0:00:03 > 0:00:05Built in the heart of the city,
0:00:05 > 0:00:08Swansea Market is Wales's largest indoor market.
0:00:08 > 0:00:11There you are. £16.82, that's fantastic.
0:00:11 > 0:00:13Thank you very much indeed.
0:00:13 > 0:00:14Every day,
0:00:14 > 0:00:18more than 700 people compete alongside each other for business.
0:00:18 > 0:00:21- Get your chestnuts and your satsumas!- Cockles!
0:00:21 > 0:00:23Come and get your fishies!
0:00:24 > 0:00:27Their stalls will trade with their communities of modern Wales...
0:00:27 > 0:00:31- £4.79. £4 to you. - We'll think about it.
0:00:31 > 0:00:34Leave it here first. We'll think about it.
0:00:34 > 0:00:37..and service its oldest institutions.
0:00:37 > 0:00:40First time I've ever shook hands with royalty.
0:00:40 > 0:00:44In the grip of a recession, this is the one place where a small
0:00:44 > 0:00:47idea can still turn into a big profit.
0:00:47 > 0:00:51The total business turnover is forecast to be just over £5 million.
0:00:52 > 0:00:54But the way we shop is changing.
0:00:55 > 0:00:59City centres are losing business to large supermarkets and retail parks.
0:00:59 > 0:01:03I have never seen it as tough as it is now.
0:01:03 > 0:01:05You're destroying the livelihood of 700 people
0:01:05 > 0:01:08if you destroy Swansea Market so how can it be right?
0:01:08 > 0:01:10How can it be right for the country?
0:01:10 > 0:01:14The market has to pull together as a unit, as a team, I guess.
0:01:18 > 0:01:21Filmed over at the busiest period of the market's year...
0:01:21 > 0:01:23Gotcha.
0:01:23 > 0:01:26..this series explores the fortunes and fates of the city's
0:01:26 > 0:01:31traders as they try and keep their business dreams alive.
0:01:31 > 0:01:34Three minutes late. You know, Paul, it's not good enough, is it, son?
0:01:34 > 0:01:38You have just got to pray that somebody wants what we have got,
0:01:38 > 0:01:40basically. That's all we can do.
0:01:40 > 0:01:44Well, look. Look at all these lovely, happy people.
0:01:44 > 0:01:46You don't get that in Tesco's.
0:01:54 > 0:01:57It's early November in Swansea.
0:01:57 > 0:01:59For the last 800 years,
0:01:59 > 0:02:03traders here have risen early to bring produce to the city centre,
0:02:03 > 0:02:07hoping to earn a living from a day's business in the market.
0:02:08 > 0:02:12Whilst the city has changed over the centuries, one tradition has
0:02:12 > 0:02:16remained - it is always the fishmongers who arrive first.
0:02:20 > 0:02:24Adrian Coakley-Greene's family have been supplying Swansea with
0:02:24 > 0:02:26fish for over four generations.
0:02:29 > 0:02:32These have come from down around the South, Newlyn.
0:02:33 > 0:02:40That's some beautiful gear here. Our reputation is we buy quality fish.
0:02:40 > 0:02:45Maybe a little more expensive but it is worth paying that little
0:02:45 > 0:02:48bit extra to buy very good quality products.
0:02:48 > 0:02:52Adrian is one of three fishmongers competing in the market.
0:02:52 > 0:02:56Every day he battles to keep the customers buying from his stall.
0:02:56 > 0:02:58Those are lovely fish, those.
0:02:59 > 0:03:01Presentation is everything.
0:03:01 > 0:03:03If it looks good, people will stop and say,
0:03:03 > 0:03:07"Oh, that's a bit of a wow factor." We like that.
0:03:09 > 0:03:14Look at those. As if they have been hand-dipped in a pot of red paint.
0:03:14 > 0:03:20That is colour. That is colour. We like that. Again, colour.
0:03:20 > 0:03:23A little bit of green. That is a wow-factor prawn.
0:03:23 > 0:03:27That's the piece de resistance. Customers love to see that.
0:03:27 > 0:03:31Adrian spends three hours each morning crafting his fish
0:03:31 > 0:03:33so they stand out from his rivals.
0:03:33 > 0:03:35I just look back at that there and say,
0:03:35 > 0:03:38"Well, maybe this is even better than Harrods."
0:03:39 > 0:03:41Swansea market is home to 103
0:03:41 > 0:03:45of Britain's four million small businesses.
0:03:45 > 0:03:47Some will work together
0:03:47 > 0:03:50and some will compete fiercely against each other.
