A day at London’s ‘Liverpool Street’ Market

400-year-old market The market was established more than 400 years ago by the French Huguenots who sold petticoats and lace materials, and was known as Petticoat Lane Market, but the lane was renamed Middlesex Street by the Victorians “to avoid referring to women’s underclothes.” Despite the change, it is still known as Petticoat Lane Market […]

400-year-old market

The market was established more than 400 years ago by the French Huguenots who sold petticoats and lace materials, and was known as Petticoat Lane Market, but the lane was renamed Middlesex Street by the Victorians “to avoid referring to women’s underclothes.” Despite the change, it is still known as Petticoat Lane Market by many, and on Wentworth Street on which most of the market’s activities take place on week-days, the old name tag is still very much visible by Commercial Street end. But most Nigerians know it as ‘Liverpool Street Market’, apparently because of the nearby Liverpool Street underground and over-ground train stations.

On Sundays when it is at its busiest, the market spreads to Middlesex Street, Goulston Street, New Goulston Street, Toynbee Street, Bell Lane, Cobb Street, Leyden Street, Strype Street, Old Castle Street, Cutler Street, and of course,  Wentworth Street, the main street of the market for other days of the week.

The market is easily accessible by buses, underground and over-ground trains from all parts of London, with Liverpool Street, Aldgate and Aldgate East being the closest Stations, while numerous buses ply most of the surrounding roads and streets, with Bishopsgate having the bulk of the buses that run near the market.

Ms Stella, a Nigerian shop owner, told Weekend Magazine that the market is patronized by customers from all  countries of the world, including America and Jamaica, but majority of customers come from Africa, especially Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone and the Democratic Republic of Congo. “A lot of Nigerians come here to shop, many of them through the High Commission. They bring them here. Nigerians living in other countries also come here. They all believe in this market”.

Stella, who owned and operated a similar business in Nigeria before coming to the UK, said comparatively, it’s easier to run the business in Nigeria because apart from the huge capital needed to start in the UK, the authorities keep an eye and collect whatever is due to them in taxes and business rates. You must also pay rent and utility bills, she added. “Business rates are killing everybody. It increases every year. But for business rates and bills, we should be making big profits. Everything goes by the rule here and we must abide by them. Nothing goes for nothing here, unlike in Nigeria where you can tap things like water and electricity, and nobody bothers you about taxes or business rates”.  In spite of everything, Stella and fellow business owners make “good business”. “On the whole, it’s a good business. We can’t be sitting here if we are not making something,” she stressed.

Hajiya Rabi, a Ghanaian who works in one of the fabric shops at the market, adds weight to Ms Stella’s claims. “We make huge sales daily and the business owners make profits because many customers, especially Nigerians patronize the goods in the market,” she said and expressed hope that one day she would own a business in the market.  Currently businesses are mostly owned by Jewish and Asian people, with a few minorities like Ms Stella. Prominent people who traded at the market include Asian immigrant Jasbir Sokhal and Alan Sugar, a British entrepreneur who rose from humble beginnings to establish a massive AMSTRAD business empire. He was knighted in 2000 and hosted British reality television, The Apprentice since 2005.

High profile customers

Some of Stella’s customers include former state governors, ministers, members of national and state assemblies and diplomats and their spouses, among others. A former Nigerian president also patronizes the market, Stella disclosed. “He (names withheld) comes here nearly every time. He will walk round, back and forth. We respect him a lot. Anytime I see him, I go out and say ‘good afternoon sir’ and he will stop and say ‘hello’. He is old and fragile now, but he still comes.” She also talks of a former governor and his “pretty wife” who patronize her shop. “He (names withheld) is a very good man. He and his wife shop here. He has introduced a lot of people to me – ex-governors, senators and even people from Aso Rock.”

Unlike in Nigeria and many African countries where business operators engage in overt, if not aggressive competition for customers, it takes a discerning customer to notice the competition between shop owners at ‘Liverpool Street Market.’  “Though we sell same or similar products with our neighbours, everyone has their customers,” Ms Stella explained. “We have a very healthy competition. No one is against anyone else. Everyone goes about doing their business. There is no bitter competition or rivalry,” she added.

Like all businesses, it is not always a bed of roses for the shop owners and their workforce. “Sometimes we record very low sales,” said Hajiya Rabi, and recalled the period of protests against fuel subsidy removal in Nigeria in January as one of the bleakest in sales at the market. “Nigerians are our main customers. Without them, this market will not flourish”, she said. She explained that because of the fuel subsidy strike, Nigerians were not coming into the UK because flights were suspended. “The market really suffered. We had very poor sales and it took a while before things became normal again,” she stressed.

Genuine fabrics and products

A Nigerian couple seen shopping at one of the big shops told Weekend Magazine that they prefer to buy fabrics at the market because they are sure of what they buy – genuine products. According to the man who declined to give his name, it is very rare to be sold fake or substandard fabrics as genuine ones. “They have different qualities and they tell you which is which. They don’t sell low quality as high quality product,” he said. “I think they are mindful of the law here,” he added. Ms Stella corroborates his claim but added that most shoppers know the quality of what they buy. “You can’t deceive them. They know what quality is, especially people from the north (of Nigeria). You can’t bring lace from China and tell them it’s from Austria because they know it, especially the women,” she explained.

Stella gets most of her supplies of wax prints, brocade and lace materials from Austria, Switzerland, Holland and Thailand. Surprisingly, she said she gets none from England “because England does not produce them”. Her parting advice to prospective business entrepreneurs: “don’t come here (UK) to establish this business. It is not easy. Even those of us who are here are trying to go home,” she said. Curious advice, isn’t it? But it may well be food for thought for shop workers like Hajiya Rabi who wishes to own shops in the market someday, as well as those thinking of coming to the UK to establish businesses. What is not curious or doubtful, however, is the passion at which customers who patronize the market do their shopping, especially on Sundays.  And as one London Guide says,’ Liverpool Street’ Market is “a great scene worth the trip even if you’re not shopping.”