0:00:29 > 0:00:34What is it about the British and the corner shop?
0:00:34 > 0:00:37The corner shop's always been there for us - a British institution.
0:00:41 > 0:00:44There are almost more corner shops than there are corners.
0:00:45 > 0:00:49It was on the front line of what was happening in society from the 1940s
0:00:49 > 0:00:51to the 1990s.
0:00:53 > 0:00:57It saved our bacon during the Second World War and it also became a rite
0:00:57 > 0:01:01of passage for new immigrants, including my family.
0:01:03 > 0:01:07I'm Babita Sharma and I'm the daughter of shopkeepers and, for me,
0:01:07 > 0:01:11the corner shop sits at the very heart of the community.
0:01:11 > 0:01:14It's what Mum and Dad called the glory days and by that,
0:01:14 > 0:01:17they meant a buzzing trade.
0:01:17 > 0:01:21And I remember it really well - the shop being absolutely packed full of customers.
0:01:21 > 0:01:26I would sit on the shop counter and see all walks of life come in
0:01:26 > 0:01:30through those front doors and you'd know everything about them -
0:01:30 > 0:01:33the paper that they read, their favourite box of cigarettes,
0:01:33 > 0:01:37but above all else, you'd know all the gossip in the town.
0:01:37 > 0:01:40This is a local shop for local people.
0:01:40 > 0:01:41There's nothing for you here!
0:01:41 > 0:01:44This unsung hero has been at the centre of ordinary lives
0:01:44 > 0:01:47for more than 70 years.
0:01:47 > 0:01:51Its death has been predicted many times, but still,
0:01:51 > 0:01:52it soldiers on.
0:01:52 > 0:01:54For the last decade,
0:01:54 > 0:01:57it's been said that the days of the corner shop are numbered,
0:01:57 > 0:02:01so just how has it managed to survive?
0:02:01 > 0:02:04KER-CHING!
0:02:04 > 0:02:09MUSIC: Open All Hours Theme
0:02:13 > 0:02:15From the traditions of Open All Hours
0:02:15 > 0:02:18to the idiosyncrasies of League Of Gentlemen,
0:02:18 > 0:02:23everyone has their corner shop and a story to go with it.
0:02:23 > 0:02:25Well, that'll be 9-97p, love.
0:02:25 > 0:02:30Thank you. Oh, and d-don't worry about the 3p. Y-you can owe it me.
0:02:35 > 0:02:38As a journalist, I'm interested in the role these small,
0:02:38 > 0:02:43independent shops seem to have played in helping to shape Britain
0:02:43 > 0:02:46into a modern, multicultural nation.
0:02:46 > 0:02:49Today, I'm going back to our old corner shop,
0:02:49 > 0:02:51VP Superstores in Reading,
0:02:51 > 0:02:54which was owned and run by my mum and dad.
0:02:55 > 0:02:56It looks completely different.
0:02:58 > 0:03:01It's not how we had it, right?
0:03:01 > 0:03:03Our grocery shelves were here.
0:03:03 > 0:03:06And then, we had cakes on that side.
0:03:06 > 0:03:09So, the till was this side, wasn't it?
0:03:09 > 0:03:10No, the same side, yeah.
0:03:10 > 0:03:13But wasn't it coming out this way?
0:03:13 > 0:03:15- No, that way.- Oh, OK.
0:03:15 > 0:03:17Because here was the bread.
0:03:17 > 0:03:21- And I remember us sitting here, right.- Yeah.
0:03:21 > 0:03:24For me and my sisters, this was our counter.
0:03:24 > 0:03:28The shop was our home, our library, our play area.
0:03:28 > 0:03:32- What year did you buy the shop?- '77.
0:03:32 > 0:03:34The year I was born, you bought the shop?
0:03:34 > 0:03:39- You were four months old. - '77, yeah.
0:03:39 > 0:03:42The corner shop was clearly in my DNA,
0:03:42 > 0:03:44but little did I know that I was
0:03:44 > 0:03:46being born into a much bigger history.
0:03:46 > 0:03:50You often hear that phrase, "We're a nation of shopkeepers,"
0:03:50 > 0:03:52a nation that's been built on entrepreneurs
0:03:52 > 0:03:54and that wealth and drive of ambition,
0:03:54 > 0:03:58but I don't think I ever realised any of that when I was a kid
0:03:58 > 0:03:59here in this corner shop.
0:03:59 > 0:04:04I didn't realise that we were part of a much richer history,
0:04:04 > 0:04:07a history that dates right back to the Victorian era.
0:04:11 > 0:04:13In the 19th century,
0:04:13 > 0:04:17suburbs were created to house an increasing urban population,
0:04:17 > 0:04:20but they needed a local food supply.
0:04:23 > 0:04:27And the Victorians came up with an ingenious solution.
0:04:28 > 0:04:34Town planners created rows of houses and terraces, on which the house on
0:04:34 > 0:04:36the corner of a junction of roads
0:04:36 > 0:04:39was designed specifically to be a shop.
0:04:39 > 0:04:43It would often have a large window, a door on the corner,
0:04:43 > 0:04:46in order to attract the largest flow of traffic
0:04:46 > 0:04:48and to serve that local community.
0:04:48 > 0:04:53# Well, on the corner of the street
0:04:53 > 0:04:57# Me and my baby, chose to meet... #
0:04:57 > 0:05:02Corner shops became the backbone of the 1940s urban community,
0:05:02 > 0:05:06but it seems their success was a product of circumstance -
0:05:06 > 0:05:09we, literally, had no choice.
0:05:10 > 0:05:12During the period of the Second World War,
0:05:12 > 0:05:14when most food is rationed,
0:05:14 > 0:05:17people have to register with their local shop,
0:05:17 > 0:05:20in order to receive their food.
0:05:20 > 0:05:23And so this is a period where the local shop really thrives,
0:05:23 > 0:05:26in part, as a result of rationing.
0:05:26 > 0:05:29Added to that, you have really much more restricted movement,
0:05:29 > 0:05:32in part, because of petrol rationing,
0:05:32 > 0:05:34but also because men are away at war,
0:05:34 > 0:05:38women are working, and so people are spending less time travelling to the
0:05:38 > 0:05:40centres of town, there's less money available.
0:05:40 > 0:05:44And so, the local shop really comes into its own at this time.
0:05:50 > 0:05:53An old corner shop has been preserved at the Folk And Transport
0:05:53 > 0:05:55Museum in Northern Ireland.
0:05:55 > 0:05:58This is what it would have looked like during World War II.
0:05:58 > 0:06:01- Here we are.- This looks amazing.
0:06:01 > 0:06:05Chris Wilson grew up in the Belfast of the 1940s.
0:06:05 > 0:06:07This to me is the late 1940s, early '50s.
0:06:07 > 0:06:09And all the sweets!
0:06:09 > 0:06:12Well, in those days, we didn't worry about our teeth.
0:06:12 > 0:06:15You see, during the war, sweets were on ration.
0:06:19 > 0:06:22He regularly helped out as an errand boy in his corner shop,
0:06:22 > 0:06:24off the Shankill Road.
0:06:26 > 0:06:28Because, of course, the war must
0:06:28 > 0:06:31have had a big impact on what the corner shop was selling.
0:06:31 > 0:06:33Yes, it did have, that is true. There were coupons.
0:06:33 > 0:06:36You had your ration book
0:06:36 > 0:06:40and you could only buy what your coupons allowed you to buy.
0:06:40 > 0:06:45Eggs were on ration. Cheese, you had a cheese wire.
0:06:45 > 0:06:49You lifted up the handle and cut the cheese.
0:06:49 > 0:06:51- Really sharp?- Yeah, sometimes you cut your finger,
0:06:51 > 0:06:53but then you didn't tell the customer
0:06:53 > 0:06:55there was blood on the cheese. You just wrapped it up.
0:06:55 > 0:06:57Wrap it up and give it to them!
0:07:02 > 0:07:05Health and safety didn't exist in those days.
0:07:05 > 0:07:07Neither did the NHS,
0:07:07 > 0:07:11but the corner shop stepped in, to provide a myriad of cheap,
0:07:11 > 0:07:13over-the-counter medicines.
0:07:13 > 0:07:17I and all of my friends in our little houses were lined up
0:07:17 > 0:07:21by our mothers on a Saturday morning and we were given
0:07:21 > 0:07:25either liquid paraffin, milk of magnesia or syrup of figs.
0:07:25 > 0:07:27Gosh, that's a nice choice(!)
0:07:27 > 0:07:30It wasn't all three at once, thank goodness!
0:07:30 > 0:07:32But it was to give us moving experiences
0:07:32 > 0:07:33and to keep the bowels clear.
0:07:33 > 0:07:36She would buy that in the corner shop and then, on a tablespoon,
0:07:36 > 0:07:39she would line up the wee ones and open your mouth and you got it in
0:07:39 > 0:07:41and you got a piece of orange afterwards.
0:07:41 > 0:07:46So, the corner shop was kind of your pharmacy and your newsagents
0:07:46 > 0:07:48and your grocers and your butchers.
0:07:48 > 0:07:52Yes, literally, you could buy anything in a corner shop.
0:07:52 > 0:07:56- Morning, Mike! - Well, what do you want?
0:07:56 > 0:07:59A pair of pickled onion!