0:03:50 > 0:03:53The success of each stall depends solely on the hard work
0:03:53 > 0:03:56and ingenuity of the people running them.
0:03:56 > 0:04:01You have spent hundreds of thousands of pounds setting up beautiful shops.
0:04:01 > 0:04:04They are filled with many more hundreds of thousands of pounds'
0:04:04 > 0:04:05worth of stock.
0:04:08 > 0:04:11We have all come to the same place at the same time for the same
0:04:11 > 0:04:14purpose - to try to earn a living.
0:04:15 > 0:04:19Are we going to make £2 today?
0:04:19 > 0:04:24Are we going to make £4,000 today? Who knows?
0:04:24 > 0:04:27Until it happens, it is in the air.
0:04:46 > 0:04:47TANNOY CHIMES
0:04:49 > 0:04:53Good morning to all traders. Swansea market is now open.
0:04:53 > 0:04:54Thank you.
0:05:10 > 0:05:16In the next nine hours, over £30,000 will change hands,
0:05:16 > 0:05:214,000 Welsh cakes will be baked and 200 lamb chops sold.
0:05:21 > 0:05:25Three metres of hair will be cut off and two metres sewn back on.
0:05:25 > 0:05:28Yeah, that's a lot of better. Thank you.
0:05:28 > 0:05:30The city's oldest pensioners will be served
0:05:30 > 0:05:32alongside its youngest children.
0:05:32 > 0:05:36Generations of stallholder will do business with generations
0:05:36 > 0:05:41of customer as everyone tries to turn their product into profit.
0:05:41 > 0:05:48- Come on. I don't care.- Come on, come on.- No, you come on. £2.
0:05:48 > 0:05:51'Tempers flare because we are all under extreme pressure'
0:05:51 > 0:05:54and people get, "Oh, my God! What's happening?
0:05:54 > 0:05:55PHONE RINGS
0:05:55 > 0:05:58"Why haven't we got that in?" You have let Mrs Jones down
0:05:58 > 0:06:01and there's people here, "Where's my order? Where's my order?"
0:06:01 > 0:06:03And, you know, you just can't cope with it all.
0:06:03 > 0:06:05Afternoon. Coakley-Greene.
0:06:05 > 0:06:06The backbone of the market
0:06:06 > 0:06:09has historically been fresh local produce.
0:06:09 > 0:06:13Alongside the fishmongers, there are seven cooked meat stalls,
0:06:13 > 0:06:16three bakers and four greengrocers.
0:06:16 > 0:06:20Is that one OK? Or I can pick some big ones out if you would rather.
0:06:20 > 0:06:21No, that's all right.
0:06:23 > 0:06:26Billy Upton's is one of four butchers in the market
0:06:26 > 0:06:29and, like all the others, is a family business.
0:06:29 > 0:06:32- Sausage?- £6.93, so. £6.93, mate.
0:06:32 > 0:06:35Pork steaks and two large sausage, four rib eyes
0:06:35 > 0:06:37and three packs of gammon. That's number one.
0:06:37 > 0:06:39Was there anything else you'd like today?
0:06:39 > 0:06:42- No, that's all right, thank you. - Lovely. Thank you very much.
0:06:42 > 0:06:4534 years I have been in this market. I started...
0:06:45 > 0:06:47Well, I started when I was younger than the boys over there.
0:06:47 > 0:06:50Things were totally different then to what they are now.
0:06:50 > 0:06:52We really had to work.
0:06:52 > 0:06:54There you go. £10.99, please.
0:06:54 > 0:06:56Out by the counter by there now,
0:06:56 > 0:06:59we would have them four or five deep on a Saturday.
0:06:59 > 0:07:02You didn't have time to cut it and make it look pretty.
0:07:02 > 0:07:05You had to cut it, get it on the counter because people were
0:07:05 > 0:07:08coming and taking, you know, taking piles of stuff.
0:07:11 > 0:07:13There you are.
0:07:13 > 0:07:17A lot of people in here made an awful lot of money.
0:07:17 > 0:07:22But don't get me wrong, it wasn't money for nothing.
0:07:22 > 0:07:25Everybody in here who earned money, earned money.
0:07:25 > 0:07:29You had to work very, very hard for whatever you took.
0:07:30 > 0:07:34The market has created many millionaires in Swansea.
0:07:34 > 0:07:37Farmers, fishermen and food producers from across Wales
0:07:37 > 0:07:39have all sold their wares under its roof,
0:07:39 > 0:07:42making a tidy profit from customers who,
0:07:42 > 0:07:46until recently, had little option but to shop in the city centre.
