For the first time in 50 years, New Covent Garden Market opened a new section on its Buyer Walk earlier this summer.
The Market, a vital conduit for getting fresh fruits, vegetables and flowers to its customers in and around London since 1670, welcomed in three of its inaugural tenants to spaces in that sparkling Walk, and they were excited, if not a bit nostalgic, about the move.
“This is bringing us into the 21st century operationally,” Iain Furness of the French Garden, now in bays 401-408, said in an interview with Tommy Leighton of NCGM. “It will enable us to give a far better service to both our suppliers and our customers and also deliver a better working environment for our staff.”
He added, “It was sad to leave because that was the place where The French Garden developed into the company that we are today. I’m going to miss the other wholesalers around us and I’m going to miss the old building. But, as sad as it was, that door is closed behind us and we’re now fully focused on what the future holds for us.”
One thing is clear, the new space has significant advantages over the previous one. That includes more room for storage, triple the freezer space and improved office spaces on two floors as well as a kitchen and ‘warm’ room. The area itself offers improved toilets and lockers.
“It’s cleaner and brighter, the fridges are more efficient and the staff are able to work far more efficiently,” Furness said. “As the business evolved in our old units, we had to find ways to fit everything into the old space and there were inevitably some compromises. We were not desperate for more space right now, but we took it because we want the company to grow in this next phase.
“Also, if we have a very busy day, we’ll have the cool chain capacity to keep more produce chilled and in perfect condition. That’s very important for customers in Guernsey and Jersey, for instance, and for products like baby leaf.”
Nathan Humphries, also of The French Garden, added: “The time spent manoeuvring things and waiting for colleagues to move product around has significantly decreased already. We’ve had customers in already from Spain, Poland and the UK and they have all been really impressed with both the offices and warehouse space.”
Two other new tenants lauded the improvements, even if they’ll miss some of the history of the old space.
“The facilities are so much better than we had before,” said Bart Conway, who owns Supreme Salads, now in Unit 411. “I know some people who’ve been here for years will moan that it’s not the same, that it perhaps feels a bit sterile or that it’s too cold. But this is the way forward for this market.
“It’s clean, it’s efficient and it’s a modern environment where buyers will want to come and buy their produce. I’ve been working here for 42 years and set this business up in 2010. This isn’t about me or other people who have been around as long as I have – it’s for people like my son Nick and his contemporaries, who want to see that this market can continue to progress and be successful.”
Nick said one thing he won’t miss about the old space is “the clutter.”
“In our new place things are put straight and we’re not going to experience as many issues. There’s a new generation of salesmen and companies that want to come through and I feel like whenever anything new comes into play, it brings new opportunities with it.”
Jason Tanner, Managing Director of The Menu Partners and Premier Foods Wholesale in units 301-313 and 409-410, said he experienced the difference the moment he walked into the facility.
“Within the first week, you could see the efficiencies – the chaps didn’t feel as if they were as busy, but that was because it was more organised within the warehouse and they had more space to operate in,” he said. “It’s a completely different working environment – fridges running at 2-3°. All of the departments of Premier Food Wholesale are now next door to each other, which had never been possible before and we have a freezer, which will be a great asset to us. There’s a lot more space on the ground floor, so once it’s been Quality Controlled, everything can go inside.
Acknowledging the differences, he said, “Some people just don’t like change, but there was always going to be a time when we could no longer keep trading out of units that were 50 years old. They were functional and they still worked for us, but however much money you spent on them to try and keep them looking nice, they were old and there were things that you just couldn’t change. You can’t say the new building doesn’t look nicer, it just doesn’t have that lived-in feeling that the other building had.”