0:07:59 > 0:08:00During the 1940s,
0:08:00 > 0:08:04people shopped every day and the corner shop was where you came to
0:08:04 > 0:08:08meet your neighbours, hear all the local news and, of course,
0:08:08 > 0:08:09the local gossip.
0:08:09 > 0:08:14- And I believe quite a bit of trouble yesterday, too.- Aye, there was.
0:08:14 > 0:08:18The corner shop was the social centre of two or three streets
0:08:18 > 0:08:21and people talked about things.
0:08:21 > 0:08:23They talked about interesting things.
0:08:23 > 0:08:25"Have you heard about how he's off with so-and-so?"
0:08:25 > 0:08:27"Have you heard about her? She's off with so-and-so?"
0:08:27 > 0:08:29"Have you heard about so-and-so?"
0:08:29 > 0:08:33"She's lording it over us, because she's got an artificial fur coat."
0:08:33 > 0:08:38So, all this is happening as people come into a place like this,
0:08:38 > 0:08:40just to be chatting away.
0:08:40 > 0:08:44Yes, it was a social gathering of the area.
0:08:44 > 0:08:47It was better than the local BBC. It picked up all the news.
0:08:47 > 0:08:51Even well into the post-war era, we shopped in this very personal way.
0:08:53 > 0:08:56This shop is just a minute or two away from Rotherham's main shopping
0:08:56 > 0:08:59centre, but people rely on it for anything
0:08:59 > 0:09:01from a packet of sugar to a paintbrush.
0:09:01 > 0:09:04Customers pop in for just one or two items.
0:09:06 > 0:09:09The retail landscape in Britain is completely different
0:09:09 > 0:09:11to what we know today.
0:09:11 > 0:09:14You would go into an independent shop and one or two people
0:09:14 > 0:09:18would serve you, reaching goods from behind the counter,
0:09:18 > 0:09:20packaging them up and serving you.
0:09:20 > 0:09:23It was a slow encounter, quite a personal encounter.
0:09:23 > 0:09:27- Farmhouse loaf?- Yes, and 3 lbs of potatoes, please.
0:09:28 > 0:09:30Very few people have fridges.
0:09:30 > 0:09:34In fact, only 50% of people have refrigerators in 1969.
0:09:34 > 0:09:38So, the corner shop provides a local close-by service
0:09:38 > 0:09:40to buy perishable goods.
0:09:40 > 0:09:45God forbid if you forgot anything, as the corner shop was closed on
0:09:45 > 0:09:48Saturday at midday and didn't open again until Monday.
0:09:48 > 0:09:52- Time you were off, Jane. - All right. See you.
0:09:52 > 0:09:54- Good night.- Night.
0:09:54 > 0:09:57But a shopping revolution was on the horizon.
0:09:57 > 0:10:01The little corner shop was about to face its first big threat.
0:10:05 > 0:10:09A transatlantic phenomenon has at last made its mark in British shops.
0:10:09 > 0:10:10The self-service store.
0:10:10 > 0:10:13Its apprenticeship is over and, according to the experts,
0:10:13 > 0:10:14it's here to stay.
0:10:14 > 0:10:17Someone once compared the self-service store with
0:10:17 > 0:10:20a lending library and, except that you have to buy the goods,
0:10:20 > 0:10:23that's the principle it works on. Choose for yourself.
0:10:23 > 0:10:26There's no doubt that self-service completely
0:10:26 > 0:10:28revolutionised the way that we shopped.
0:10:28 > 0:10:31Some people reported at the time that they felt less scrutinised,
0:10:31 > 0:10:33they weren't being judged.
0:10:33 > 0:10:35And that was often the case of people who were perhaps poorer
0:10:35 > 0:10:38or working class, particularly if they haven't been able
0:10:38 > 0:10:41to afford for many goods. They would have felt more judged in the
0:10:41 > 0:10:43environment of the small local shop.
0:10:43 > 0:10:46In the supermarket, you sort of wander freely.
0:10:46 > 0:10:49Because everything is on show and easy to reach,
0:10:49 > 0:10:53housewives are finding shopping easier, quicker and more convenient.
0:10:53 > 0:10:56In 1950, there were about 50 self-service shops.
0:10:56 > 0:11:03By 1969, there's 3,400 self-service shops, so it grows really quickly.
0:11:05 > 0:11:08And housewives hope it will cut out the queues.
0:11:08 > 0:11:12The glamour and Americana of self-service made the corner shop
0:11:12 > 0:11:15seem small, parochial and outdated.
0:11:17 > 0:11:21It is now engaged in a David and Goliath battle with the supermarket.
0:11:24 > 0:11:28Many corner shop owners simply decided that they had had enough
0:11:28 > 0:11:30and it was time to sell up.
0:11:31 > 0:11:34So, how was the corner shop going to survive?
0:11:35 > 0:11:37Fortunately, help was at hand.
0:11:37 > 0:11:40Waiting in the wings were a new generation of proprietors,
0:11:40 > 0:11:42including my parents.
0:11:44 > 0:11:48Mum came from Delhi in 1971 to marry Dad.
0:11:48 > 0:11:52My great-uncle convinced Mum that she should take on a corner shop.
0:11:52 > 0:11:54Why did you want to do it, have a shop?
0:11:54 > 0:11:56Because you were never there, Dad.
0:11:56 > 0:11:58You were always at Mars, in the factory.
0:11:58 > 0:12:02And he said, "You're sitting at home, you're not doing anything."
0:12:02 > 0:12:05Did you say, "Actually, I've got three kids to look after?"
0:12:05 > 0:12:07She had to do something.
0:12:07 > 0:12:10And he say, "OK, why don't you do a small shop?
0:12:11 > 0:12:15"And when the customer comes, the bell will ring,
0:12:15 > 0:12:21"and then you'll know the customer, go and serve the customer."
0:12:21 > 0:12:25So, hold on, you were out the back of the shop, looking after me,
0:12:25 > 0:12:29four months old, the bell rings and you run off and leave me?!
0:12:29 > 0:12:30Charming!
0:12:30 > 0:12:35So, why did so many Asians become shopkeepers at this time?
0:12:36 > 0:12:39So, I guess there's nothing, there's no inherent link,
0:12:39 > 0:12:43no particular racial or cultural link between South Asians
0:12:43 > 0:12:45and running shops. What there is
0:12:45 > 0:12:49is a set of circumstances, a set of historical circumstances.
0:12:49 > 0:12:53A lot of the South Asian migration to Britain after World War II
0:12:53 > 0:12:55comes because of a labour shortage in Britain,
0:12:55 > 0:12:58so we see obviously the Northern mill towns,
0:12:58 > 0:13:02there's huge recruitment from the Subcontinent for workers.
0:13:02 > 0:13:05And that's partly because the white labour class in the north
0:13:05 > 0:13:07doesn't want to do that night shift,
0:13:07 > 0:13:10so there's a bit of reticence about doing that night shift.
0:13:10 > 0:13:12So, Asians are recruited to do that work.
0:13:14 > 0:13:18But this was the 1960s and if you were an immigrant,
0:13:18 > 0:13:22the chances of gaining promotion were slim.
0:13:22 > 0:13:25The labour market is much more difficult for Asians than their
0:13:25 > 0:13:28white counterparts. Facing discrimination in the labour market,
0:13:28 > 0:13:31one of the only options was to work for yourself.
0:13:31 > 0:13:34And that's one of the reasons that
0:13:34 > 0:13:36Asians did go into running corner shops.
0:13:36 > 0:13:40The Asian corner shop provided a wealth of exotic goods that
0:13:40 > 0:13:43couldn't be bought anywhere else.
0:13:47 > 0:13:51But, to be really successful depended on whether it could break
0:13:51 > 0:13:53out of a specialist market,
0:13:53 > 0:13:55and take on the Arkwrights of this world.
0:13:57 > 0:14:01- We've never met. I'm Gupta. - Well, I'm very sorry to hear that.
0:14:01 > 0:14:05Open All Hours tackled this transition shopkeeper to shopkeeper.
0:14:05 > 0:14:08I thought you were looking a bit peaky.
0:14:08 > 0:14:09I've got just the thing for you, Sir.
0:14:09 > 0:14:12Try this, three times a day, after meals.
0:14:12 > 0:14:16- The name is Gupta. Albert Gupta.- 74p, Albert.
0:14:17 > 0:14:20Don't get me wrong. We're colleagues.
0:14:20 > 0:14:22I'm in the same line of business.
0:14:22 > 0:14:25Me, too. I'm a Yorkshire shopkeeper.
0:14:25 > 0:14:28So, what are you doing in these p-parts, then?
0:14:28 > 0:14:32I've been studying to make my little place just like this -
0:14:32 > 0:14:33borderline seedy.
0:14:35 > 0:14:38I've got this good steady Indian clientele.
0:14:38 > 0:14:42No bother at all. It's the Yorkshire customers.
0:14:42 > 0:14:45They're very weird customers to crack.
0:14:45 > 0:14:49Between you and me, sometimes I wish they'd all bog off back to York!
0:14:55 > 0:14:59As it happened, the very success of the supermarket revolution, which so
0:14:59 > 0:15:02threatened the corner shop, would now come to its aid.
0:15:06 > 0:15:09The rise of the supermarket in the late 1960s
0:15:09 > 0:15:12and through to the 1970s is, in part,
0:15:12 > 0:15:15because of increased amounts of cars on the road.
0:15:15 > 0:15:18People can travel further to their supermarkets.