0:07:46 > 0:07:4820 years ago, you wouldn't be standing here talking to me.
0:07:48 > 0:07:52I'd be off. I'd be having a row off my old man for standing here
0:07:52 > 0:07:55talking to you cos we should be serving, I don't know,
0:07:55 > 0:07:57probably 15 customers that were waiting.
0:07:57 > 0:08:00If you didn't shop at the market, you didn't eat,
0:08:00 > 0:08:03you didn't have food on your plate. Everyone came in here.
0:08:03 > 0:08:05But in recent decades,
0:08:05 > 0:08:08large supermarkets have opened around Swansea, car parks
0:08:08 > 0:08:13have been turned into offices and the High Street pedestrianised.
0:08:13 > 0:08:16The food producers of Swansea Market have found themselves
0:08:16 > 0:08:18isolated in the city centre.
0:08:19 > 0:08:22If you look by here now, that used to be a car park.
0:08:22 > 0:08:24The buses used to come round the corner by here,
0:08:24 > 0:08:27drop off people at there, pick up people from there.
0:08:27 > 0:08:30You would go round top of the market, round by there and people
0:08:30 > 0:08:33would be dropped off, picked up from the market all the time.
0:08:33 > 0:08:36That's what made the market very, very busy.
0:08:36 > 0:08:39We have got the prices in the market to take care of everything
0:08:39 > 0:08:42ourselves but it is just getting the people into the city -
0:08:42 > 0:08:44that's what we need desperately.
0:08:46 > 0:08:49The councilman tasked to deal with the traders' problems is
0:08:49 > 0:08:54the market superintendent and rent collector John Burns.
0:08:54 > 0:08:56'There has been markets in Swansea, I'm told,
0:08:56 > 0:08:59'for about 800 years or so'
0:08:59 > 0:09:02so this is how trade began and this is how trade continues.
0:09:02 > 0:09:05It is great to still have individual stallholders in this day
0:09:05 > 0:09:07and age - one-man bands -
0:09:07 > 0:09:13and a completely different way of shopping to your, sort of,
0:09:13 > 0:09:18you know, retail High Streets that all look the same, really.
0:09:18 > 0:09:20Give me markets any day of the week.
0:09:21 > 0:09:23Possibly an appointment at the weekend.
0:09:23 > 0:09:27Or, yes, Mr Owens has been round to see me and he threatened me
0:09:27 > 0:09:30with an axe if I don't pay up or something like that.
0:09:30 > 0:09:33That's the method we are employing now. Wit and charm is gone.
0:09:33 > 0:09:34It's an axe now.
0:09:34 > 0:09:36Right, Cheers.
0:09:36 > 0:09:39You have got to know how to keep the peace between people.
0:09:39 > 0:09:43A lot of times, perhaps, traders get stirred up, you know,
0:09:43 > 0:09:46'about silly little matters and its a matter of not overreacting,
0:09:46 > 0:09:49'just sort of trying to find common ground between traders,
0:09:49 > 0:09:52'trying to make sure that people move on.'
0:09:53 > 0:09:57- I do beg your pardon. We are doing 500 in cash.- 500, yes.- Yeah, sorry.
0:09:57 > 0:10:01One of John's most important tasks is rent collection.
0:10:01 > 0:10:05He will receive over a million pounds from the traders each year.
0:10:05 > 0:10:07- There we are.- You're an absolute gentleman.- Thank you, John.
0:10:07 > 0:10:11Thank you, sir, on behalf of the city and county of Swansea.
0:10:11 > 0:10:12No comment.
0:10:12 > 0:10:14These rents are a fraction of what people would
0:10:14 > 0:10:17pay on the struggling High Street.
0:10:17 > 0:10:19As Britain faces a triple dip recession,
0:10:19 > 0:10:23the market is where many of the city's new businesses are heading.
0:10:23 > 0:10:28It is one of the few places in Great Britain where you can still
0:10:28 > 0:10:32get an opportunity to start a business for, like,
0:10:32 > 0:10:35reasonably low rents, grow it from scratch
0:10:35 > 0:10:39and hopefully it is going to be the start of something really big.
0:10:41 > 0:10:45The market's newest business is opening today.
0:10:45 > 0:10:48A big moment for its owner Emily Poole.
0:10:48 > 0:10:51- That's it done, yeah?- Yeah.
0:10:51 > 0:10:53'Vegan chocolate is no dairy whatsoever.
0:10:53 > 0:10:57'No cream or eggs or anything like that.'
0:10:57 > 0:11:00All it is is just replacing the vegan cream for the dairy cream
0:11:00 > 0:11:02and that was it.
