:10they don't like handling bloody stuff and, um...
0:11:11 > 0:11:15I mean, it's heavy work, it can get heavy, so...
0:11:16 > 0:11:19- It's cos I'm special!- In the olden days it was a men-only domain.
0:11:19 > 0:11:22Yeah, there would never have been a woman here,
0:11:22 > 0:11:25- I'd have been sold as a wife, wouldn't I?- Yeah, sold as slaves.
0:11:25 > 0:11:28Do you think people will be turning in their graves?
0:11:28 > 0:11:29I would think so, yeah.
0:11:31 > 0:11:32You stop that right now.
0:11:32 > 0:11:36- I beg your pardon?- I bet you really couldn't wait to do that, could you?
0:11:36 > 0:11:39'My actual female friends, they think I'm quite inspiring
0:11:39 > 0:11:41'for doing it, they're like, "well done".
0:11:41 > 0:11:44'Everyone that I tell what I do is like that, "Oh!"
0:11:44 > 0:11:45'They're a little bit shocked,'
0:11:45 > 0:11:48then they go, "Oh, good for you."
0:11:48 > 0:11:50It's a good thing, it's girl power, I suppose,
0:11:50 > 0:11:52it's all that kind of stuff, really, yeah.
0:11:52 > 0:11:55I don't really mind the shift because I'm available,
0:11:55 > 0:11:59I'm awake all day long, so I can do the house work, see the kids,
0:11:59 > 0:12:02cook the dinners. It actually suits me to do this.
0:12:02 > 0:12:04So, when do you sleep?
0:12:04 > 0:12:06Seven or eight o'clock tomorrow night.
0:12:06 > 0:12:10Yeah, for four and a half hours. I get 25 hours' sleep a week.
0:12:10 > 0:12:12Come Friday, I'm like that.
0:12:12 > 0:12:15I can't go anywhere, I can't do anything,
0:12:15 > 0:12:17because I'm just falling asleep all over the place.
0:12:17 > 0:12:20But it doesn't really bother me cos I'm working,
0:12:20 > 0:12:22that's the main thing - putting food on the table.
0:12:22 > 0:12:24I've got two children to support, yeah.
0:12:26 > 0:12:29Is your idea to stay here and try to build a bit of a career?
0:12:29 > 0:12:31Yeah, I wouldn't mind getting out the front of the shops
0:12:31 > 0:12:34and selling stuff, yeah, dealing with the customers.
0:12:34 > 0:12:36Is there a chance that that can happen?
0:12:36 > 0:12:40Not too sure - who knows. I'm the only woman down here,
0:12:40 > 0:12:43it would be a big thing for them, because everyone else is a man.
0:12:43 > 0:12:45- SHE COUGHS - Excuse me, is a man.
0:12:45 > 0:12:46So, I don't know.
0:12:48 > 0:12:53I mean, I'd hope so, but it's so institutionalised, really,
0:12:53 > 0:12:54I'm not too sure.
0:12:55 > 0:12:58I'd like to say yes, but you never know, do you?
0:12:58 > 0:13:01It could be the one thing that holds me back, I suppose.
0:13:05 > 0:13:09Breaking into sales will certainly be a challenge for Dee.
0:13:09 > 0:13:12As well as selling to those outside the market,
0:13:12 > 0:13:15some of the toughest negotiations are between the traders themselves,
0:13:15 > 0:13:17who buy and sell to each other
0:13:17 > 0:13:20so they can meet their customers' orders.
0:13:20 > 0:13:23Warman & Guttridge has a market monopoly on mince production,
0:13:23 > 0:13:28and for Norman, negotiating price with the other traders
0:13:28 > 0:13:30can test relationships to their limit.
0:13:30 > 0:13:34Cost you five pound a kilo, I told you yesterday, you ain't getting it at 4.40.
0:13:34 > 0:13:36- I got told 4.40 yesterday. - Well, who served you?
0:13:36 > 0:13:39- Andy.- Who's Andy?
0:13:39 > 0:13:41My Andy came up...
0:13:41 > 0:13:44Well, tell him, who, who served you?
0:13:45 > 0:13:47You ain't paying 4.40 for best mince.
0:13:47 > 0:13:51It's as easy as that, five pound a kilo.
0:13:51 > 0:13:53I'll tell you what, you fucking moron.
0:13:53 > 0:14:00- I tell you what, I fucking...what do you mean?- Don't, don't!
0:14:00 > 0:14:05- You want to get trappy, get trappy. - I'm joking.- Don't fucking joke.
0:14:05 > 0:14:07What's the matter with you?
0:14:07 > 0:14:09Norman?
0:14:09 > 0:14:13Don't fucking... You fuck off, just fuck off.
0:14:13 > 0:14:15I'm going up that way.
0:14:19 > 0:14:22Sometimes things get to you and sometimes they don't!
0:14:22 > 0:14:25He wants best meat for silly money - that's not the point,
0:14:25 > 0:14:26it's just the principle of it,
0:14:26 > 0:14:29we don't sell best mince at under five pound a kilo,
0:14:29 > 0:14:31he's telling me he paid £4.40 for it.
0:14:31 > 0:14:35He was adamant, so, that's what he got for his sauce.
0:14:37 > 0:14:39I don't think I'd serve him again.
0:14:39 > 0:14:41I might have lost him.
0:14:42 > 0:14:45Not that I'm too worried about it, so...
0:14:45 > 0:14:47Norman's boss is Mark,
0:14:47 > 0:14:50who took the business over from his dad a few years back,
0:14:50 > 0:14:54after his ambitions to become a golf pro failed to take off.
0:14:54 > 0:14:58But establishing himself as part of a new generation,
0:14:58 > 0:15:02with new ideas for Smithfield, has been far from plain sailing.
0:15:02 > 0:15:04'When I first started out,
0:15:04 > 0:15:07'Norman never gave me the time of day, not at all.
0:15:07 > 0:15:11'But, to be fair to him, you know, I didn't know anything.
0:15:11 > 0:15:15'You kind of have to be here a little while to know how you work,'
0:15:15 > 0:15:17and to build the respect of these guys
0:15:17 > 0:15:19that have been down here 40 years,
0:15:19 > 0:15:22to kind of earn their respect, do you know what I mean?
0:15:22 > 0:15:25It's not like you can just come here,
0:15:25 > 0:15:29and after ten minutes, everyone's going, "Oh, you're the boss."
0:15:29 > 0:15:34I suppose it's like any job, to a certain degree.
0:15:34 > 0:15:39If you're the new man, especially if you're the boss' son,
0:15:39 > 0:15:44then you've got to kind of get their respect, really.
0:15:47 > 0:15:51Three shops down from Mark, at James Burden's stand,
0:15:51 > 0:15:53new shop boy Anthony is trying to find his place
0:15:53 > 0:15:56in the hidden, twilight world of Smithfield.
0:15:56 > 0:15:59His boss, Jason, believes he's worthy to join the ranks,
0:15:59 > 0:16:04and is planning an initiation ceremony that's as old as the market itself.
0:16:07 > 0:16:11He's been with us three months, works in a man's market,
0:16:11 > 0:16:15and, because it's quite a closed market, as you can well imagine,
0:16:15 > 0:16:17and we all work closely with each other,
0:16:17 > 0:16:20we see the same people day in, day out.
0:16:21 > 0:16:23And, um, yeah, you form some good friendships,
0:16:23 > 0:16:27because it is an obscure place to work, as most markets are.
0:16:27 > 0:16:32And, um, for a new kid, young kid as well, it's quite daunting.
0:16:32 > 0:16:34As long as he takes it like a man,
0:16:34 > 0:16:37we will, equally, respect him for that.
0:16:39 > 0:16:42Everyone's been gearing themselves up with various rotten products,
0:16:42 > 0:16:46eggs and blood and offal, all bagged up, ready to go.