0:15:18 > 0:15:21Because working habits are changing.
0:15:21 > 0:15:24Women are working more and, therefore, doing one weekly shop
0:15:24 > 0:15:26makes life much easier.
0:15:26 > 0:15:29And also because, slowly, people have refrigeration
0:15:29 > 0:15:32and, therefore, are able to shop less frequently.
0:15:33 > 0:15:36This meant we still needed a local place to top up our shopping
0:15:36 > 0:15:38and buy our newspapers.
0:15:39 > 0:15:44And events in East Africa were about to change the corner shop for ever.
0:15:54 > 0:15:58On the 4th of August 1972, Ugandan dictator Idi Amin
0:15:58 > 0:16:04ordered the expulsion of the country's entire Asian population.
0:16:04 > 0:16:07Asians have kept themselves
0:16:07 > 0:16:12apart, as a closed community,
0:16:12 > 0:16:16and have refused to integrate.
0:16:16 > 0:16:20Amin condemned the Asian minority, calling them blood-suckers.
0:16:20 > 0:16:23Uganda's Asians were the business class,
0:16:23 > 0:16:29making up only 1% of the population, but controlling 90% of wealth.
0:16:30 > 0:16:36The reasons the Ugandan Asians ran a lot of the trade and commerce was,
0:16:36 > 0:16:37again, it's not some inherent link,
0:16:37 > 0:16:40it was part of a system of colonial governance.
0:16:40 > 0:16:43So, what we have in Uganda is that, in the early colonial period there,
0:16:43 > 0:16:47Africans are not allowed to go into trade, they are banned by law,
0:16:47 > 0:16:50and Asians are not allowed to own land, at that point,
0:16:50 > 0:16:52so, actually, there's a kind of racial division of labour,
0:16:52 > 0:16:56through colonial control that means that the Ugandan Asians that
0:16:56 > 0:16:59are finally expelled in 1972 and come to Britain
0:16:59 > 0:17:01have experience in that trade.
0:17:08 > 0:17:12A ready-made nation of shopkeepers was about to arrive on our doorstep.
0:17:12 > 0:17:16Among the first was Abdul Gani Ismail and his family.
0:17:18 > 0:17:21Abdul's father Kassam was a successful shop owner.
0:17:21 > 0:17:24He was one of the first people in Uganda to own a Mercedes
0:17:24 > 0:17:28and he employed over 200 workers.
0:17:28 > 0:17:31He was a close friend of Idi Amin and his ministers,
0:17:31 > 0:17:34so until the end, he never thought he would get kicked out.
0:17:34 > 0:17:36So, your father thought that
0:17:36 > 0:17:37being a friend of Idi Amin,
0:17:37 > 0:17:40"I'll be protected, I'll be OK. I'm a wealthy businessmen here."
0:17:40 > 0:17:43- That's right.- But actually that wasn't the case?- It didn't work.
0:17:43 > 0:17:46In the end, Idi Amin told him himself, he said, "Look,
0:17:46 > 0:17:50"I can't control my generals," and, in the end, my father decided that,
0:17:50 > 0:17:53"Look, we've got to get out." And we only had seven days left
0:17:53 > 0:17:55before the deadline.
0:17:55 > 0:17:58Abdul's father abandoned the big house, the servants,
0:17:58 > 0:18:01the Merc and came to London, with six children to support
0:18:01 > 0:18:04and only 50 quid in his pocket.
0:18:04 > 0:18:08We were, literally, riches to rags.
0:18:08 > 0:18:10Overnight, we were paupers.
0:18:12 > 0:18:16We ended up in a refugee camp in Somerset,
0:18:16 > 0:18:19in a little village called Watchet.
0:18:21 > 0:18:26Watchet was one of 15 rehousing camps set up by the Government.
0:18:26 > 0:18:29In an effort to showcase British culture and help assimilation,
0:18:29 > 0:18:32they came up with some interesting entertainment.
0:18:34 > 0:18:36Good evening to you all.
0:18:36 > 0:18:40Tonight, we have a different kind of entertainment from what we had
0:18:40 > 0:18:45before. Mrs Jones and her merrymakers from Newbury
0:18:45 > 0:18:50portray the kind of songs that my grandfather and grandmother
0:18:50 > 0:18:52used to sing.
0:18:52 > 0:18:57# I'm Henry VIII, I am
0:18:57 > 0:19:02# Henry VIII, I am, I am... #
0:19:02 > 0:19:05In Uganda, our lifestyle was good and, here,
0:19:05 > 0:19:08we are like on the begging bowl. My mum washing-up.
0:19:08 > 0:19:11She had to wash the clothes, dry them outside.
0:19:11 > 0:19:12It's not easy in winter.
0:19:12 > 0:19:15And yet, in Uganda, she had housemaids,
0:19:15 > 0:19:17servants that did everything.
0:19:17 > 0:19:20Cutting up the onions, washing the clothes.
0:19:20 > 0:19:23So, overnight, their life was more difficult than ours.
0:19:23 > 0:19:26# I'm Henry VIII, I am
0:19:26 > 0:19:28# Henry VIII, I am... #
0:19:28 > 0:19:32Abdul and his family spent four months in the detention centre.
0:19:32 > 0:19:35His father was determined to start again, as a shopkeeper.
0:19:39 > 0:19:41And my father was one of those guys, he said,
0:19:41 > 0:19:43"You're not going in the welfare system,
0:19:43 > 0:19:47"because I know if it gets into your blood, you will never work.
0:19:47 > 0:19:48"You will enjoy it."
0:19:48 > 0:19:52# Henry VIII, I am. #
0:19:52 > 0:19:55So, in the end, he said, "One day I'm going to start my own shop."
0:19:55 > 0:19:56And he did.
0:19:56 > 0:19:59Eventually, they saved up enough money to buy a small shop
0:19:59 > 0:20:02in Easton in Bristol, where rents were cheap.
0:20:02 > 0:20:06He would work from 7:30am to 1:30am.
0:20:06 > 0:20:09He would sell the milk, bread in the morning.
0:20:09 > 0:20:11At night, the taxi drivers would finish
0:20:11 > 0:20:14and they would want their chicken pilau or biryani.
0:20:14 > 0:20:16There was nothing like,
0:20:16 > 0:20:20what do you call, onion bhajis or chicken jalfrezis in those days.
0:20:20 > 0:20:24It was what we ate in Africa is what he cooked and people loved it.
0:20:30 > 0:20:33But not everyone received such a warm welcome.
0:20:35 > 0:20:40During the early 1970s, 27,000 Asians came to the UK,
0:20:40 > 0:20:43sparking a wave of protests from far-right groups.
0:20:45 > 0:20:49We've taken a petition down to the Home Office and we're asking him to
0:20:49 > 0:20:51have some common sense about this.
0:20:51 > 0:20:53We have a million unemployed.
0:20:53 > 0:20:55We can't squeeze up many more.
0:20:56 > 0:21:00Leicester Council even took out an advert in the Ugandan press,
0:21:00 > 0:21:04warning migrants not to come, as they were full.
0:21:04 > 0:21:07Where are you going to live when you get to Britain,
0:21:07 > 0:21:09- are you going to stay anywhere in particular?- London, W12.
0:21:09 > 0:21:11And, in fact,
0:21:11 > 0:21:14I wouldn't go down to Southall or Leicester or some other places,
0:21:14 > 0:21:17you know? Where there is already an influx of immigrants.
0:21:18 > 0:21:21Not everyone was so well-informed.
0:21:24 > 0:21:27Actor Nitin Ganatra is a familiar face,
0:21:27 > 0:21:30playing the character Masood in EastEnders.
0:21:30 > 0:21:31He grew up in a corner shop,
0:21:31 > 0:21:35having arrived from Kenya when he was just three-years-old.
0:21:37 > 0:21:40His family moved to Coventry,
0:21:40 > 0:21:42but little did they know, they were setting up shop
0:21:42 > 0:21:45next door to the National Front.
0:21:46 > 0:21:49When they first came over, do you think they were accepted?
0:21:49 > 0:21:51No, we weren't accepted, at all.
0:21:51 > 0:21:54No, We were the first Asians in the neighbourhood.
0:21:56 > 0:21:57There was a lot of racism.
0:21:57 > 0:22:01That was at the time when the National Front
0:22:01 > 0:22:03were based in Coventry,
0:22:03 > 0:22:06and so, shops were targeted.
0:22:06 > 0:22:10I remember people throwing
0:22:10 > 0:22:13stuff at the shop, trying to smash the shop down.
0:22:13 > 0:22:17You know, my mum being spat at, my dad being beaten up.
0:22:17 > 0:22:19I mean, that was...
0:22:19 > 0:22:21But weirdly enough, as you grow up, you kind of go, "Well,
0:22:21 > 0:22:23"that's just normal, right?"
0:22:26 > 0:22:29Asian shops are particular targets for attacks.
0:22:29 > 0:22:31Oh, I do feel sorry for him in the shop there.
0:22:31 > 0:22:35I do, really. They broke into that about six times.
0:22:35 > 0:22:39All the Asian shopkeepers we met were too scared to speak.
0:22:39 > 0:22:43It is. It's a shame, really, what they do to him in there.
0:22:43 > 0:22:46It was hardly the start Nitin and his family imagined they'd have in
0:22:46 > 0:22:50prosperous Britain - far removed from the fairy-tale.
0:22:51 > 0:22:52There's no fairy-tale about it.
0:22:52 > 0:22:55We had no money. My mum was wearing flip-flops in the snow.
0:22:55 > 0:22:58We were catching the bus, because we didn't have a car.
0:22:58 > 0:23:01We were catching the bus to go to the cash and carry,
0:23:01 > 0:23:03to fill up the shop to sell stuff.
0:23:03 > 0:23:05I was old enough to carry a box of crisps.
0:23:05 > 0:23:09That's about it. I was four or five-years-old.
0:23:09 > 0:23:12And so, it was really through sheer hard work.
0:23:12 > 0:23:15There was nothing romantic about it.
0:23:21 > 0:23:26Taking on a corner shop catapulted immigrants like Nitin's family right
0:23:26 > 0:23:30onto the front line of racism in 1970s Britain.
0:23:30 > 0:23:33In the corner shop, there was nowhere to hide.
0:23:33 > 0:23:35So, why did they do it?
0:23:36 > 0:23:38It's in our DNA.
0:23:38 > 0:23:40We were born to do this.
0:23:40 > 0:23:45The principle for most Indians were, "Now we're free of the colonials,
0:23:45 > 0:23:47"we're going to be our own masters.
0:23:47 > 0:23:49"We're not going to work for anyone else."
0:23:49 > 0:23:52And it's a very political... It's a small,
0:23:52 > 0:23:57emotional and political revolution for an Indian mentality
0:23:57 > 0:24:00to, kind of, push that through line
0:24:00 > 0:24:02all the way to becoming an entrepreneur
0:24:02 > 0:24:04- and being your own boss.- Yeah.
0:24:04 > 0:24:07- And having your own shop? - And having your own business,
0:24:07 > 0:24:11whether it be a shop, whatever it is. You are your own boss.
0:24:11 > 0:24:15The way my father would say it in Gujarati would be,
0:24:15 > 0:24:21"I don't want to be bending my knees to anyone else."
0:24:22 > 0:24:24# What you do, man?
0:24:24 > 0:24:29# I think I'll go on down the corner.#
0:24:34 > 0:24:38No matter where your shop was, there was just one chance,
0:24:38 > 0:24:40one chance, to run a business and make it work.
0:24:42 > 0:24:44For many like Mum and Dad,
0:24:44 > 0:24:46it was tough, but customers saw the benefit of having
0:24:46 > 0:24:49their corner shop back.
0:24:49 > 0:24:54But how did we turn a profit when others had failed before us?
0:24:54 > 0:24:57Well, we opened on a Sunday.
0:24:57 > 0:24:59We also imported our own business model
0:24:59 > 0:25:02and that included uncosted, free family labour.
0:25:05 > 0:25:08In our shop in Reading, no-one got out of doing a shift
0:25:08 > 0:25:11and there was no pay for all this hard work -
0:25:11 > 0:25:15other than eating as many sweets as we could get our hands on -
0:25:15 > 0:25:16in secret, of course.
0:25:16 > 0:25:21But my parents remember things a little differently.
0:25:21 > 0:25:22We would do quite a lot in the shop.
0:25:22 > 0:25:25- Oh, yeah, yeah.- Yes, you did. - Stack the shelves?
0:25:25 > 0:25:26No, the girls used to do that.
0:25:26 > 0:25:31In this shop, we used to stack all the shelves.
0:25:32 > 0:25:34- Sometimes.- Sometimes, yeah.
0:25:34 > 0:25:38We used to do the Pedigree Chums, the toilet rolls,
0:25:38 > 0:25:41- the cigarettes.- Yeah.
0:25:41 > 0:25:43Embassy Number 1s, Silk Cut,
0:25:43 > 0:25:45Lambert and Butler.
0:25:45 > 0:25:47Don't say this!
0:25:47 > 0:25:49Do you not remember that?
0:25:49 > 0:25:51I wasn't the only one.
0:25:51 > 0:25:54Comedian Sanjeev Kohli also grew up working
0:25:54 > 0:25:56in his family's Glasgow shop.
0:25:56 > 0:25:59It directly inspired his comedy.
0:25:59 > 0:26:05It is Ramesh Mahju here. I am taking this opporchancity to showcase,
0:26:05 > 0:26:08in all my glory, my small to medium retail concern.
0:26:08 > 0:26:11Yes, my shop!
0:26:11 > 0:26:14Fags, Mags and Bags.
0:26:14 > 0:26:16Come and meet the staff.
0:26:16 > 0:26:18COUGHING
0:26:18 > 0:26:23Together with Donald McLeary, they write and record the Radio 4 sitcom,
0:26:23 > 0:26:25Fags, Mags and Bags,
0:26:25 > 0:26:29which mines the world of the corner shop for comic effect.
0:26:29 > 0:26:31OK, chaps.
0:26:31 > 0:26:33Give it a run through, all right?
0:26:33 > 0:26:36- Take one, rolling away.- Look, that's Sanjeev coming out now.
0:26:36 > 0:26:38He's holding a box with a ribbon on it.
0:26:38 > 0:26:40Ah, it is exciting.
0:26:40 > 0:26:43A new edition to the Lenzie firmament.
0:26:43 > 0:26:46I mean, the way we've written the show is, basically,
0:26:46 > 0:26:47my character's the dad.
0:26:47 > 0:26:50Dave, who's Donald's character, is basically the mum
0:26:50 > 0:26:52- and you've got the two sons.- Yeah.
0:26:52 > 0:26:54And the family dynamic is something you see in shops all the time.
0:26:54 > 0:26:57Can we get it, Dad? Can we get it, can we get it, can we get it?
0:26:57 > 0:27:01Sanjay, who is the surly son who hates doing shifts in the shop,
0:27:01 > 0:27:03was certainly based on a shop near us,
0:27:03 > 0:27:06where I went in once and there was really, really loud drum and bass
0:27:06 > 0:27:10and an incredibly surly 14-year-old with a beanie hat - like that,
0:27:10 > 0:27:12hating his life, hating his dad.
0:27:12 > 0:27:14You know, honestly,
0:27:14 > 0:27:16I'm surprised he sold anything.
0:27:16 > 0:27:19This, of course, is my son and your great-nephew, Sanjay.
0:27:19 > 0:27:21I mean great in the genealogical sense,
0:27:21 > 0:27:25as he's arrogant, at best. Sanjay, do not slouch. India is watching.
0:27:25 > 0:27:27- Where is your name tag?- 'Sake!
0:27:29 > 0:27:31Sanjay, one of the characters, I couldn't believe this
0:27:31 > 0:27:34when I heard it, he gets pocket money from his dad for doing shifts
0:27:34 > 0:27:35in the shop.
0:27:35 > 0:27:37I mean, I never got pocket money.
0:27:37 > 0:27:40Did you get pocket money as a family for doing shifts your the shop?
0:27:40 > 0:27:42We got an edict from Radio 4 that they said,
0:27:42 > 0:27:44basically, you have to give Sanjay pocket money,
0:27:44 > 0:27:47otherwise its child exploitation.
0:27:47 > 0:27:49- That's not true.- Yes. - We all know that, basically...
0:27:49 > 0:27:52- No, it was a fair note.- Yeah. That's not actually true though.
0:27:52 > 0:27:53Yeah, I know,
0:27:53 > 0:27:56you basically got paid by how many chocolates you could cram in your
0:27:56 > 0:28:00- mouth. That was your payment. - Yeah.- You know, the rogue Yorkie.
0:28:00 > 0:28:02"Oh, I did a Yorkie count. There seem to be five missing."
0:28:02 > 0:28:04And your mum would say that, but she knew what had happened.
0:28:04 > 0:28:07It had been straight down your gullet. That was your payment.
0:28:07 > 0:28:09Ho! What are you doing with those Magnums?
0:28:09 > 0:28:12The plural is of Magnums is Magna, actually.
0:28:12 > 0:28:13Yes, very good, clever shoes.
0:28:13 > 0:28:17Ah, come on, boys, we don't get high on our own supply.
0:28:17 > 0:28:20You've taken those Magna out of a child's mouth!
0:28:20 > 0:28:23Fags, Mags And Bags is about the minutiae of the corner shop.
0:28:24 > 0:28:26"To a dear auntie."
0:28:26 > 0:28:29Auntie, there, although it's a picture of a lion
0:28:29 > 0:28:30with some kind of degree.
0:28:30 > 0:28:34The writers believe that what we buy tells the shopkeeper who we are.
0:28:34 > 0:28:36As a shopkeeper, you know people's business.
0:28:36 > 0:28:39You can second-guess their business from the stuff they buy.
0:28:39 > 0:28:41From the magazines they buy. We've always said,
0:28:41 > 0:28:44if someone comes into a shop and buys isotonic Lucozade
0:28:44 > 0:28:46- and a wordsearch, it's a hospital visit.- Yeah.
0:28:46 > 0:28:48They're going to visit someone in hospital.
0:28:48 > 0:28:51If they buy a bottle of scotch and a Twix,
0:28:51 > 0:28:53you need to do an intervention.
0:28:53 > 0:28:56Anyway, I wanted to show his Bishopness
0:28:56 > 0:28:58your range of toilet wizards.
0:28:58 > 0:29:01You always make a connection. If you go to a shop every day,
0:29:01 > 0:29:04even if you don't want to make a connection, you have done,
0:29:04 > 0:29:06because when you go to the supermarket,
0:29:06 > 0:29:08- you very rarely get served by the same person.- Yeah.
0:29:08 > 0:29:10In fact, you probably never do.
0:29:10 > 0:29:12- I'm not really that bothered, Mrs Bay.- No, your Highness,
0:29:12 > 0:29:16if someone of your stature is going to bear his, you know, bum-bum,
0:29:16 > 0:29:20to the toilet, and there's going to be possible splashback issues,
0:29:20 > 0:29:22then you should be able to choose the flavour.
0:29:22 > 0:29:25It's hard-hitting social commentary.
0:29:25 > 0:29:27- That's what we're all about.- Yeah.
0:29:31 > 0:29:36# Ooh, what's the power? #
0:29:51 > 0:29:53By the 1980s,
0:29:53 > 0:29:5850% of independent corner shops were taken over by Asian families.
0:29:58 > 0:30:01The traditional corner shop had now evolved into something
0:30:01 > 0:30:03completely more diverse.
0:30:03 > 0:30:06The Asian shopkeeper was now a key figure at the heart
0:30:06 > 0:30:10of the community. That's paved the way for a new generation
0:30:10 > 0:30:12of migrants to take on the corner shop.
0:30:14 > 0:30:17Revolution in Iran would propel another wave of migrants
0:30:17 > 0:30:19on to the British high street.
0:30:19 > 0:30:23Yesterday saw the worst clashes on the streets of Tehran
0:30:23 > 0:30:25for several weeks.
0:30:26 > 0:30:30Oh, God, I thought you were married by now.
0:30:30 > 0:30:33Farhad and his son Arzhang escaped the revolution
0:30:33 > 0:30:36and went straight into the corner shop business in Wolverhampton.
0:30:36 > 0:30:38All right?
0:30:38 > 0:30:43Do you remember the first day that you opened up the shop?
0:30:43 > 0:30:49Yes. I remember, it was the 22nd of June,
0:30:49 > 0:30:511987.
0:30:51 > 0:30:54The first customer that came in asked for half an ounce
0:30:54 > 0:30:57of Golden Virginia.
0:30:57 > 0:31:02I didn't have a clue what he was asking for.
0:31:02 > 0:31:04When I served the customer, I said, "What is it?"
0:31:04 > 0:31:08He said, "Tobacco. "They roll it and they smoke it."
0:31:08 > 0:31:10That's how it started.
0:31:10 > 0:31:12After six months,
0:31:12 > 0:31:18I knew every single name of nearly 1,300 items in the shop.
0:31:18 > 0:31:21And staying true to corner-shop tradition,
0:31:21 > 0:31:26the shockwaves of world events were discussed over the shop counter.
0:31:26 > 0:31:29The newsagent is where you went to get your news.
0:31:29 > 0:31:33So, people would start to immerse themselves in conversation.
0:31:33 > 0:31:36You know, all you have to do is pick up a copy of the newspaper.
0:31:36 > 0:31:38It was about immigrants or lesbians.
0:31:38 > 0:31:40And they'd have their tuppenceworth, "Oh, bloody immigrants,
0:31:40 > 0:31:43"bloody lesbians." That would then stimulate debate
0:31:43 > 0:31:45with the shopkeeper and if the shopkeeper
0:31:45 > 0:31:47happened to be half-Iranian, half-English, like I was,
0:31:47 > 0:31:51or Iranian, like dad, it would, kind of, broaden the horizons -
0:31:51 > 0:31:55both of yourself and the person that was talking to you.
0:31:55 > 0:31:57But I think it's just the idea of it being a community hub,
0:31:57 > 0:32:00the newsagents, in this country.
0:32:00 > 0:32:03The corner shop, or the newsagents, as Arzhan calls it,
0:32:03 > 0:32:05was more than just a shop.
0:32:05 > 0:32:09Sometimes, running one called for special personal skills.
0:32:09 > 0:32:14I had a customer who was a very, very educated man, well-spoken.
0:32:14 > 0:32:18One day he came and I said, "Tom, what is the matter?
0:32:18 > 0:32:20"You look very upset and sad."
0:32:22 > 0:32:24He started crying.
0:32:24 > 0:32:30And I came around and I put my hand, very, very proud man,
0:32:30 > 0:32:36I put my hands around his shoulder and said, "What is the matter, Tom?"
0:32:36 > 0:32:43And he put his head on my shoulder and started crying and he said,
0:32:43 > 0:32:45"Betty died."
0:32:45 > 0:32:46Betty was his wife.
0:32:50 > 0:32:54That is the part of life, that is the part of my life,
0:32:54 > 0:32:57which I'll never, ever forget.
0:32:59 > 0:33:03I'm not only as shopkeeper, I'm a part of community.
0:33:06 > 0:33:13But during the 1980s, many of these communities faced tough times.
0:33:13 > 0:33:16The People's March For Jobs reached a climax this afternoon with a march
0:33:16 > 0:33:17through central London.
0:33:17 > 0:33:22# I went to the bank just to get a little money
0:33:22 > 0:33:26# When he told me the requirements I started feeling funny
0:33:26 > 0:33:32# They said you ain't got a house You ain't got a plug
0:33:32 > 0:33:34# I ain't got a window and I ain't got a job. #
0:33:34 > 0:33:36Britain was in the grip of a recession
0:33:36 > 0:33:40and the country was buckling under the strain of mass unemployment
0:33:40 > 0:33:42and growing social divisions.
0:33:42 > 0:33:47The Tory government needed good news stories and the corner shop owner
0:33:47 > 0:33:51became the poster boy for the new entrepreneurial society
0:33:51 > 0:33:53championed by Margaret Thatcher.
0:33:53 > 0:33:57Mrs Thatcher's larder is stocked as prosaically as any housewife's.
0:33:57 > 0:34:00And she wondered, in anticipation, if there weren't a couple of useful
0:34:00 > 0:34:04shops around the corner from Ten Downing Street.
0:34:04 > 0:34:07Brown bread.
0:34:07 > 0:34:09New Zealand butter and English.
0:34:09 > 0:34:13Asian shopkeepers have been incredibly useful to the Tory party.
0:34:13 > 0:34:16The image of the shopkeeper is a powerful one and the image of
0:34:16 > 0:34:19the Asian shopkeeper is very useful across the political spectrum,
0:34:19 > 0:34:22as a symbol of something like hard work or aspiration.
0:34:22 > 0:34:24- You were turned out of Uganda?- Yes.
0:34:24 > 0:34:26Well, at least it's better news from there this morning.
0:34:26 > 0:34:31But it's also a very convenient way of suggesting that we live in
0:34:31 > 0:34:33a meritocracy that we don't live in, right?
0:34:33 > 0:34:39So that it's used as a way to suggest to the working-class
0:34:39 > 0:34:42that you should be able to pull yourself up by your bootstraps.
0:34:42 > 0:34:46So, I think the idea of the Asian shopkeeper has been really useful,
0:34:46 > 0:34:48politically, for that reason.
0:34:52 > 0:34:56One success story was Lord Dolar Popat.
0:34:56 > 0:34:59He arrived from Uganda, penniless.
0:34:59 > 0:35:01He started working as a shopkeeper,
0:35:01 > 0:35:06became a multimillionaire and is now a member of the House of Lords.
0:35:08 > 0:35:11I think Mrs Thatcher made a big difference.
0:35:11 > 0:35:13She herself was a shopkeeper's daughter.
0:35:13 > 0:35:15And she realised, she understood,
0:35:15 > 0:35:18small businesses very well. She encouraged small businesses.
0:35:18 > 0:35:22So, I think there was some recognition of those East African,
0:35:22 > 0:35:25British Indians coming to this country, running a shop,
0:35:25 > 0:35:31how hard-working they are and she realised that our values of hard
0:35:31 > 0:35:33work, education, enterprise, family
0:35:33 > 0:35:36were the values of the Conservative Party.
0:35:41 > 0:35:42In the 1980s,
0:35:42 > 0:35:46you were seven times more likely to be a millionaire if your name was
0:35:46 > 0:35:49Patel, than if your name was Smith.
0:35:50 > 0:35:54Shops was the starting point to become a successful businessman.
0:35:54 > 0:35:58The shop is where you do your buying, your selling,
0:35:58 > 0:36:01your VAT return, you do your own accounts.
0:36:01 > 0:36:03The longer the hours you put into the shop,
0:36:03 > 0:36:05the more money you can make.
0:36:07 > 0:36:11The more the family help came in, the less the wage costs,
0:36:11 > 0:36:12the higher the profit,
0:36:12 > 0:36:14the more the banks want to lend you money
0:36:14 > 0:36:18and expand and grow for a second shop, third shop, more.
0:36:21 > 0:36:26By the mid-1980s, Dolar had built a business empire, but for him,
0:36:26 > 0:36:28it wasn't just about making money.
0:36:31 > 0:36:34I think one thing that did help us, which is very, very important,
0:36:34 > 0:36:36it helped us to integrate.
0:36:36 > 0:36:40In a way, we learnt the art of talking to people,
0:36:40 > 0:36:43engaging with people, learning English.
0:36:43 > 0:36:47And to make a success in this country, integration is key.
0:36:49 > 0:36:50In difficult economic times,
0:36:50 > 0:36:54self-made millionaires like Dolar Popat were the exception,
0:36:54 > 0:36:55rather than the rule.
0:36:55 > 0:36:58A stereotype had been born.
0:36:58 > 0:37:02# Ladies and gentlemen May I please have your attention.
0:37:02 > 0:37:04# My name is Abdul.
0:37:05 > 0:37:09# I'm wanting to tell you the story of my success.
0:37:09 > 0:37:12# It all began when I was a little boy.
0:37:12 > 0:37:14# My mother said to me,
0:37:14 > 0:37:18# "Don't bop, my son Go out and buy a corner shop."
0:37:18 > 0:37:22# Behind the counter of his corner shop
0:37:22 > 0:37:26# Making trillions... #
0:37:26 > 0:37:30It was at this time that a loaded term entered our vocabulary.
0:37:32 > 0:37:36It was even acceptable to use it on prime-time TV.
0:37:36 > 0:37:40What's the point? All the animals will be dead.
0:37:40 > 0:37:41We won't to be able to grow nothing,
0:37:41 > 0:37:45because all the earth will be contaminated.
0:37:45 > 0:37:48Where are we going to get something to eat?
0:37:48 > 0:37:50Bound to be a little Paki shop open somewhere.
0:37:53 > 0:37:56I think that it's probably not uncommon for there to be plenty of
0:37:56 > 0:37:59communities still in the UK where it is completely normal to refer to it
0:37:59 > 0:38:03- as the Paki shop.- Where does that come from, that term?
0:38:03 > 0:38:06I think it comes from the fact that lots of Asians owned corner shops.
0:38:06 > 0:38:10What I never understood about the expression was the logic of it.
0:38:10 > 0:38:12I would call something a Paki shop if, A,
0:38:12 > 0:38:16I thought that was an acceptable shortening of Pakistani,
0:38:16 > 0:38:19which it isn't, because you can call an Australian an Aussie,
0:38:19 > 0:38:22the reason for that is that you don't see, "Aussies go home"
0:38:22 > 0:38:25on a brick wall. You see, "Pakis go home" on a brick wall.
0:38:25 > 0:38:28It attained that connotation just by osmosis.
0:38:28 > 0:38:31But also, what exactly is Pakistani about the shop?
0:38:31 > 0:38:34The Brillo pads aren't Pakistani, the Cuppa Soups aren't Pakistani,
0:38:34 > 0:38:36the bin bags aren't Pakistani.
0:38:36 > 0:38:39Why can't you just say, "the corner shop" or "the shop?"
0:38:39 > 0:38:42I never understood what the ethnicity of the family
0:38:42 > 0:38:44that run it had anything to do with it.
0:38:44 > 0:38:45It was completely irrelevant.
0:38:45 > 0:38:48You know what I mean? That's what got me.
0:38:48 > 0:38:51And for Farhad, his ethnicity was also irrelevant.
0:38:51 > 0:38:54This slur had become a catchall term
0:38:54 > 0:38:57to throw at any successful shopkeeper who wasn't white.
0:38:58 > 0:39:01What would they say to you, when you say there were names, rude names?
0:39:01 > 0:39:05"You're a bloody Paki, what are you doing here?"
0:39:05 > 0:39:08- The usual thing. - How did you deal with that?
0:39:08 > 0:39:09How did you deal with the racism?
0:39:09 > 0:39:14He's not Pakistani for starters, which is always interesting.
0:39:14 > 0:39:17As soon as they tell me, I said,
0:39:17 > 0:39:19"Hang on, you want to wait and listen,
0:39:19 > 0:39:22"or do you want to continue to say what you want to say?
0:39:22 > 0:39:24"Well, go off, bugger off.
0:39:24 > 0:39:27"If you want to know, I'm not Pakistani.
0:39:27 > 0:39:31"It starts with P, but I'm Persian, not Pakistani."
0:39:33 > 0:39:39Verbal abuse at times escalated into violent confrontation.
0:39:39 > 0:39:41Sunday after Sunday, white youths,
0:39:41 > 0:39:43encouraged by the atmosphere created by the National Front,
0:39:43 > 0:39:46went on the rampage, breaking shop windows
0:39:46 > 0:39:49and attacking passing Asians.
0:39:49 > 0:39:52The sight of the shopkeeper apparently doing well
0:39:52 > 0:39:57during an era of recession lit the touchpaper among far-right groups.
0:39:57 > 0:40:00- THEY CHANT:- Rights for whites!
0:40:00 > 0:40:02In the East End of London,
0:40:02 > 0:40:05the openly-racist British National Party take to the streets.
0:40:07 > 0:40:11The BNP want all the non-whites to leave Britain.
0:40:11 > 0:40:14And they are marching in an area where racial attacks,
0:40:14 > 0:40:17mostly on Asians, have tripled in two years.
0:40:17 > 0:40:20Asians say it's a provocation that can lead to violence.
0:40:21 > 0:40:26The idea of the successful Asian shopkeeper bred some resentment.
0:40:28 > 0:40:32The 1985 film My Beautiful Launderette
0:40:32 > 0:40:34shakes this dangerous cocktail.
0:40:34 > 0:40:36Leave it out!
0:40:37 > 0:40:39Why are you working for these people?
0:40:39 > 0:40:41Pakis.
0:40:42 > 0:40:44It's work, that's why.
0:40:44 > 0:40:47I want to do some work for a change instead of always hanging around.
0:40:47 > 0:40:50- What, are you jealous? - No, I'm angry, Johnny.
0:40:50 > 0:40:52I don't like to see one of our blokes grovelling to Pakis.
0:40:54 > 0:40:56But they came over here to work for us.
0:40:56 > 0:40:59That's why we brought them over, OK?
0:40:59 > 0:41:00The Asian shopkeeper is attacked,
0:41:00 > 0:41:04partly as a symbol of a, kind of, working-class resentment
0:41:04 > 0:41:09of people who seem to be making money in a time of national crisis.
0:41:15 > 0:41:17Don't cut yourself off from your own people.
0:41:26 > 0:41:30Having a corner shop was the dream for many migrants
0:41:30 > 0:41:32in the 1960s and 70s,
0:41:32 > 0:41:36but the dream was beginning to tarnish.
0:41:36 > 0:41:39The corner shop was increasingly seen as a soft target,
0:41:39 > 0:41:44a vulnerable space with little security and wide open to attack.
0:41:44 > 0:41:46Violent attacks on staff at small,
0:41:46 > 0:41:49local shops have risen dramatically over the past year.
0:41:49 > 0:41:53Convenience stores are increasingly being seen as easy targets.
0:41:53 > 0:41:56A shopkeeper has been talking about the moment he fought off a masked
0:41:56 > 0:41:59robber who fired a crossbow at him.
0:42:00 > 0:42:04The corner shop owner often had to defuse very tricky situations.
0:42:06 > 0:42:09Even in dangerous moments, where, on a Sunday morning,
0:42:09 > 0:42:12there's been banging on the door at 4am,
0:42:12 > 0:42:14and there's been guys who have been...
0:42:14 > 0:42:18Who are high on ecstasy and drunk, who were banging on the door, going,
0:42:18 > 0:42:20"Oh, yeah, open the shop! Open the shop!"
0:42:20 > 0:42:22And my brother does.
0:42:22 > 0:42:25And I'm standing there going, "Oh, this is going to kick off."
0:42:25 > 0:42:26My brother will go...
0:42:26 > 0:42:29And they'll be this really...
0:42:29 > 0:42:32palpable...tension,
0:42:32 > 0:42:37where then, my brother will go, "Hello, Robert, how's your mum?"
0:42:37 > 0:42:40And then this Robert guy would just go, "All right, Charlie."
0:42:40 > 0:42:42"And he'd go, "Are you OK? You going to get home all right?"
0:42:42 > 0:42:45"Yeah, I'm fine." But you'd think it was going to kick off,
0:42:45 > 0:42:48because it could. It could go either way.
0:42:48 > 0:42:51But my brother's just brilliant at being able to dissipate that.
0:42:51 > 0:42:55Having said that, you know, he's seen his fair share of grief from...
0:42:55 > 0:43:01- And racial abuse from lots of people, from kids to adults.- Yeah.
0:43:01 > 0:43:05The success of the shop could often dependent on the personality of the
0:43:05 > 0:43:10shopkeeper. Something exploited in the cult comedy, Still Game.
0:43:10 > 0:43:12Am I the crazy one here?!
0:43:12 > 0:43:16MUSIC SMOTHERS WORDS
0:43:16 > 0:43:18It tapped into the stereotype
0:43:18 > 0:43:22of the Asian shopkeeper, who only had his wits to protect him.
0:43:22 > 0:43:25I'm not listening to you, Isa. I'm listening to my iPod.
0:43:25 > 0:43:27Go and talk your bullshit to somebody who gives a toss.
0:43:27 > 0:43:30The character was played by none other than Fags,
0:43:30 > 0:43:33Mags And Bags writer, Sanjeev Kohli.
0:43:36 > 0:43:40For very good socioeconomic reasons, a lot of...
0:43:40 > 0:43:45Mostly Asian families run shops, all over the UK and in Scotland.
0:43:45 > 0:43:48And they're in sometimes pretty poor areas.
0:43:48 > 0:43:51There's going to be envy. They're the guys driving the tan Mercs.
0:43:51 > 0:43:56So, they have to develop their own kind of shield to avarice and envy
0:43:56 > 0:43:58and violence, frankly.
0:43:58 > 0:44:00And, you know, you can't take a baseball bat
0:44:00 > 0:44:03to every kid that comes in and tries to steal from you
0:44:03 > 0:44:05or calls you racist names.
0:44:05 > 0:44:08So, what you do is you develop sarcasm, you develop humour.
0:44:08 > 0:44:10You develop patter - bants.
0:44:11 > 0:44:14So many people, probably triple figures now, have said,
0:44:14 > 0:44:18"Oh, did the boys base Navid on our shopkeeper?"
0:44:18 > 0:44:21Well, yes and no. They based it on one particular shopkeeper,
0:44:21 > 0:44:24but it's a generation of shopkeepers that, like I say,
0:44:24 > 0:44:27have this fantastic hybrid accent, for a start, which is a joy to play.
0:44:27 > 0:44:30I based it on the Govanhill area of Glasgow,
0:44:30 > 0:44:34which I can dae nae bother, cos it's a place I know very well, you know?
0:44:34 > 0:44:36My dad doesn't speak like that, but Navid looks a bit like my dad,
0:44:36 > 0:44:39cos my dad is a turban Sikh, so as soon as I straighten my back
0:44:39 > 0:44:40and push my gut out...
0:44:40 > 0:44:43- HE IMITATES HIS DAD'S ACCENT:- ..my dad speaks more like this, you know?
0:44:43 > 0:44:46But I do think that humour thing is very, very important.
0:44:46 > 0:44:48Are you all right, Navid?
0:44:48 > 0:44:50Aye.
0:44:50 > 0:44:52Full of beans.
0:44:53 > 0:44:54I play him very deadpan.
0:44:54 > 0:44:57But, actually, a lot of shopkeepers I know, they are.
0:44:57 > 0:44:59It's almost like, I don't want to give anything away.
0:44:59 > 0:45:01It's almost like they're prowling.
0:45:01 > 0:45:03No touching. "You touch it, you pay for it."
0:45:03 > 0:45:05That kind of thing. The body language is always like this.
0:45:07 > 0:45:09"What are you doing?" So, it kind of becomes that anyway and a lot
0:45:09 > 0:45:13of shopkeepers adopt that body language and that kind of attitude.
0:45:13 > 0:45:15Bubbalicious, 25p.
0:45:19 > 0:45:20Snickers, 40p.
0:45:26 > 0:45:28I don't even have to smell your breath.
0:45:28 > 0:45:30Cheesy Wotsits, 25p.
0:45:33 > 0:45:36I'm sorry about this, Mr Harrid.
0:45:36 > 0:45:38Oh, these things happen. Kids will be kids.
0:45:42 > 0:45:44HE SNIFFS
0:45:44 > 0:45:46You dirty bastard.
0:45:46 > 0:45:48Poppets, 30p.
0:45:56 > 0:46:00But kids nicking things from the shop was the least of your worries.
0:46:00 > 0:46:04In the early 1990s, out of nowhere, a bigger threat loomed -
0:46:04 > 0:46:06Sunday trading.
0:46:06 > 0:46:08Let's be honest -
0:46:08 > 0:46:12corner shops have been exploiting a loophole in a very unclear law.
0:46:12 > 0:46:16What you could and couldn't buy according to the 1950 Shop Act
0:46:16 > 0:46:18was completely bizarre.
0:46:18 > 0:46:21There's a famous saying that you could buy pornography on a Sunday,
0:46:21 > 0:46:25but not a Bible. And corner shops, many of them like ours,
0:46:25 > 0:46:28for 40 years, traded illegally on a Sunday.
0:46:28 > 0:46:30But that all changed.
0:46:30 > 0:46:34In 1994, the big supermarkets said, "Enough is enough."
0:46:34 > 0:46:37They wanted to cash in on the money that corner shops were making and
0:46:37 > 0:46:40they, too, wanted to open up on a Sunday.
0:46:40 > 0:46:43Sunday in England and Wales will never be the same again,
0:46:43 > 0:46:45after last night's Commons vote.
0:46:45 > 0:46:48The government plans to turn Sunday into a family shopping day.
0:46:48 > 0:46:52I think the main people who will benefit from this are the millions
0:46:52 > 0:46:55of people who already shop on Sundays.
0:46:55 > 0:46:58There was a warm welcome for the vote by the big out-of-town stores.
0:46:58 > 0:47:01Small shopkeepers say they'll be trampled by the giants.
0:47:01 > 0:47:03It's devastating.
0:47:03 > 0:47:06The reaction of Sunday opening has not only took the customers away
0:47:06 > 0:47:10from us, it's halved the day's trading.
0:47:10 > 0:47:12And I feel, if this carries on much longer,
0:47:12 > 0:47:15all the small businesses will go to the wall.
0:47:17 > 0:47:21Overnight, the corner shop profit margin dropped drastically.
0:47:21 > 0:47:25Up to 50% of weekly takings had been made on a Sunday.
0:47:26 > 0:47:30The corner shop now felt the full blast of corporate competition
0:47:30 > 0:47:34and by the 1990s, many corner shop owners, including Mum and Dad,
0:47:34 > 0:47:37were getting out.
0:47:37 > 0:47:40A great British institution, the Asian corner shop,
0:47:40 > 0:47:42could soon be a thing of the past.
0:47:42 > 0:47:45New research suggests up to 4,000 have disappeared
0:47:45 > 0:47:46over the past decade.
0:47:46 > 0:47:47The face of Britain is changing.
0:47:47 > 0:47:50Tonight, we wanted to mourn the passing of one British tradition -
0:47:50 > 0:47:52the Asian corner shop.
0:47:52 > 0:47:56Once open all hours, according to the British Retail Consortium,
0:47:56 > 0:47:58the last one will be gone by 2015.
0:47:58 > 0:48:01# Closing time
0:48:01 > 0:48:06# Open all the doors and let you out into... #
0:48:06 > 0:48:09Perhaps that was a bit overdramatic, but for my family,
0:48:09 > 0:48:12it was, indeed, the end of the road.
0:48:12 > 0:48:15For some, the shop was just a means to an end,
0:48:15 > 0:48:17to educate their children and make money.
0:48:17 > 0:48:21But, for others, such as our family, it was a way of life.
0:48:22 > 0:48:25What was going through your mind when you decided to sell?
0:48:25 > 0:48:27It was getting a bit too much.
0:48:28 > 0:48:31Plus, we were tired.
0:48:31 > 0:48:33Very tired.
0:48:33 > 0:48:35It was time to sell the shop.
0:48:35 > 0:48:39- So...- Were you sad? - When I go to the town,
0:48:39 > 0:48:42and I see all my customers, they say,
0:48:42 > 0:48:45"Hello, Mrs Sharma, we're missing you. How are you?"
0:48:46 > 0:48:49And their children, they say, "Oh, that's Mrs Sharma."
0:48:49 > 0:48:54- "You know?- Mm.- Then, I felt something, you know. Yeah.
0:48:54 > 0:48:58Like my parents, Farhad worked 14 hours a day,
0:48:58 > 0:49:00almost seven days a week.
0:49:00 > 0:49:02He was completely exhausted.
0:49:02 > 0:49:05But worried about the future of his shop.
0:49:05 > 0:49:08Because it's a small corner shop
0:49:08 > 0:49:12and you are so connected to your community...
0:49:13 > 0:49:18..you couldn't leave the shop with anybody, unless you made sure
0:49:18 > 0:49:24your ideology, your principals, were carried on.
0:49:29 > 0:49:30But there was a problem.
0:49:30 > 0:49:33My generation, born and brought up in the UK,
0:49:33 > 0:49:35didn't want to take on the shop.
0:49:35 > 0:49:37Arzan became a playwright.
0:49:38 > 0:49:40I think the...
0:49:40 > 0:49:43The hours, the physical strain of actually running
0:49:43 > 0:49:46the shop were immense. I mean, they were 14-hour days.
0:49:46 > 0:49:48They were huge days.
0:49:48 > 0:49:52I became a journalist. Sanjeev became a comedian.
0:49:52 > 0:49:57What you've got now is the next generation, who have options.
0:49:57 > 0:50:00And, you know, it is hard work.
0:50:00 > 0:50:02And the whole point was to educate the kids,
0:50:02 > 0:50:04so they didn't have to work in shops.
0:50:04 > 0:50:07So, that's why they don't want a part of it any more.
0:50:07 > 0:50:10And the fact is they can become optometrists
0:50:10 > 0:50:12and they can work on the make-up counter at Boots and, yeah,
0:50:12 > 0:50:16there are options. You know, this, kind of, low-return retail thing,
0:50:16 > 0:50:18as lucrative as it can be, it's a lot of hours
0:50:18 > 0:50:20and it's a lot of graft.
0:50:20 > 0:50:23So, it's no surprise there is a generation that aren't interested
0:50:23 > 0:50:25in taking over. I do know, genuinely,
0:50:25 > 0:50:27of a family, where there was a son, who was a lawyer,
0:50:27 > 0:50:30and the daughter was a doctor, and they still did shifts
0:50:30 > 0:50:34in the shop. I'm assuming that's not what the dad wanted for them.
0:50:34 > 0:50:36But that is what happened.
0:50:36 > 0:50:39So, it's strange tension.
0:50:41 > 0:50:45Nitin became an actor, but his family are hanging on.
0:50:46 > 0:50:48We've still got the shop.
0:50:48 > 0:50:53And my mum and dad still get up at 3:30am and do the papers with
0:50:53 > 0:50:55my brother, who runs the shop for my dad.
0:50:55 > 0:50:59And when I go back, I do the same sort of stuff.
0:50:59 > 0:51:03Having worked so hard to make the shop a success and make it the focal
0:51:03 > 0:51:07point of the community, Nitin's family were not ready to let it go.
0:51:07 > 0:51:09It's a tricky situation.
0:51:09 > 0:51:13My brother provides a service that supermarkets won't provide,
0:51:13 > 0:51:16which is a personal service. He knows what you want.
0:51:16 > 0:51:19He knows what you like. He knows what paper you read.
0:51:19 > 0:51:22When customers come in, it's already on the counter
0:51:22 > 0:51:25and he has a conversation with you.
0:51:25 > 0:51:29But my brother's been working in the shop since he was a kid.
0:51:29 > 0:51:31And he's going to...
0:51:31 > 0:51:33He's 60.
0:51:33 > 0:51:36So, I worry for him. My brother hasn't had a holiday.
0:51:36 > 0:51:40- I think he's had a holiday three times in 40 years.- Mm.
0:51:40 > 0:51:42Yeah, we didn't really get many holidays.
0:51:42 > 0:51:44No, cos, again, the papers need to be done.
0:51:44 > 0:51:47- It's seven days a week. - Yeah. It's seven days a week.
0:51:50 > 0:51:54There were other reasons why the next generation were wary.
0:52:02 > 0:52:07The supermarkets, which had earlier abandoned the town centre,
0:52:07 > 0:52:10were back, muscling in on the corner shop's traditional turf -
0:52:10 > 0:52:12the high street.
0:52:15 > 0:52:19This fairly recent phenomenon of the supermarkets now moving on to the
0:52:19 > 0:52:23high street, with much smaller stores, is really interesting.
0:52:23 > 0:52:27And I think it reflects something about how people are changing their
0:52:27 > 0:52:31shopping habits. So, although people still do a big shop,
0:52:31 > 0:52:37they are often picking up the odd special item or topping up
0:52:37 > 0:52:39their shopping, so I think it's partly to do with that.
0:52:39 > 0:52:42It's also partly to do with, you know, more people living single
0:52:42 > 0:52:47or not in family households, or living in mixed households
0:52:47 > 0:52:50in urban areas, not wanting to do a great, big shop.
0:52:52 > 0:52:57It takes entrepreneurial guile to take on the supermarket giants.
0:52:57 > 0:53:00And many corner shops have decided to call it a day
0:53:00 > 0:53:06or become part of an independent franchise, like Spa or Nisa.
0:53:06 > 0:53:11Sweet Mart in Bristol started life as a small corner shop in 1969.
0:53:11 > 0:53:15But a few years ago, Abdul was ready to shut up shop.
0:53:15 > 0:53:18From here, you can see Tesco, anyway, one of the supermarkets.
0:53:18 > 0:53:21On the other side, you've got Sainsbury's. Four or five years ago,
0:53:21 > 0:53:24I really thought we would have to wind up and close and forget it.
0:53:24 > 0:53:27The supermarkets were getting stronger.
0:53:27 > 0:53:29We were weaker.
0:53:29 > 0:53:32We didn't have enough staff.
0:53:32 > 0:53:35But Sweet Mart now seemed to have a winning formula -
0:53:35 > 0:53:39luring customers with bespoke offerings, from local organics
0:53:39 > 0:53:41to home-made curries.
0:53:42 > 0:53:46Come here, I'll show you our Aladdin's Cave.
0:53:46 > 0:53:47Aladdin's cave, wow!
0:53:47 > 0:53:50All the foods you can buy from the world. All the spices.
0:53:50 > 0:53:52People want to eat healthy.
0:53:52 > 0:53:54You know, recession can come and go.
0:53:54 > 0:53:57The one thing people won't cut too much is on food.
0:53:57 > 0:53:59So, you've got all the vegetables.
0:53:59 > 0:54:01Indian vegetables, all different vegetables.
0:54:01 > 0:54:03This is what you were on about, isn't it? Karela.
0:54:03 > 0:54:05- Karela, my favourite!- Yeah.
0:54:05 > 0:54:09- And the chilies?- The chilies there.
0:54:09 > 0:54:11All different types.
0:54:11 > 0:54:1440 years ago, if I had an English customer and there was a couple of
0:54:14 > 0:54:17chilies left in the basket, I'd say, you can have it.
0:54:17 > 0:54:20And they would turn round and say, "No, no, no, we don't eat that."
0:54:20 > 0:54:23Today, we've got English customers, who will buy a kilo
0:54:23 > 0:54:26and they'll ask you, "Do you have bullet chilies?"
0:54:26 > 0:54:28You know, people have changed.
0:54:28 > 0:54:32They know a lot more. They know what kind of spices to buy.
0:54:33 > 0:54:36This truly is spice heaven, isn't it?
0:54:36 > 0:54:40This is where we do different kinds of spices, which you won't get in
0:54:40 > 0:54:43supermarkets. For example, Zulu fire spice.
0:54:43 > 0:54:45What is this?
0:54:45 > 0:54:48- Zulu...- It'll blow your socks off.
0:54:48 > 0:54:49Is it really chilli? Hot?
0:54:49 > 0:54:53- It's quite hot. - Then, Moroccan harissa spice.
0:54:53 > 0:54:55People travel a lot. Air travel is cheaper.
0:54:55 > 0:54:57If you've been abroad, you've eaten something,
0:54:57 > 0:55:00you want to try it at home. We've got it.
0:55:00 > 0:55:04Over here, you've got West Africans dried fish and prawns.
0:55:04 > 0:55:05- Oh, yeah. Gosh.- And this is...
0:55:05 > 0:55:09This is world famous now. We're known for it. Bombay duck.
0:55:09 > 0:55:12It's actually dried fish.
0:55:12 > 0:55:14Ugh... OK.
0:55:14 > 0:55:18Not sure about the dried fish, but Abdul's tactic has proved
0:55:18 > 0:55:21successful. They now own the whole row.
0:55:21 > 0:55:27So, we're still the old corner shop, but we are an extended corner shop.
0:55:27 > 0:55:31And they have a strong, local following, as well.
0:55:31 > 0:55:34How come you come here and not to some of the other supermarkets?
0:55:34 > 0:55:36Because it's got everything.
0:55:36 > 0:55:38We were just looking round and I've never seen so many spices and
0:55:38 > 0:55:43- vegetables.- Yeah. Yeah, basically, if you want to create anything
0:55:43 > 0:55:47- exotic and exciting for your dinner, then come here.- You come here.
0:55:53 > 0:55:55Sweet Mart is not alone.
0:55:55 > 0:55:59There is an emerging trend of specialised corner shops.
0:55:59 > 0:56:04In fact, the corner shop market is expected to increase by 17%,
0:56:04 > 0:56:08to £44 billion, over the next five years.
0:56:09 > 0:56:13But is this really the corner shop as we have known it?
0:56:13 > 0:56:19If we were to transport ourselves back to the 1950s and to walk into
0:56:19 > 0:56:22a local corner shop, convenience store, at that time,
0:56:22 > 0:56:24I think what we'd have been struck by
0:56:24 > 0:56:27is the very limited range of foods available.
0:56:27 > 0:56:31And that has clearly completely transformed within living memory.
0:56:31 > 0:56:36And, so, now what you see is that people are obsessed with food.
0:56:36 > 0:56:41Our travel has meant we're much more adventurous about what we will eat
0:56:41 > 0:56:43and what we won't eat.
0:56:43 > 0:56:45And also, our population has changed.
0:56:45 > 0:56:49And the changing population has completely transformed
0:56:49 > 0:56:51the corner shop landscape.
0:56:55 > 0:57:00The corner shop has constantly reinvented itself since the 1940s.
0:57:00 > 0:57:04In the way that only small, independent retailers can.
0:57:10 > 0:57:12It's been a rite of passage for migrants,
0:57:12 > 0:57:15who've made our community more diverse.
0:57:18 > 0:57:22And, for the past decade, we've seen the rise of Polish shops,
0:57:22 > 0:57:26Latvian delis, all selling their own specialised products.
0:57:29 > 0:57:33In this new Brexit era, there are those who would say
0:57:33 > 0:57:37that the corner shop and its diversity may come under threat,
0:57:37 > 0:57:39but I don't see it like that.
0:57:39 > 0:57:43The corner shop is too much a part of everyone's way of life.
0:57:44 > 0:57:47We can't seem to get the corner shop out of our minds.
0:57:47 > 0:57:49It's always been there for us,
0:57:49 > 0:57:54whether we are buying a box of Milk Tray or a bag of Bombay mix.
0:57:54 > 0:57:57And today's shopkeepers, well, they're just like mum and dad.
0:57:57 > 0:57:59They're a new wave of immigrants,
0:57:59 > 0:58:02reflecting a changing face of Britain.
0:58:02 > 0:58:03And I can see it.
0:58:03 > 0:58:07I can see it right now, my history repeating itself.
0:58:10 > 0:58:14It's a special little place. A trusted friend.
0:58:14 > 0:58:16A place where we can celebrate the local.
0:58:16 > 0:58:19And I just hope that it stays for generations to come.
0:58:38 > 0:58:41# There's dancing behind movie scenes
0:58:41 > 0:58:44# Behind the movie scenes Sadi rani. #