0:11:02 > 0:11:05Emily will be the proud owner of Chocoholics -
0:11:05 > 0:11:08Swansea's first organic handmade chocolate shop
0:11:08 > 0:11:11specialising in vegan confectionery.
0:11:11 > 0:11:15'I saw a recipe in a vegan magazine for chocolate truffles so I decided'
0:11:15 > 0:11:20to have a go because I was diagnosed, stupidly, 40% lactose intolerant.
0:11:20 > 0:11:23So I can have dairy sometimes. Sometimes not.
0:11:23 > 0:11:29'So I tried making vegan chocolate truffles and everyone liked them.'
0:11:29 > 0:11:30Emily has given up her job
0:11:30 > 0:11:34and invested all of her savings to get Chocoholics off the ground.
0:11:34 > 0:11:38I'll be selling my own range of chocolate truffles.
0:11:38 > 0:11:42There will be about 10-20 flavours of my own
0:11:42 > 0:11:45and the rest of it will be chocolate boxes of different...
0:11:45 > 0:11:49Not just truffles. All sorts of different chocolates in boxes.
0:11:49 > 0:11:52All my ones, they're all made out of dark chocolate.
0:11:53 > 0:11:56They're cherry blossom, rich cocoa.
0:11:56 > 0:12:00Then we have got the white chocolate ones with cookie and cranberry
0:12:00 > 0:12:03and white chocolate lemon and coconut ones.
0:12:04 > 0:12:08And throughout the week there will be a lot more flavours added.
0:12:08 > 0:12:12'I think the only worry is about the money factor.
0:12:12 > 0:12:16'I think you get all the creativity that you want to be but it is just
0:12:16 > 0:12:21'the worry that it might not make it in the proper
0:12:21 > 0:12:22'business in the long run.'
0:12:23 > 0:12:26The next six weeks will be vital to Emily
0:12:26 > 0:12:29if Chocoholics is to be a success.
0:12:29 > 0:12:32She is part of the changing face of the market as traders turn to
0:12:32 > 0:12:36selling specialist products not found in large superstores.
0:12:39 > 0:12:44Cobblers, hair extension stalls and old-fashioned sweetshops have also
0:12:44 > 0:12:48emerged along with a stall almost entirely devoted to vacuum cleaners.
0:12:48 > 0:12:53Vacuum cleaner belts, vacuum cleaner filters, Dyson filters,
0:12:53 > 0:12:57washing machine belts, tumble dryer belts and cooker elements.
0:12:58 > 0:13:02Even the famous cockle traders have decided to diversify.
0:13:02 > 0:13:06Jellied eels. I think it is a London thing.
0:13:06 > 0:13:07No, I've never tried one.
0:13:07 > 0:13:10I do eat all shellfish but I have never tried a jellied eel.
0:13:10 > 0:13:11It is not for me.
0:13:13 > 0:13:16But, as the Christmas season approaches,
0:13:16 > 0:13:19some stalls find themselves battling to keep their customers
0:13:19 > 0:13:22and are having to throw everything at the business.
0:13:22 > 0:13:27I'd probably begin by asking you when the big day is
0:13:27 > 0:13:31because time has got a lot to do with it if we needed to order anything
0:13:31 > 0:13:36in but I would also want to know what your colour theme is going to be.
0:13:36 > 0:13:39David and Janet Court have run I Do Wedding Favours
0:13:39 > 0:13:41for the last five years.
0:13:41 > 0:13:44I have been married twice and so has David.
0:13:44 > 0:13:46So, our wedding was our third marriage each.
0:13:56 > 0:13:58When we first started this shop,
0:13:58 > 0:14:03we had gone from a tiny little hovel, working on a table in a spare
0:14:03 > 0:14:09room to having our own High Street presence in a city centre in Swansea.
0:14:09 > 0:14:12- I mean, it's was absolutely wonderful, wasn't it?- Yes.
0:14:12 > 0:14:16I remember the very first person who came in bought some table confetti.
0:14:16 > 0:14:19Two little packets for £1.50.
0:14:19 > 0:14:21That was the first thing that went in the till.
0:14:21 > 0:14:24- We thought we had struck gold, didn't we?- It was wonderful.
0:14:24 > 0:14:27- We went, "Yay!"- We really thought we had done it, didn't we?
0:14:27 > 0:14:31The first three years was just build, build, build.
0:14:31 > 0:14:33It was absolutely wonderful.
0:14:33 > 0:14:35But, over the last couple of years, commercially,
0:14:35 > 0:14:37it has just gone down, down, down.