0:16:46 > 0:16:49Smells lovely, I can tell you that.
0:16:49 > 0:16:51Just need him to come out, and we're going to get him.
0:16:53 > 0:16:54Mate, that is cold.
0:16:56 > 0:17:01It's happened for decades, had it done myself, many years ago.
0:17:01 > 0:17:03No sympathy here.
0:17:03 > 0:17:04Wa-hey!
0:17:04 > 0:17:06LAUGHTER
0:17:11 > 0:17:16LAUGHTER AND SHOUTING
0:17:16 > 0:17:19Oh!
0:17:25 > 0:17:30LAUGHTER
0:17:46 > 0:17:48Go on, get in the road.
0:17:53 > 0:17:55HORN TOOTS
0:17:55 > 0:17:58'You get people that I didn't even know coming up to you and saying,
0:17:58 > 0:18:01'"Oh, well done for that, you took that really well."
0:18:01 > 0:18:04'You start becoming part of their little family, I suppose.
0:18:04 > 0:18:07'It's nice to feel like this is like a little home.'
0:18:07 > 0:18:08What about the rest of your life,
0:18:08 > 0:18:11what about your friends who work normal hours?
0:18:11 > 0:18:13Well, it's a bit hard to, sort of, stay in contact,
0:18:13 > 0:18:16cos obviously they're working days, I'm working nights.
0:18:16 > 0:18:19I've got friends here now,
0:18:19 > 0:18:22so, it's no big loss, I suppose.
0:18:27 > 0:18:31There are other new faces entering the traditional world of Smithfield
0:18:31 > 0:18:33and adapting to its peculiar ways.
0:18:34 > 0:18:38At 2.30 in the morning, six miles away in north London, Mark,
0:18:38 > 0:18:40otherwise known as Marky Markets,
0:18:40 > 0:18:42sets out on his hunt for the best cuts of meat
0:18:42 > 0:18:44at the best possible prices.
0:18:48 > 0:18:51With his pioneering use of social media,
0:18:51 > 0:18:53Mark is a personal shopper for trendy Londoners
0:18:53 > 0:18:56who like the idea of fresh market meat,
0:18:56 > 0:18:58but not the unsociable shopping hours.
0:19:02 > 0:19:06'You get hold of me on Twitter, email, phone me,
0:19:06 > 0:19:09'tell me what you want, and I go and buy it to order
0:19:09 > 0:19:10'for you at the market.'
0:19:12 > 0:19:15Armed with the skills his 25 years in advertising taught him
0:19:15 > 0:19:18about promoting a new business,
0:19:18 > 0:19:19Mark traded in his daylight career
0:19:19 > 0:19:22for the nocturnal world of the market.
0:19:22 > 0:19:26It's a completely different world, no-one else is up around -
0:19:26 > 0:19:29well, there's clubbers, and that sort of thing.
0:19:29 > 0:19:32But even though they're up at the same time,
0:19:32 > 0:19:36they're on opposite sides of the street, literally and metaphorically.
0:19:36 > 0:19:40They see through each other, those drinkers and the butchers,
0:19:40 > 0:19:41they never mix.
0:19:41 > 0:19:45So, yes, this Smithfield world is a whole new world,
0:19:45 > 0:19:47it's really exciting.
0:19:52 > 0:19:55Have you got any bavette?
0:19:55 > 0:19:58- Yes.- Just the two kilo bag of that.
0:19:58 > 0:20:00- Two bag, yeah?- Yeah.
0:20:00 > 0:20:03Comes to £24, yes? Thank you.
0:20:03 > 0:20:05- A kilo of that, as well.- A kilo?
0:20:05 > 0:20:06Just a kilo, yeah.
0:20:09 > 0:20:11'It's quite scary going down the first time,
0:20:11 > 0:20:16'you feel you have to earn your place in the market.'
0:20:16 > 0:20:18- Pork mince?- Yes.- £14 a bag, darling.
0:20:18 > 0:20:21'It's a bit odd, the way that you feel a bit happier than it really warrants
0:20:21 > 0:20:24'when you get a nod or a hello off a butcher in the morning.
0:20:24 > 0:20:28'You think, "Oh, I've arrived! I've just got a nod off a butcher."'
0:20:28 > 0:20:30See you later.
0:20:30 > 0:20:33Just give us the smallest shoulder, neck end, that you've got,
0:20:33 > 0:20:35and then a neck end, boned out.
0:20:35 > 0:20:36'I do get better prices.
0:20:36 > 0:20:40'When I happen to be standing next to somebody who orders the same as me,'
0:20:40 > 0:20:44I realise that I've been offered a better price.
0:20:44 > 0:20:47So, that's quite nice.
0:20:47 > 0:20:50I forgot, I need a kilo of sirloin, please.
0:20:50 > 0:20:52- You're fucking useless, aren't you? - I know!
0:20:52 > 0:20:54I haven't had any coffee though.
0:20:54 > 0:20:56You've got a great, big book there, and you still...
0:20:56 > 0:20:59It was right at the end in little writing.
0:20:59 > 0:21:02Do it like a grown up, then, write big writing, yeah?
0:21:02 > 0:21:03Yes, Dad(!)
0:21:03 > 0:21:06What sort of mark up are you able to make?
0:21:06 > 0:21:10Um, generally, about 30%, I think.
0:21:10 > 0:21:15I make sure that I can stay competitive, really.
0:21:15 > 0:21:18Right, do you want to check your list, see if there's anything else?
0:21:18 > 0:21:21- Nothing else.- You sure?- Definitely.
0:21:24 > 0:21:30'It's so macho down there, it's all just jab, big, old, bald headed guys.
0:21:30 > 0:21:32'They've got knives!'
0:21:32 > 0:21:36They've got knives and chain mail gloves, they're big fellas,
0:21:36 > 0:21:38they've got a very closed shop.
0:21:38 > 0:21:43You know, they all know each other, they all work day in, day out,
0:21:43 > 0:21:46with each other, night in, night out, with each other.
0:21:46 > 0:21:48And they never really see many other people
0:21:48 > 0:21:52outside that small, closed world of Smithfield,
0:21:52 > 0:21:56and so it becomes - I don't mean it derogatively -
0:21:56 > 0:22:00but it seems like a bit of a playground mentality.
0:22:00 > 0:22:02You can see there's gangs, you know?
0:22:02 > 0:22:06'There is so little influence of women down there.
0:22:06 > 0:22:08'There are women down there,
0:22:08 > 0:22:12'but you notice them because there are so few.'
0:22:12 > 0:22:14Hiya, there's a ticket in there for me.
0:22:14 > 0:22:18- £28.63.- My mum made me promise to show.
0:22:19 > 0:22:22- Thanks very much. - Thanks, see you later.
0:22:23 > 0:22:26Of the half dozen women working on the market,
0:22:26 > 0:22:30almost all are cocooned in porta cabins working as cashiers.
0:22:30 > 0:22:34Jo's been sat in hers for the last three years.
0:22:34 > 0:22:37'Once I actually got in my little cabin and I was safe,
0:22:37 > 0:22:40'yeah, I loved it from the word go.'
0:22:40 > 0:22:43But you have still got to be a woman up here,
0:22:43 > 0:22:47you have still got to have that respect,
0:22:47 > 0:22:51and, as I say, 98%, they show me respect as a woman up here,
0:22:51 > 0:22:53and that's important to me,
0:22:53 > 0:22:56you know, I don't want to be treated like one of the blokes.
0:22:56 > 0:23:00Um, but the banter's good, I like the banter.
0:23:00 > 0:23:03Loads of innuendos, but, again, you have to stay one step ahead of it,
0:23:03 > 0:23:07and they know that they don't break the line.
0:23:07 > 0:23:11They know how far to go with the innuendo, um,
0:23:11 > 0:23:14and they tend to stick to it.
0:23:14 > 0:23:15They know the rules
0:23:15 > 0:23:19and you lay them down very, very firmly to start with.
0:23:19 > 0:23:20How do you do that?
0:23:20 > 0:23:23Um, if it's inappropriate, you tell them.
0:23:23 > 0:23:25You say, cut it out, that's enough.
0:23:25 > 0:23:27Dee's duties, meanwhile, have been extended
0:23:27 > 0:23:31to include washing down the display cabinets at the front of the shop,
0:23:31 > 0:23:36which is bringing her into contact with more of the men on the market.
0:23:38 > 0:23:40Let's see my next picture then.
0:23:40 > 0:23:42SHE LAUGHS
0:23:42 > 0:23:45Did you really take that just for me?
0:23:45 > 0:23:46You look beautiful.
0:23:46 > 0:23:50- You've got to give as good as you get, huh?- Yeah, down here you do, definitely.
0:23:51 > 0:23:54One of them, the man who was just showing me the pictures
0:23:54 > 0:23:57was him in a pair of red sequinned pants and a Santa hat,
0:23:57 > 0:24:00and that's what the picture was.
0:24:00 > 0:24:03The other day, he had one of him in a sombrero and not much else.
0:24:05 > 0:24:10- There you go, mate, all right? - Ta.- Thanks a lot.
0:24:11 > 0:24:13With the night fast turning to day,
0:24:13 > 0:24:17Mark, like Smithfield's other customers, is in a rush to get away
0:24:17 > 0:24:23before the 7am congestion charge kicks in, and adds £10 to his costs.
0:24:24 > 0:24:26For Steve and Norman,
0:24:26 > 0:24:29the charge is yet another blow to the changing fortunes of the market.
0:24:29 > 0:24:32That's about it, now the congestion charge is hitting in, off they go.
0:24:32 > 0:24:34Seven o'clock.
0:24:34 > 0:24:37Party's over. We used to stand here at ten o'clock,
0:24:37 > 0:24:40people still coming by, ten o'clock. As soon as that come in -
0:24:40 > 0:24:44what, five or six years ago now? - straight out the window.
0:24:44 > 0:24:48It's that Ken Livingstone for you - brains of a rocking horse, the boy.
0:24:48 > 0:24:50Unbelievable.
0:25:03 > 0:25:06'I use the tube with my trolley,
0:25:06 > 0:25:08'freezer blocks and chiller boxes,
0:25:08 > 0:25:14'and, yeah, deliver it as soon as I can to people's offices.'
0:25:14 > 0:25:16Excuse me, sorry.
0:25:16 > 0:25:17'Of course, there are some overs
0:25:17 > 0:25:20'because there are minimum amounts I have to buy,
0:25:20 > 0:25:23'and so if there's any spare, that's when I get on Twitter
0:25:23 > 0:25:28'and really use social media and sell the overs down at my Soho office.'
0:25:41 > 0:25:49# Santa baby just slip a sable under the tree for me...#
0:25:50 > 0:25:55In the week before Christmas, the market is pulling in the punters,
0:25:55 > 0:25:59much to the relief of the traders, who need to make enough money now
0:25:59 > 0:26:02to cover the lean months of January and February.
0:26:02 > 0:26:04You'd think these people haven't ate for a year.
0:26:04 > 0:26:05You can't move out there.
0:26:05 > 0:26:09It's like it every year, but there's no money about in the country,
0:26:09 > 0:26:11they keep telling us.
0:26:12 > 0:26:16What do you think when you see people buying all that much meat?
0:26:16 > 0:26:17I just laugh.
0:26:17 > 0:26:19Do you think they need it, or are they just buying it?
0:26:19 > 0:26:21Nah, they just... I don't know,
0:26:21 > 0:26:23I think half of it's just greed, isn't it?
0:26:25 > 0:26:27For Biffo's boss, John,
0:26:27 > 0:26:31the hoards are a reminder of the market's glory days
0:26:31 > 0:26:33before its fortunes began to change,
0:26:33 > 0:26:36along with the changing face of London.
0:26:36 > 0:26:38Going back to when I started in '66,
0:26:38 > 0:26:41it was a whole different scenario up here.
0:26:41 > 0:26:45The market was an absolute hive of activity,
0:26:45 > 0:26:48ten o'clock in the morning, you couldn't move.
0:26:48 > 0:26:52There'd be barrows and people and lorries and vehicles -
0:26:52 > 0:26:57the place was a real, real hive of activity.
0:26:57 > 0:26:58But everything changes.
0:26:58 > 0:27:02The supermarkets, for instance, they don't trade with us now.
0:27:02 > 0:27:06I mean, back in '66, everything came through Smithfield market,
0:27:06 > 0:27:09certainly in the South East and the home counties,
0:27:09 > 0:27:11every stick of meat, every ounce of meat,
0:27:11 > 0:27:13went through Smithfield market,
0:27:13 > 0:27:16and, obviously, the supermarkets are much, much bigger now
0:27:16 > 0:27:17than they were in '66.
0:27:25 > 0:27:27Do you like Christmas?
0:27:27 > 0:27:29No, I don't.
0:27:29 > 0:27:32Ever since my mum died, I've got no interest in it, really.
0:27:32 > 0:27:35It's just for the kids, isn't it?
0:27:36 > 0:27:37When did she die?
0:27:37 > 0:27:40Oh, God, '75 she died, probably.
0:27:42 > 0:27:44My brother got killed when he was 14.
0:27:45 > 0:27:47On the back of a motorbike.
0:27:48 > 0:27:50But you just lose interest, really.
0:27:50 > 0:27:53Your mum's your best mate, isn't she? When you think about it.
0:27:53 > 0:27:55Just nipping off, I'll be two seconds.
0:28:02 > 0:28:06She used to go to me, "You'll never learn, will you?" I said, "Nah".
0:28:06 > 0:28:10I was always in trouble, always in fights and whatever.
0:28:10 > 0:28:13When you first started here, were you still that way?
0:28:13 > 0:28:15Were you still angry?
0:28:15 > 0:28:19I remember when I started here, I was known as "Stuart with the black eye".
0:28:19 > 0:28:21It wasn't my left eye, it was my right eye.
0:28:23 > 0:28:25That's how I got my name, Biffo.
0:28:25 > 0:28:28All the geezers used to laugh, "Here he comes,
0:28:28 > 0:28:30"see what he's got wrong today."
0:28:31 > 0:28:34I'm not saying I won them all - won a few, lost a few.
0:28:36 > 0:28:38Have you mellowed out a bit now?
0:28:38 > 0:28:41Yeah, I've got to now, I'm only 21.
0:28:41 > 0:28:42HE CHUCKLES
0:28:42 > 0:28:45With the hectic Christmas rush soon to be over,
0:28:45 > 0:28:50most of the traders are looking forward to a restful four-day break over the holidays.
0:28:50 > 0:28:54We are, officially, opening Christmas Eve,
0:28:54 > 0:28:58but I can tell you now, both of my companies won't be open.
0:28:58 > 0:28:59If we haven't made it by Friday,
0:28:59 > 0:29:02I'm not going to drag people here
0:29:02 > 0:29:05on a Christmas Eve, on a Saturday - forget it.
0:29:05 > 0:29:10I'll leave that to one or two of our other more cold and hungry traders.
0:29:15 > 0:29:18The annual Christmas Eve auction is yet another Smithfield tradition,
0:29:18 > 0:29:20originally created to shift stock
0:29:20 > 0:29:23that might otherwise languish over the holidays.
0:29:23 > 0:29:26It's a bargain hunters' bonanza, while at the same time
0:29:26 > 0:29:29generating a tidy profit for Greg Lawrence,
0:29:29 > 0:29:33the only Smithfield trader open for business on Christmas Eve.
0:29:33 > 0:29:36Have the money ready, there's no change on these,
0:29:36 > 0:29:39there's no change, these are whole rumps.
0:29:39 > 0:29:44You cannot beat the value, one price only, get ready, £20.
0:29:44 > 0:29:47SHOUTING
0:29:51 > 0:29:53Yes, one of you.
0:29:53 > 0:29:55One here, one here.
0:29:55 > 0:29:58One at a time!
0:30:01 > 0:30:04Money ready, one at a time.
0:30:04 > 0:30:07One, only one, I can only have one at a time.
0:30:07 > 0:30:11SHOUTING
0:30:12 > 0:30:16One price, and one price only, £20 a bird.
0:30:16 > 0:30:19Well, we're just buying for about four families
0:30:19 > 0:30:22and about six chest freezers, meat for a year.
0:30:22 > 0:30:23Oh, it's for the year?
0:30:23 > 0:30:25Yeah, yeah, yeah.
0:30:25 > 0:30:28So, we won't have to go to the butchers again for a year,
0:30:28 > 0:30:30- and we're here every year. - Every Christmas?- Yes.
0:30:30 > 0:30:34It's a slick operation now, we've got buyers, we've got some carriers,
0:30:34 > 0:30:37- and we're guarding the meat. - Do you use the market otherwise?
0:30:37 > 0:30:41No, not personally, no.
0:30:41 > 0:30:44Do you think we need to, do you really think we need to use the meat market otherwise?
0:30:44 > 0:30:47We don't buy meat in the year!
0:30:47 > 0:30:49£20.
0:30:49 > 0:30:53Come here, quick, got to take the angry bird, what a deal, what a deal.
0:30:53 > 0:30:58What a deal, what a deal! What a deal, what a deal!
0:30:58 > 0:31:01Take it, take it.
0:31:01 > 0:31:05A seasoned market man, Greg's perfected the mix of showmanship
0:31:05 > 0:31:09and innovative sales technique that keeps the money pouring in.
0:31:09 > 0:31:14- If you win the toss, you get that for nothing.- Nothing!- Nothing!
0:31:14 > 0:31:15If you win the toss.
0:31:15 > 0:31:19If you lose the toss, you've got to give me 20 quid. Who wants a bet?
0:31:19 > 0:31:21Right, here we go, who's first?
0:31:21 > 0:31:23Right, that gentleman there.
0:31:23 > 0:31:26Hold on, this gentleman is the witness on the call.
0:31:26 > 0:31:27Ready, here we go.
0:31:27 > 0:31:31- Tails.- It's tails! Give him the loin of pork.
0:31:31 > 0:31:34CHEERING
0:31:34 > 0:31:39That man there is the next man, ready? Here we go, here we go.
0:31:39 > 0:31:42- Heads or tails?- I'll have a head. - Heads, what is it, sir?- It's tales!
0:31:42 > 0:31:44Give me 20 quid.
0:31:44 > 0:31:45CROWD: Aww!
0:31:45 > 0:31:48It's been a very good Christmas, an excellent Christmas,
0:31:48 > 0:31:50there's nothing better than taking money.
0:31:50 > 0:31:54You've got to keep taking the money, our motto is keep taking the money.
0:31:54 > 0:31:56If they're ready, if they want to buy goods,
0:31:56 > 0:31:58we've got the goods for them. You must keep taking the money,
0:31:58 > 0:32:01because we'll suffer in January and February,
0:32:01 > 0:32:03because it's the quiet period.
0:32:05 > 0:32:09I think 2012 and 2013 will be very, very difficult,
0:32:09 > 0:32:13I think people will be more cautious in spending.
0:32:13 > 0:32:16I think they'll be more, not only cautious, but more wiser in spending,
0:32:16 > 0:32:20and we're going to be in for a very, very difficult time, I really do.
0:32:24 > 0:32:25As the new year commences,
0:32:25 > 0:32:29refrigerators at Smithfield are in need of replenishing,
0:32:29 > 0:32:33and Greg Lawrence has placed an order for 320 of Devon's finest lambs.
0:32:34 > 0:32:37Bring them along, bring them along, bring them along.
0:32:46 > 0:32:48Right, the lambs came in during the course of the evening,
0:32:48 > 0:32:52we've killed 480 this morning.
0:32:52 > 0:32:54We kill about 215 hour,
0:32:54 > 0:32:57so they're all dead by nine o'clock, put in the chiller.
0:32:57 > 0:33:01Later on this morning they'll be selected for various customers,
0:33:01 > 0:33:03and loaded tomorrow morning
0:33:03 > 0:33:06and dispatched to Smithfield on Sunday night.
0:33:15 > 0:33:17Peter owns West Devon Meats,
0:33:17 > 0:33:20an abattoir that's been supplying beef and lamb to Smithfield
0:33:20 > 0:33:22for over 30 years.
0:33:23 > 0:33:27This lamb here is an ideal... The grade is a U3L,
0:33:27 > 0:33:30and that is an ideal lamb for butchers or wholesalers.
0:33:30 > 0:33:34Weighs 19 kilos, you can see how rounded it is,
0:33:34 > 0:33:37and it's just got a nice covering of fat on it.
0:33:37 > 0:33:41There's one that's a bad confirmation - in other words,
0:33:41 > 0:33:44it hasn't got the shape there - there's two there -
0:33:44 > 0:33:45it hasn't got the shape,
0:33:45 > 0:33:49there's no roundness in the legs, and that's in the breeding.
0:33:49 > 0:33:53We will pay less for them, and we'll sell them for less money as well.
0:33:56 > 0:33:59With the season for new spring lamb just around the corner,
0:33:59 > 0:34:02the profit in year-old lamb, or hoggets, is slim.
0:34:03 > 0:34:07At the moment we would be paying four pounds a kilo for it,
0:34:07 > 0:34:12and we wouldn't be making much more than four pound a kilo for it either.
0:34:12 > 0:34:18So, we're reliant on the skins, which is our profit margin.
0:34:19 > 0:34:24- You make no profit from the carcasses?- No, no, not at this precise moment.
0:34:24 > 0:34:25That seems incredible.
0:34:25 > 0:34:27Yeah, it is.
0:34:27 > 0:34:29Unfortunately, that's the way the trade is at the moment -
0:34:29 > 0:34:32the offal sells separately, the liver, the heart.
0:34:32 > 0:34:34Then, of course, you've got your runner,
0:34:34 > 0:34:37which is sold for sausage skins, that's all sold separately.
0:34:37 > 0:34:41And what kind of money can you make from that?
0:34:41 > 0:34:42That's my business!
0:34:46 > 0:34:49As someone who's been supplying meat to Smithfield
0:34:49 > 0:34:50for the past three decades,
0:34:50 > 0:34:53Peter is well placed to see what its future may hold.
0:34:55 > 0:34:58I think they're under threat with where they're situated,
0:34:58 > 0:35:02to start with. Smithfield market has always traditionally been
0:35:02 > 0:35:06in the middle of London, but I think, as time goes on,
0:35:06 > 0:35:10they need to relocate to the outskirts of London
0:35:10 > 0:35:12for accessibility - not just for ourselves,
0:35:12 > 0:35:15but for the customers to get in there.
0:35:15 > 0:35:18It would be much better situated in an outside area,
0:35:18 > 0:35:21whether it be Kent, Surrey, Sussex or whatever,
0:35:21 > 0:35:25with accessibility for large vehicles to get to.
0:35:33 > 0:35:37These are lambs that have come in from Devon, West Devon abattoir.
0:35:37 > 0:35:44These are good lambs, perfect lambs, perfect shape.
0:35:44 > 0:35:49The price finds its level, it's all to do with supply and demand.
0:35:49 > 0:35:51Legs of lamb, for example,
0:35:51 > 0:35:55could start off this morning at 5.50 a kilo,
0:35:55 > 0:35:58and within an hour, they could reach 6.50 a kilo.
0:35:58 > 0:36:00It all depends on the demand, and you get the feel of it,
0:36:00 > 0:36:02it's just like any other market.
0:36:03 > 0:36:06Though a relative newcomer compared to Greg,
0:36:06 > 0:36:09Mark from Warman & Guttridge has been quick to learn how the meat trade works.
0:36:09 > 0:36:14'Everyone's got their own sort of margin that they work to.'
0:36:14 > 0:36:15To a certain degree.
0:36:15 > 0:36:18Really, it depends on what you've bought, and what you can sell.
0:36:18 > 0:36:21Some of the really expensive stuff, you don't make hardly anything on it.
0:36:21 > 0:36:25You know, you're lucky to get 5%, if you're lucky.
0:36:25 > 0:36:28On some of the more valuable stuff like the fillets,
0:36:28 > 0:36:32some of the old strip loins, the rib eyes, that sort of thing.
0:36:32 > 0:36:38But, obviously, when the country's in, like, a recession -
0:36:38 > 0:36:43and it does make a bit of a difference - people haven't got the money, so...
0:36:43 > 0:36:46We've noticed this year that your margins are, obviously, lower,
0:36:46 > 0:36:49because you've still got to sell the stuff,
0:36:49 > 0:36:52to get it away you've got to drop your margin a little bit, you know?
0:36:55 > 0:36:58Apart from dealing with a squeeze on profit margins,
0:36:58 > 0:37:02the Smithfield traders are now also facing the prospect of a hike in rent,
0:37:02 > 0:37:04in keeping with other central London properties.
0:37:04 > 0:37:06As far as Mark's concerned,
0:37:06 > 0:37:11it might be time to consider joining the city's fish and fruit and veg markets
0:37:11 > 0:37:14that have already moved to the outskirts.
0:37:14 > 0:37:17I think we'll move to a different venue.
0:37:17 > 0:37:20You know, we're in the centre of London,
0:37:20 > 0:37:22there's great, big artics lurking about,
0:37:22 > 0:37:24and it's not an easy place to get in and out of.
0:37:26 > 0:37:29And what would become of this amazing building,
0:37:29 > 0:37:32- and all the history?- They'd make it into little shops, wouldn't they?
0:37:32 > 0:37:35Little, boutique-y type shops, I'm sure.
0:37:35 > 0:37:37Rent it out for a fortune,
0:37:37 > 0:37:39because the property's worth a fortune, isn't it?
0:37:39 > 0:37:42You know, let's not kid ourselves, it's worth big, big money.
0:37:42 > 0:37:44They don't - City of London -
0:37:44 > 0:37:46probably don't want us here for a certain degree.
0:37:46 > 0:37:49I wouldn't have thought they'd have wanted us here.
0:37:49 > 0:37:52Making all this rubbish, making all this mess, making all this... you know.
0:37:52 > 0:37:56All this...they want it to be...
0:37:56 > 0:37:59so, it's not so busy, I'm thinking.
0:37:59 > 0:38:01So, you wouldn't be sad to go?
0:38:01 > 0:38:03Personally, no.
0:38:03 > 0:38:07I'm sure some people would be, but, no,
0:38:07 > 0:38:10cos I can see the benefits of moving somewhere
0:38:10 > 0:38:13that would benefit our company.
0:38:13 > 0:38:15But for others on the market,
0:38:15 > 0:38:18any strides to improve on the original Smithfield
0:38:18 > 0:38:20have been backwards ones.
0:38:20 > 0:38:22Steve Thompson, a beef cutter at Central Meats,
0:38:22 > 0:38:26has spent his whole working life in the London meat trade.
0:38:26 > 0:38:29If you could have seen Smithfield before they developed it,
0:38:29 > 0:38:34or made it into what it is now, it was a much, much better market.
0:38:36 > 0:38:37Why do you think that?
0:38:37 > 0:38:41Oh, it was much easier to work, it was all open, um,
0:38:41 > 0:38:44and don't quote me on this,
0:38:44 > 0:38:48but I think the new market was designed by a woman, and it shows.
0:38:48 > 0:38:50Cos she has not got a clue.
0:38:50 > 0:38:52Why do you say that?
0:38:52 > 0:38:55Because it isn't built for what we do.
0:38:55 > 0:38:59I mean, it's completely different from what it was years ago,
0:38:59 > 0:39:01but it's still a unique place, as such.
0:39:03 > 0:39:07Eventually, this place will go, and it will never be replaced.
0:39:07 > 0:39:11I don't think they'll be able to duplicate this sort of environment,
0:39:11 > 0:39:15you know? Hopefully, they won't get a woman to design it this time,
0:39:15 > 0:39:17they'll design it properly.
0:39:17 > 0:39:19Despite all the talk of change,
0:39:19 > 0:39:23Smithfield's been the one thing that has remained constant in Norman's life,
0:39:23 > 0:39:26and it's something he'll find hard to give up.
0:39:26 > 0:39:31This is not like a job, it's a way of life, always been that way.
0:39:31 > 0:39:33How long have you been in Smithfield now, then?
0:39:33 > 0:39:36Uh, May '61.
0:39:39 > 0:39:4350, 51 years this May.
0:39:43 > 0:39:46There used to be a shop where that tobacconist is now,
0:39:46 > 0:39:52used to have a heads shop, just for heads, calf heads, lamb heads.
0:39:52 > 0:39:54I said, are there any jobs?
0:39:54 > 0:39:55Got the job.
0:39:55 > 0:39:58Walked in the shop, all it was was heads,
0:39:58 > 0:40:01heads all over the floor, just heads.
0:40:01 > 0:40:05All had the hair on, all full of blood and maggots and everything,
0:40:05 > 0:40:07you name it, it was there.
0:40:07 > 0:40:11Anyway, I picked one up, I didn't want to touch it,
0:40:11 > 0:40:13just didn't want to touch it.
0:40:16 > 0:40:18Being as I was only 16,
0:40:18 > 0:40:21you have two years to have yourself an apprenticeship.
0:40:21 > 0:40:24By the time you're 18, you're big enough to carry the carcasses.
0:40:24 > 0:40:26Are you going to be here for a long time more?
0:40:26 > 0:40:29Well, he don't want me to go, the guv'nor.
0:40:30 > 0:40:33Whenever. It's not a problem.
0:40:33 > 0:40:36He's been with me for goodness knows how many years.
0:40:36 > 0:40:39I'd never force it upon himself. If he said to me one day, "Mark,
0:40:39 > 0:40:41"I just want to cut back,"
0:40:41 > 0:40:42no problem.
0:40:42 > 0:40:45If you want to stop it all together, not a problem.
0:40:45 > 0:40:47I'm 67.
0:40:49 > 0:40:52This Thursday. First of March.
0:40:52 > 0:40:53Happy birthday.
0:40:53 > 0:40:56But I'm not going to be here forever,
0:40:56 > 0:40:59but while I'm fit and healthy,
0:40:59 > 0:41:03I'm pleased to come here with the lads.
0:41:03 > 0:41:05You can have a chuckle.
0:41:06 > 0:41:08Not physically hard, or nothing.
0:41:08 > 0:41:12While I'm still fit and can do the job for him, it helps them out.
0:41:12 > 0:41:14Helps everyone out.
0:41:14 > 0:41:17I'd only get bored indoors, anyway.
0:41:17 > 0:41:19It's a funny old job.
0:41:19 > 0:41:23You get these people that just can't leave.
0:41:23 > 0:41:26They're sort of like working all the time.
0:41:26 > 0:41:30Norman - a little while ago, his wife passed away.
0:41:30 > 0:41:33And I think sometimes he comes up here
0:41:33 > 0:41:35just to see all his mates, really.
0:41:35 > 0:41:37- Companionship?- Yeah, yeah.
0:41:37 > 0:41:3962, she was. Brain tumour.
0:41:39 > 0:41:41Just out the blue.
0:41:41 > 0:41:45Couple of weeks, it was all over.
0:41:45 > 0:41:46There you go.
0:41:46 > 0:41:48It must have been a terrible shock?
0:41:48 > 0:41:50Yeah. Oh, it was. Yeah.
0:41:50 > 0:41:52How was it facing in here?
0:41:52 > 0:41:54It was all right.
0:41:54 > 0:41:57Get over it, don't you? Life goes on, as they say.
0:41:57 > 0:41:59Distract yourself with it?
0:41:59 > 0:42:01Yeah. Yeah.
0:42:01 > 0:42:05It's no good sitting around moping, is it? Nothing's going to change.
0:42:05 > 0:42:07Just carry on.
0:42:07 > 0:42:09- Do you miss her?- Oh, yeah.
0:42:09 > 0:42:11I must go.
0:42:16 > 0:42:20After a life devoted to Smithfield,
0:42:20 > 0:42:23leaving it for a daylight existence can be daunting.
0:42:23 > 0:42:26With 42 years under his belt as a Smithfield man,
0:42:26 > 0:42:28Terry - one of Greg Lawrence's salesmen -
0:42:28 > 0:42:30is on the cusp of retirement.
0:42:30 > 0:42:32'Funny thing when you're going to retire.
0:42:32 > 0:42:35'It's a bit scary.
0:42:35 > 0:42:37'When I'm not here, I'll miss it.
0:42:37 > 0:42:40'When I'm here, I think, "What the hell am I doing here,
0:42:40 > 0:42:41'"this time of the morning?"
0:42:41 > 0:42:45'Started off as a humper. I used to hump all the meat all about,'
0:42:45 > 0:42:48then I became a cutter.
0:42:48 > 0:42:50Then I was a salesman
0:42:50 > 0:42:53for about a year.
0:42:53 > 0:42:56Then I had a chance to run me own business here.
0:42:56 > 0:42:57We had four shops.
0:42:59 > 0:43:01Unfortunately,
0:43:01 > 0:43:03I think over about 17 years,
0:43:03 > 0:43:06and I end up - we call it "getting knocked" -
0:43:06 > 0:43:09we got knocked for a lot of money. A hell of a lot.
0:43:09 > 0:43:12I just didn't want to carry on no more.
0:43:12 > 0:43:15So we shut them, parted, and I came to Greg.
0:43:15 > 0:43:19Now, it comes to the time when you can have it easy.
0:43:19 > 0:43:20I play golf. I like gardening,
0:43:20 > 0:43:23but, I don't know,
0:43:23 > 0:43:25I think I'll miss it,
0:43:25 > 0:43:27after 42 years.
0:43:27 > 0:43:29Is your wife looking forward to having you back
0:43:29 > 0:43:31on normal hours again?
0:43:31 > 0:43:34Erm...
0:43:34 > 0:43:36I think so! HE LAUGHS
0:43:40 > 0:43:44- Who's the best looking here? - HE LAUGHS
0:43:44 > 0:43:47While Norman and Terry have clocked up nearly a century's service
0:43:47 > 0:43:50to Smithfield between them,
0:43:50 > 0:43:52it seems the next market generation
0:43:52 > 0:43:54is lacking that staying power.
0:43:54 > 0:43:58If you get a kid of 17 or 18 who's willing to learn,
0:43:58 > 0:44:00I'm quite willing to teach them.
0:44:00 > 0:44:04But you get someone who comes in who just wants to piss around,
0:44:04 > 0:44:06then they've wasted my time.
0:44:06 > 0:44:09Is that the problem - they don't really want to learn?
0:44:09 > 0:44:11They're not interested.
0:44:11 > 0:44:13They want to earn a quick buck outside.
0:44:13 > 0:44:14You've seen them.
0:44:14 > 0:44:17As long as they get some shit up their nose,
0:44:17 > 0:44:20or a bit of the old whacky baccy,
0:44:20 > 0:44:21they're happy.
0:44:25 > 0:44:26At the start of a new week,
0:44:26 > 0:44:29the position once occupied by JF Edwards' only female
0:44:29 > 0:44:31cutting room employee
0:44:31 > 0:44:35is once again being advertised by her manager, Ken.
0:44:39 > 0:44:41Is Dee around here?
0:44:41 > 0:44:43She's not. She's gone.
0:44:44 > 0:44:46She left us yesterday.
0:44:46 > 0:44:49Can you tell me what happened?
0:44:50 > 0:44:54I think it was the pressure of things happening at home,
0:44:54 > 0:44:57as well as market life.
0:44:57 > 0:44:59I don't think the two go together. HE LAUGHS
0:44:59 > 0:45:01What do you mean?
0:45:01 > 0:45:02You're working silly hours -
0:45:02 > 0:45:05you're working from two o'clock in the morning.
0:45:05 > 0:45:09So, you're about when the kids are not,
0:45:09 > 0:45:11and then the kids are at home, and you're not.
0:45:11 > 0:45:13So it makes it very, very awkward.
0:45:13 > 0:45:16I think there's a few things that have been happening,
0:45:16 > 0:45:19and she got stressed out, and just thought that was it.
0:45:21 > 0:45:24But for Dee, it was more than just the night shift
0:45:24 > 0:45:26that began to take its toll on her.
0:45:26 > 0:45:28I just expected it to stop,
0:45:28 > 0:45:30after I'd proved that I could do the job.
0:45:30 > 0:45:34I was quite competent. I thought it would just...
0:45:34 > 0:45:37slowly sort of eel off, and it didn't, really.
0:45:37 > 0:45:38Yeah.
0:45:38 > 0:45:40What sort of things?
0:45:40 > 0:45:45One of them made me a bone in the shape of a penis.
0:45:45 > 0:45:46One of them showed me
0:45:46 > 0:45:49a video of his penis.
0:45:49 > 0:45:52One of them...
0:45:52 > 0:45:55asked me if I'd like to go upstairs and have sex with him.
0:45:55 > 0:45:57Would I like to have an affair?
0:45:57 > 0:46:00I had all sorts of stupid little people touching me
0:46:00 > 0:46:02on my hip, inappropriately,
0:46:02 > 0:46:05asking me inappropriate questions all the time.
0:46:05 > 0:46:07And these were supposed to be people
0:46:07 > 0:46:10that I liaised with,
0:46:10 > 0:46:14cos they didn't only work for the company I worked for,
0:46:14 > 0:46:15they worked for other companies.
0:46:15 > 0:46:18I was supposed to just,
0:46:18 > 0:46:21"OK, then!" Just take it.
0:46:21 > 0:46:24But after a little while, I think you find it a bit demeaning, really.
0:46:24 > 0:46:27That's Smithfield market, unfortunately.
0:46:27 > 0:46:30Which is probably why there's not so many women...
0:46:30 > 0:46:34Dee was the only one I knew that was working on the actual shop floor.
0:46:34 > 0:46:37You get a few of the cashiers that are female.
0:46:37 > 0:46:39But they're inside their little boxes,
0:46:39 > 0:46:41so they probably don't come face-to-face with it.
0:46:41 > 0:46:44I can imagine Dee, going in whatever shop she went in,
0:46:44 > 0:46:47was getting the same thing from all the blokes.
0:46:47 > 0:46:50To give Dee her due, she gave them a bit back.
0:46:50 > 0:46:51Which is the way you've got to be.
0:46:51 > 0:46:54There were a couple of comments that really upset her.
0:46:55 > 0:46:58I went and had a word with one of our directors,
0:46:58 > 0:47:01and he went and had a word with the guy involved.
0:47:03 > 0:47:05He said he didn't mean anything by the comments.
0:47:05 > 0:47:07I won't say what the comment was.
0:47:07 > 0:47:11But he went and apologised to her, and said it was no hard feelings,
0:47:11 > 0:47:15that he didn't mean her to take it personally - it was a bit of banter.
0:47:15 > 0:47:17I don't suppose I minded it for a little bit,
0:47:17 > 0:47:20because I thought it would stop, but it didn't stop.
0:47:22 > 0:47:25I used to say to them, "How would you feel if this was your wife?"
0:47:25 > 0:47:28And they'd all go, "I wouldn't want her working here.
0:47:28 > 0:47:31"I wouldn't like what's being said to you
0:47:31 > 0:47:33"being said to my wife".
0:47:35 > 0:47:37When you think about what goes on down there -
0:47:37 > 0:47:43you sort of take a back step about what actually happens there -
0:47:43 > 0:47:46they are a bit Neanderthal.
0:47:46 > 0:47:48They are a bit backwards.
0:47:48 > 0:47:51It's almost like being in a Victorian market, slightly.
0:47:51 > 0:47:54They could have transported the people really quickly and easily.
0:47:54 > 0:47:57Just add, "Hear ye!" onto a few things,
0:47:57 > 0:47:59and we're back there. Some straw on the floor.
0:47:59 > 0:48:01SHE LAUGHS
0:48:01 > 0:48:03It wouldn't take much, I don't think.
0:48:06 > 0:48:08You're a right fucking James Hunt, you are.
0:48:08 > 0:48:11I fucking asked you, "Beef or lamb?" You went, "lamb".
0:48:11 > 0:48:13Tell me we didn't have that conversation(!)
0:48:13 > 0:48:15No lamb heads.
0:48:15 > 0:48:18I'm not going to give you fucking cow heads, am I?
0:48:18 > 0:48:20What's that?
0:48:20 > 0:48:23If you each didn't have a brain cell, you could be a plant.
0:48:23 > 0:48:25What?
0:48:25 > 0:48:27'It's a funny place to work.
0:48:27 > 0:48:29'It's not like working anywhere else.'
0:48:29 > 0:48:31You wouldn't get... Your human resources and stuff,
0:48:31 > 0:48:35People wouldn't get away with working or talking to clients
0:48:35 > 0:48:37the way they do. That kind of stuff, I think,
0:48:37 > 0:48:40is a little bit - not disturbing - I think it's shocking
0:48:40 > 0:48:42the first time you hear them.
0:48:42 > 0:48:44But opposite Dee's old workplace,
0:48:44 > 0:48:47Ian, working the front counter at Central Meat,
0:48:47 > 0:48:49has a different view to her
0:48:49 > 0:48:51when it comes to customer relations at Smithfield.
0:48:51 > 0:48:54You deal with customers here...
0:48:54 > 0:48:56Because they know the way you are...
0:48:56 > 0:49:01you can, er...
0:49:01 > 0:49:02I can be as rude as I want, or,
0:49:02 > 0:49:06if someone upsets you, you can tell them where to go, basically.
0:49:06 > 0:49:09If you try that in any other place or walk of life,
0:49:09 > 0:49:12it's one of the things where it's shunned upon.
0:49:12 > 0:49:14Like Ian, Steve Thompson believes
0:49:14 > 0:49:16that anyone familiar with the market
0:49:16 > 0:49:20understands it's an oasis from the PC world outside.
0:49:23 > 0:49:25'People that come onto Smithfield market,
0:49:25 > 0:49:27'they should know what they're going to get.
0:49:27 > 0:49:29'They know what they're going to get.
0:49:29 > 0:49:33'We have a lot of banter out there with the customers.
0:49:33 > 0:49:36'Invariably, they have a laugh and a joke with us.
0:49:36 > 0:49:38'You get the odd one or two that take it the wrong way.'
0:49:38 > 0:49:41A couple of times we've been accused of being racist.
0:49:41 > 0:49:43Erm...
0:49:43 > 0:49:45Most of our customers -
0:49:45 > 0:49:48like the Muslims and the ethnics -
0:49:48 > 0:49:50we have a bit of banter with them.
0:49:50 > 0:49:53But it's not meant in a horrible, racist way.
0:49:53 > 0:49:54It's meant as a joke -
0:49:54 > 0:49:59something to break the ice when they're coming to see you.
0:49:59 > 0:50:00She's coming back to you, mate.
0:50:00 > 0:50:03Steve, we're going for something to eat, yeah?
0:50:03 > 0:50:06'I don't worry about other people, to tell you the truth.
0:50:06 > 0:50:08'I speak to people as I like to be spoken to myself,
0:50:08 > 0:50:10'otherwise I have a word.'
0:50:10 > 0:50:12Might be ignorant to people, cos they're foreigners,
0:50:12 > 0:50:15but "please" and "thank you" is easy to say.
0:50:15 > 0:50:18I always tell them, and all.
0:50:18 > 0:50:20To work with the public's hard work, anyway.
0:50:20 > 0:50:23It is hard work, it's not easy.
0:50:23 > 0:50:25You can't be complacent.
0:50:25 > 0:50:28It's no good. You can't keep...
0:50:28 > 0:50:30You're not having a go at people -
0:50:30 > 0:50:32you just tell them what you think.
0:50:32 > 0:50:34Smithfield has its own kind of...
0:50:34 > 0:50:38Yeah. There's no airs and graces. What you see is what you get.
0:50:39 > 0:50:41If you don't like it, fuck off.
0:50:41 > 0:50:43One kilo?
0:50:43 > 0:50:45We don't do ones, dear.
0:50:45 > 0:50:47..I asked you that.
0:50:47 > 0:50:49£5 a kilo.
0:50:49 > 0:50:51I sell them in pounds, sweetheart.
0:50:51 > 0:50:53Shut up, you fat...
0:50:53 > 0:50:56My money is spent now.
0:50:56 > 0:50:58Well, that's £11.
0:50:58 > 0:51:01- Do me a favour... - I'll do you a favour.
0:51:01 > 0:51:04I'll cut them up for free. How's that?
0:51:04 > 0:51:06Talk to me, darling.
0:51:06 > 0:51:08Yeah? You've found another pound, have you?
0:51:08 > 0:51:10Funny that, isn't it, eh(?)
0:51:12 > 0:51:16£11, sweetheart. Yeah, I'll cut it for you, darling.
0:51:16 > 0:51:19- Why won't you cut it for me? - I WILL cut it for you!
0:51:21 > 0:51:24Oxtails. Years ago, they'd have given it away.
0:51:24 > 0:51:25It's £5 a kilo now.
0:51:27 > 0:51:30The population of London now,
0:51:30 > 0:51:32it's a lot more mixed.
0:51:32 > 0:51:34Lot of Africans.
0:51:34 > 0:51:39Now they've got oxtails. It's part of their culture.
0:51:39 > 0:51:43So, obviously, the more customers you have of their origin,
0:51:43 > 0:51:45the more oxtails you sell.
0:51:45 > 0:51:47Is that who you're selling to?
0:51:47 > 0:51:49The majority, yeah.
0:51:49 > 0:51:53It's very rare you serve an Englishman an oxtail.
0:51:55 > 0:51:58Obviously, I've more oxtails than anything else in the front now.
0:51:58 > 0:52:00As I say,
0:52:00 > 0:52:03it's just a reflection of the population of London now.
0:52:03 > 0:52:05As a business owner, Steve's boss
0:52:05 > 0:52:08Mark is well aware of how London's changed,
0:52:08 > 0:52:11and the value of its ethnic communities to Smithfield.
0:52:11 > 0:52:15If we didn't have them, there wouldn't be no market.
0:52:15 > 0:52:17Especially all the lamb boys.
0:52:17 > 0:52:19They really require - all the Turkish people -
0:52:19 > 0:52:24the breasts and the shoulders, and that's a great trade for them.
0:52:24 > 0:52:27We still sell loads of stuff to the Asian customers.
0:52:27 > 0:52:31Oxtails, and all that sort of stuff, that they sell to everyone else.
0:52:31 > 0:52:34So, really, it is a big trade.
0:52:34 > 0:52:36We need everyone.
0:52:36 > 0:52:41You couldn't say, "I'm not serving this group of people."
0:52:41 > 0:52:44The market needs everyone.
0:52:47 > 0:52:49By early spring,
0:52:49 > 0:52:51Terry has finally hung up his Smithfield whites for good.
0:52:51 > 0:52:54But his wife, Val, has her own worries
0:52:54 > 0:52:55about becoming reacquainted
0:52:55 > 0:52:59with the man she's hardly seen for much of their married life.
0:52:59 > 0:53:01He'll miss the market,
0:53:01 > 0:53:04- but will the market miss him? I doubt it.- Really?- Mm.
0:53:05 > 0:53:10Life goes on. There's always another face to arrive down there.
0:53:11 > 0:53:13That's a little sad, isn't it?
0:53:13 > 0:53:17It is, but perhaps I'm being realistic, I don't know.
0:53:17 > 0:53:19But that's how I see it.
0:53:21 > 0:53:23It'll be interesting for the both of you
0:53:23 > 0:53:28to have all this new-found time on your hands to be together.
0:53:28 > 0:53:29SHE LAUGHS
0:53:29 > 0:53:32That's what's going to be difficult.
0:53:32 > 0:53:35You've been ships in the night for a lot of your married life?
0:53:35 > 0:53:37Yeah. Not "a lot", really.
0:53:38 > 0:53:40ALL our married life.
0:53:40 > 0:53:42She used to say to me, "Go to your second home."
0:53:42 > 0:53:44Which it was.
0:53:44 > 0:53:48They're stuck in a time warp down there, a lot of them.
0:53:48 > 0:53:50They've not moved on with the times.
0:53:50 > 0:53:51What about...?
0:53:51 > 0:53:54There's not a lot of people who will like what I just said,
0:53:54 > 0:53:57but that's how I see it.
0:53:57 > 0:53:59About women, or...?
0:53:59 > 0:54:03Yeah. It's a very male-dominated environment, and...
0:54:05 > 0:54:07..it sticks.
0:54:07 > 0:54:09When you've been down there a long while, it does stick.
0:54:09 > 0:54:12They're very opinionated in a lot of things,
0:54:12 > 0:54:14what Terry has come home and said.
0:54:14 > 0:54:18This is where we've disagreed on a lot of things.
0:54:18 > 0:54:22Because I think they're a lot of all old...
0:54:23 > 0:54:27It's a different era of how they are nowadays.
0:54:27 > 0:54:29Totally.
0:54:29 > 0:54:34I think there's a lot of them down there that are very...
0:54:34 > 0:54:37got a lot of old-fashioned ways.
0:54:38 > 0:54:41The market's nothing to what it used to be.
0:54:41 > 0:54:43I think it will definitely move.
0:54:43 > 0:54:47I think you'll have the fish market, fruit market, flower market.
0:54:47 > 0:54:49I think they'll be all-in-one.
0:54:49 > 0:54:52Those who survive it will become very wealthy people.
0:54:52 > 0:54:56For me, it's an era come to an end.
0:54:56 > 0:54:58The atmosphere's gone.
0:54:58 > 0:55:01If you ask anyone there, they must say it to you,
0:55:01 > 0:55:04the atmosphere is gone. I don't care who says that.
0:55:04 > 0:55:06You used to perhaps see the people in the shop next to you,
0:55:06 > 0:55:09when you were cutting - lift the bars up.
0:55:09 > 0:55:11Have a talk to them.
0:55:11 > 0:55:14Now, it's like in a factory or a depot.
0:55:14 > 0:55:17Unless you're outside, you don't see no-one.
0:55:17 > 0:55:20If you're stuck on that block in the back there
0:55:20 > 0:55:23for six hours, you don't see no-one.
0:55:23 > 0:55:26You know, it's not...
0:55:26 > 0:55:30It's not the same life. For me, it's not. Put it that way.
0:55:31 > 0:55:34Makes no difference to me, anyway. I won't be there no more.
0:55:40 > 0:55:43MUSIC: "In the Wee Small Hours" by Frank Sinatra
0:55:43 > 0:55:46# In the wee small hours of the morning... #
0:55:49 > 0:55:50Good morning. How are you?
0:55:50 > 0:55:54# ..While the whole wide world is fast asleep... #
0:55:54 > 0:55:56I love the market. It's my life.
0:55:56 > 0:55:59I've been about here 35 years.
0:56:00 > 0:56:02I'm just beginning to like it(!)
0:56:05 > 0:56:08- Do you think you've missed out on anything?- No.
0:56:08 > 0:56:11The only thing is,
0:56:11 > 0:56:14if you're a young fella, and just got married, or whatever,
0:56:14 > 0:56:16it ain't the type of job that you want,
0:56:16 > 0:56:20because you can have problems with your wife, or whatever.
0:56:20 > 0:56:23Because the hours ain't going to adapt to a lot of them.
0:56:23 > 0:56:27Some of these young boys come in here nine, ten o'clock at night.
0:56:27 > 0:56:29When you've got a young wife indoors,
0:56:29 > 0:56:31they don't want to sit on their own all night, do they?
0:56:31 > 0:56:34They've just got married.
0:56:34 > 0:56:36There have been so many marriages break up here over it.
0:56:36 > 0:56:40But it's a job. What do you do?
0:56:41 > 0:56:44You either want the money and the work,
0:56:44 > 0:56:46or you don't.
0:56:46 > 0:56:48Did it affect your relationships over the years?
0:56:48 > 0:56:51I've been divorced twice.
0:56:53 > 0:56:56You know...I've got no regrets.
0:56:56 > 0:57:01It's just one of these things that happens to you. Life goes on.
0:57:01 > 0:57:03It's something you can't explain.
0:57:03 > 0:57:06Unless you've worked here all your life, you can't explain it.
0:57:06 > 0:57:09The way you work up here
0:57:09 > 0:57:11is entirely different to anywhere else.
0:57:11 > 0:57:14This is just a one-off gaff.
0:57:18 > 0:57:21Though its future on this site may be uncertain,
0:57:21 > 0:57:24for many at Smithfield, there's more to the market
0:57:24 > 0:57:28than simply bricks, mortar, and butchers' blocks.
0:57:28 > 0:57:29There's also its spirit,
0:57:29 > 0:57:32and the glories of its history.
0:57:32 > 0:57:33But for others,
0:57:33 > 0:57:36this focus on the past could be a stumbling block
0:57:36 > 0:57:39to the market's place in the London of tomorrow.
0:57:41 > 0:57:43It does need to change.
0:57:43 > 0:57:46What they do to get over that, I'm not too sure.
0:57:46 > 0:57:48Start selling other products, probably.
0:57:48 > 0:57:51Be a bit more nice to your customers. Open during the day.
0:57:51 > 0:57:53There are things that they could implement
0:57:53 > 0:57:56really easily to change things,
0:57:56 > 0:57:59but I don't know if they're really ready for all of those changes.
0:57:59 > 0:58:02They're always saying, "it's really changed down here."
0:58:02 > 0:58:06I think they preferred it when it was a bit more archaic.
0:58:09 > 0:58:12As how we buy and sell food changes,
0:58:12 > 0:58:16what might the markets of tomorrow be like?
0:58:16 > 0:58:21Listen to the experts, and share your views. Go to:
0:58:21 > 0:58:26And follow the links to the Open University.
0:58:51 > 0:58:54Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd