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"The first week of the pandemic we were actually open, in the market, on the Saturday when they announced it. It was phenomenal. Everyone was stocking up and panic-buying. We were told the market was going to close until...no-one knew when. But we also had our online business which we advertised, put out on social media, and it just went absolutely manic. There was one day we did over 100 orders - we called it ‘Centenary Saturday’. Our normal before was about 20. When you think you've got to pack all of those, get them on a van, hand-deliver them everywhere, the logistics of it were huge. Also all the little orders for elderly people who couldn't get out and were panicking, we were walking those down the road in carrier bags, just so everyone got their stuff.
We've been here at the market, every Wednesday and Saturday, for over 30 years. People know us, and our ethos, which is that we buy fresh food every day. I'd go to bed at about 6pm and get up again at 11pm to go to Spitalfields Market. It normally takes about 45 minutes to get there from here, but there was no traffic on the road so I was flying through in about 30 minutes. Of course it was a lot harder to find the stuff we needed because so many suppliers had closed, and the prices were extortionate too. But we just kept our prices as they were. My staff were absolutely fantastic. Alison here has been one of my main helpers for years, Chas our driver was coming in to help us, and Edward my son had been furloughed, so he was working full-on with us too. Whatever I asked them to do, they'd do: 'Come in earlier, at 4am?’ - they'd be there, and they'd work til every order was out. I could never have done it by myself. I might have got 6 orders out in a day, never the 60-a-day we were doing throughout the lockdowns. It also showed how communities can pull together and how nice people can be. All of a sudden their caring side came out. I'm proud of us."
"The first week of the pandemic we were actually open, in the market, on the Saturday when they announced it. It was phenomenal. Everyone was stocking up and panic-buying. We were told the market was going to close until...no-one knew when. But we also had our online business which we advertised, put out on social media, and it just went absolutely manic. There was one day we did over 100 orders - we called it ‘Centenary Saturday’. Our normal before was about 20. When you think you've got to pack all of those, get them on a van, hand-deliver them everywhere, the logistics of it were huge. Also all the little orders for elderly people who couldn't get out and were panicking, we were walking those down the road in carrier bags, just so everyone got their stuff.
We've been here at the market, every Wednesday and Saturday, for over 30 years. People know us, and our ethos, which is that we buy fresh food every day. I'd go to bed at about 6pm and get up again at 11pm to go to Spitalfields Market. It normally takes about 45 minutes to get there from here, but there was no traffic on the road so I was flying through in about 30 minutes. Of course it was a lot harder to find the stuff we needed because so many suppliers had closed, and the prices were extortionate too. But we just kept our prices as they were. My staff were absolutely fantastic. Alison here has been one of my main helpers for years, Chas our driver was coming in to help us, and Edward my son had been furloughed, so he was working full-on with us too. Whatever I asked them to do, they'd do: 'Come in earlier, at 4am?’ - they'd be there, and they'd work til every order was out. I could never have done it by myself. I might have got 6 orders out in a day, never the 60-a-day we were doing throughout the lockdowns. It also showed how communities can pull together and how nice people can be. All of a sudden their caring side came out. I'm proud of us."