0:14:37 > 0:14:42Inevitably, with petrol the price it is and, quite frankly, the weather as
0:14:42 > 0:14:46it is today, people are going to want to stay in rather than go out
0:14:46 > 0:14:49and if they can do their shopping at home and have things delivered,
0:14:49 > 0:14:52so much the easier, cheaper, quicker.
0:14:52 > 0:14:56David and Janet are fighting for survival against Internet shopping
0:14:56 > 0:14:58and the rise of the superstores.
0:14:58 > 0:15:02There's a lot of big shops doing little pieces of what I sell
0:15:02 > 0:15:04and very, very cheap.
0:15:04 > 0:15:08Like, you can buy a little box of confetti with a teddy bear on,
0:15:08 > 0:15:10you know, and they are selling them for about 50p
0:15:10 > 0:15:14and things like that and that affects the business.
0:15:14 > 0:15:15I can't compete with the big boys
0:15:15 > 0:15:18but they don't give the quality that I give.
0:15:18 > 0:15:21Can you manage with that now? Is that all right?
0:15:21 > 0:15:23For the market's most successful stalls,
0:15:23 > 0:15:27trade is busiest around noon.
0:15:27 > 0:15:3015,000 people will pass through the market every day.
0:15:30 > 0:15:32- What about that? - Two for a pound for that.
0:15:36 > 0:15:39In recent years, stalls have been joined by cafes
0:15:39 > 0:15:41to feed the appetites of hungry shoppers.
0:15:43 > 0:15:46Sandy's Lunchbox is the market's newest attraction.
0:15:50 > 0:15:55We inherited the business as Chez Nous which,
0:15:55 > 0:15:59in French, I think, means little house or little home.
0:15:59 > 0:16:06And I thought, "Well, I haven't got any French roots,"
0:16:06 > 0:16:11and we had a lunchtime trade and I thought, "Sandy's Lunchbox."
0:16:11 > 0:16:15It just couldn't be Rob's Lunchbox for obvious reasons.
0:16:15 > 0:16:17It had to be Sandy's Lunchbox.
0:16:20 > 0:16:23For Sandy Ellis and her boyfriend Rob, this cafe was
0:16:23 > 0:16:25part of a new chapter in both of their lives.
0:16:26 > 0:16:31'We met online and I know people say about dating sites
0:16:31 > 0:16:34'they don't work and all this and all that.'
0:16:34 > 0:16:38I had been on quite a lot of dates before Rob and some of them
0:16:38 > 0:16:40appeared in front of me
0:16:40 > 0:16:45and I thought, "My word, that doesn't look anything like your picture."
0:16:45 > 0:16:47Since getting together,
0:16:47 > 0:16:51Rob has invested his entire pension in Sandy's Lunchbox.
0:16:51 > 0:16:54This Christmas will be the first real test for the business.
0:16:54 > 0:17:00We need to take around 6-700 a day. Yes. That's what we need.
0:17:00 > 0:17:04We don't always take that much money.
0:17:04 > 0:17:07I mean, you know, but that's what we need.
0:17:07 > 0:17:09Sandy and Rob serve a daily carvery...
0:17:09 > 0:17:13Two turkey dinners, two teas, table six.
0:17:13 > 0:17:16..offering a choice of eight types of vegetable, four types of meat
0:17:16 > 0:17:19and a cup of gravy, all for £4.50.
0:17:19 > 0:17:22I love Jamie Oliver's style.
0:17:22 > 0:17:25I like the fact of all the family around the table
0:17:25 > 0:17:29and it is not all this fancy food, just piled on top of each other.
0:17:29 > 0:17:32Even though I can cook that,
0:17:32 > 0:17:37I'm more happy when we have a big plate or a big tray of something
0:17:37 > 0:17:40and in two minutes later, it's all gone.
0:17:40 > 0:17:42You know?
0:17:42 > 0:17:45Sandy's cooking has created a loyal fan club who have followed
0:17:45 > 0:17:49her for years to the different cafes she has worked in.
0:17:49 > 0:17:53What you pay for this dinner here, you will pay twice somewhere else.
0:17:54 > 0:17:56It's cooked fresh every day.
0:17:56 > 0:17:59She does a lot of it at home and brings it here.
0:17:59 > 0:18:01That's the passion she has for this place,
0:18:01 > 0:18:05the passion she has for food and, of course, because of her passion,
0:18:05 > 0:18:09we like to come here to support her as well, you see? There you go.
0:18:09 > 0:18:13But the market is a competitive place and Sandy is in a constant
0:18:13 > 0:18:17battle to keep her customers from straying to pastures new.
0:18:17 > 0:18:21I want two teas for the ladies over there and a coffee for me.
0:18:21 > 0:18:24- Is that too difficult? - No, no, that's fine.- Get on with it.
0:18:24 > 0:18:25Oh, he's a right softy.
0:18:25 > 0:18:29When we bought him a hamper last Christmas, he burst into tears.
0:18:29 > 0:18:32No, I didn't. Don't say lies.
0:18:32 > 0:18:33SHE LAUGHS
0:18:33 > 0:18:35She's a lying bitch.
0:18:35 > 0:18:39'You have got to know how to treat people in a different way.
0:18:39 > 0:18:43'It is knowing your customer, knowing how to treat them'
0:18:43 > 0:18:50and just, you know, respecting them in the way that they respect you.
0:18:50 > 0:18:54I don't mind that Mario swears in front of me. I don't mind. You know?
0:18:54 > 0:18:57In tight economic times, a trader's charm can mean
0:18:57 > 0:19:00the difference between success and failure.
0:19:00 > 0:19:02Are you after anything in particular?
0:19:02 > 0:19:06This is a good one. Something like that, only smaller, please.
0:19:06 > 0:19:09- That's the size that... Is it the bag you want?- Yes, the bag.
0:19:09 > 0:19:11Yes, of course. Over there. Yeah.
0:19:11 > 0:19:15You have to listen. Otherwise you won't to know what they want.
0:19:15 > 0:19:19If you don't agree with somebody, you have to sometimes try
0:19:19 > 0:19:24and up the game a little bit by just giving a few gentle suggestions.
0:19:24 > 0:19:27What about pearl spray like that? Pearl strands.
0:19:27 > 0:19:32- No, these women are sporty women. - Little golf balls? Hail?
0:19:34 > 0:19:37I have to be everything to everybody. That's my job.
0:19:37 > 0:19:39And anybody's job that works in a shop.
0:19:39 > 0:19:44You don't show anything at all. You never grimace.
0:19:44 > 0:19:46And then when they go out of the shop
0:19:46 > 0:19:49then you kick the door in or you scream or punch the husband or...
0:19:49 > 0:19:52Cos some of them, honestly, they haven't got a clue,
0:19:52 > 0:19:53they really haven't.
0:19:53 > 0:19:56But, you know, as long as they get out of here happy,
0:19:56 > 0:19:58that's all I'm concerned about.
0:19:58 > 0:19:59Would you like to try some chocolate?
0:19:59 > 0:20:02For Emily Poole's Chocoholic shop, keeping customers is
0:20:02 > 0:20:06less of a priority than finding some in the first place.
0:20:08 > 0:20:10- Would you like a chocolate sample? - Oh.
0:20:10 > 0:20:14They are cherry truffle ones and they are Belgian white chocolate
0:20:14 > 0:20:16- and milk chocolate. - Oh, thank you very much. Thank you.
0:20:16 > 0:20:19There is a stall right behind the engraving centre there,
0:20:19 > 0:20:21in the corner. Chocoholics.
0:20:21 > 0:20:24- OK.- Thank you very much. I just had a piece.- Oh, yeah.
0:20:25 > 0:20:27Thank you.
0:20:27 > 0:20:29'Once I get into the swing of things, I end up asking loads'
0:20:29 > 0:20:32and loads of people if they would like a sample of it
0:20:32 > 0:20:34and just hand out leaflets and things like that.
0:20:34 > 0:20:40It is just the initial first couple of minutes that I get a bit shy with.
0:20:40 > 0:20:41Would you like a chocolate sample?
0:20:41 > 0:20:44They're white Belgian chocolate there
0:20:44 > 0:20:48- and that is a dark cherry truffle there.- That's nice.
0:20:48 > 0:20:52- There is 14 flavours to choose from. - That one is lovely, that is.
0:20:52 > 0:20:54Having spent ten years working in an office,
0:20:54 > 0:20:58this is Emily's first experience of market life.
0:20:58 > 0:21:01I find it is best, normally, to keep in the background and then
0:21:01 > 0:21:04if people are looking, just ask, "Do you need any help?"
0:21:04 > 0:21:08But sometimes, even if I am just standing up or sitting down
0:21:08 > 0:21:12and I look up, a lot of people see you even looking and they just go.
0:21:12 > 0:21:14But then other times, people like to be spoken to
0:21:14 > 0:21:17so most of the time I have learnt
0:21:17 > 0:21:20just to try to stay in the background.
