The Meat Market: Inside Smithfield

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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