0:21:21 > 0:21:24If Emily needed a model of how to grow her business then
0:21:24 > 0:21:27she need only look to the other end of the market.
0:21:33 > 0:21:34Hiya, you all right?
0:21:34 > 0:21:38In 2011, Peter Middleton changed his jewellery stall
0:21:38 > 0:21:40into a gold buying shop.
0:21:40 > 0:21:42Within two years,
0:21:42 > 0:21:44he has become Wales's largest independent gold dealer.
0:21:44 > 0:21:46The first thing we have got to do
0:21:46 > 0:21:48is separate what is gold and what isn't.
0:21:51 > 0:21:53'Teeth is quite popular.'
0:21:53 > 0:21:57You get quite a few teeth with the tooth still in,
0:21:57 > 0:22:02which my wife is particularly un-fond of. But, you know, gold is gold.
0:22:03 > 0:22:05It can be surprisingly high in value.
0:22:05 > 0:22:08Some of the silver objects that come in are quite
0:22:08 > 0:22:11incredible in their craftsmanship and you feel, "Oh, you can't scrap
0:22:11 > 0:22:14"that off for the value you're going to get."
0:22:14 > 0:22:17But scrap it he does. In the last year,
0:22:17 > 0:22:21Peter's turnover has jumped from £700,000 to five million.
0:22:21 > 0:22:26- All right, so, altogether we have got £355.- Is it? Never. My God.
0:22:26 > 0:22:27I got the shock of my life.
0:22:29 > 0:22:33- Oh, lovely. - That's not bad, is it?- Excellent.
0:22:33 > 0:22:35'It's not dishonest or illegal in any way.'
0:22:35 > 0:22:38I mean, if you have got something to sell, somebody has got the right to
0:22:38 > 0:22:42offer you whatever they want and it is up to you to accept that or not.
0:22:42 > 0:22:44Thank you very much. Excellent.
0:22:44 > 0:22:48Some of my customers, if they're feeling a bit reluctant
0:22:48 > 0:22:51about selling, with the money or part of the money,
0:22:51 > 0:22:54they can buy a nice picture frame and get a nice picture made up of
0:22:54 > 0:22:59that person or whatever and the rest of the money, they can go on holiday.
0:22:59 > 0:23:02You'll be pleased to know it's probably more than you paid for it.
0:23:02 > 0:23:05- £170 cash.- Take it quick. Have it.
0:23:05 > 0:23:07- Sold.- Yeah?
0:23:07 > 0:23:10With the price of gold having quadrupled in the last five years,
0:23:10 > 0:23:13Peter is fast becoming the market's wealthiest trader.
0:23:13 > 0:23:17Being a millionaire is a bare requirement in about ten years'
0:23:17 > 0:23:20time so if I can have £5 million in liquid assets
0:23:20 > 0:23:27on my 50th birthday which is 25 May 2018 then
0:23:27 > 0:23:30I should have enough money to live off for the rest of my life.
0:23:31 > 0:23:36Stalls such as Peter's are attractive not just to customers.
0:23:36 > 0:23:40In times of recession, security is a constant concern in the market and
0:23:40 > 0:23:44sometimes the problems of the city bring in a very different clientele.
0:23:44 > 0:23:46I caught you...
0:23:46 > 0:23:48- No, you went like that, "Get out."- Get out.
0:23:48 > 0:23:51If you'd said please, I would have gone.
0:23:51 > 0:23:54Eric Toms is head of the market security team tasked with
0:23:54 > 0:23:59- keeping produce in the market and troublemakers out.- Am I all right?
0:23:59 > 0:24:02Now you're OK. Thank you very much.
0:24:02 > 0:24:03RADIO CRACKLES
0:24:05 > 0:24:07I'm 54 this year.
0:24:07 > 0:24:12I'm five foot seven and a half - that half is important - and I
0:24:12 > 0:24:17worked in the steelworks for 32 years before I became a security guard.
0:24:25 > 0:24:26Every day I come in this market,
0:24:26 > 0:24:30I just don't know what is going to happen next. You can have...
0:24:30 > 0:24:32Like I say, you can have a famous person walking through here.
0:24:32 > 0:24:37Famous rugby players. Yesterday Mr Colin Charvis was in here.
0:24:37 > 0:24:4096 caps for Wales. Should have had 100 as far as I'm concerned.
0:24:40 > 0:24:42The next minute,
0:24:42 > 0:24:46I can be dealing with somebody that's either a petty crime theft or
0:24:46 > 0:24:52I can have a drug addict that's walking round and abusing people.
0:24:52 > 0:24:56You just don't know. The diversity of the job is what I like about it.
0:25:02 > 0:25:05About 100,000 people a week come through the market.
0:25:05 > 0:25:08Not all of them are here to do their shopping.
0:25:08 > 0:25:12Some of them, like every other city, are here to see
0:25:12 > 0:25:14if they can shop without paying.
0:25:14 > 0:25:16Having only been in the market for four months,
0:25:16 > 0:25:20this will be Eric's first Christmas season.
0:25:20 > 0:25:24- Hang on. WOMAN:- Grab him. - What has he done?
0:25:24 > 0:25:28- I followed him out there.- No, no.
0:25:28 > 0:25:30That woman there.
0:25:30 > 0:25:33A handbag thief has been caught in the market.
0:25:33 > 0:25:37Did he try to get your bag off you? Yes. Can you stay there?
0:25:37 > 0:25:41Yeah, don't worry about that. Stay there until I get back, yeah?
0:25:41 > 0:25:43This is what we know so far.
0:25:43 > 0:25:46Two members of the public followed you into the market
0:25:46 > 0:25:48when you're following that lady. They followed you.
0:25:48 > 0:25:51These are independent witnesses we are talking about now.
0:25:51 > 0:25:53They watched you follow that lady in.
0:25:53 > 0:25:56They saw you attempt to grab her bag and she pulled it back off you.
0:25:56 > 0:25:58And another member of the public, totally independent again,
0:25:58 > 0:26:02- saw you do exactly the same when you're in here.- No.
0:26:02 > 0:26:04So, on that basis, we are going to phone the police
0:26:04 > 0:26:05and get the police here.
0:26:05 > 0:26:08Eric's security team have got their first arrest
0:26:08 > 0:26:10of the Christmas season.
0:26:10 > 0:26:13I don't think any thief likes any form of security.
0:26:13 > 0:26:15They are usually opportunists in here
0:26:15 > 0:26:19and any choice or any quick theft they can make, they will do it.
0:26:21 > 0:26:24With the market, they tend to think, for some reason,
0:26:24 > 0:26:27that because it is a market we haven't got
0:26:27 > 0:26:29the security like you would have in Boots and Tesco's
0:26:29 > 0:26:32and the rest of it but that's where they're wrong.
0:26:47 > 0:26:51By late afternoon, trade in the market is quietening down.
0:26:51 > 0:26:55Many stallholders will have been on their feet since before dawn.
0:26:57 > 0:26:59£8.55. Thank you very much. Thank you.
0:26:59 > 0:27:02If you want to have a good, successful business,
0:27:02 > 0:27:05you get up at quarter to four in the morning and you come into the market
0:27:05 > 0:27:09and you don't go from here until gone five in the night.
0:27:09 > 0:27:11If you don't want a successful business,
0:27:11 > 0:27:14come in at ten and go at three. That is the difference.
0:27:17 > 0:27:19'It is ten past four now'
0:27:19 > 0:27:24and our day started at quarter to six this morning
0:27:24 > 0:27:26and it is by no means over.
0:27:26 > 0:27:28You know, we go straight from here now either to
0:27:28 > 0:27:32the cash and carry or to the supermarket and last night
0:27:32 > 0:27:36we actually didn't arrive home in the house until nine o'clock.
0:27:38 > 0:27:40TANNOY CHIMES
0:27:40 > 0:27:45May I have your attention, please? Swansea Market is now closing.
0:27:45 > 0:27:47Thank you and have a pleasant evening.
0:27:49 > 0:27:52If you can take the emotional roller coaster,
0:27:52 > 0:27:58work endlessly, think very hard and keep on and on and on,
0:27:58 > 0:28:02putting the business before yourself and your relationship
0:28:02 > 0:28:06or your family even sometimes, you will make a working business.
0:28:06 > 0:28:11It is a business model that creates profits even in a recession.
0:28:23 > 0:28:25Next time at Swansea market,
0:28:25 > 0:28:28the traders get ready for the busy festive season...
0:28:28 > 0:28:32It's two turkey dinner, no piggy blanket and a glass of water, yeah?
0:28:32 > 0:28:33Please, yeah.
0:28:33 > 0:28:36..Christmas shoppers descend on the city centre...
0:28:36 > 0:28:41Cockles, coat, sweets for the kids and an onion bhaji.
0:28:41 > 0:28:43..and another new business tries to
0:28:43 > 0:28:45take advantage of the Christmas rush.
0:28:45 > 0:28:47So are you going to come to the stall?
0:28:47 > 0:28:50- Cos you are two good-looking women, like.- Thank you.
0:28:54 > 0:28:57Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd