GB Foliage has been an integral part of New Covent Garden Flower Market for the past 17 years, having first opened in 2007. Dave’s market history goes back much further, as he’s spent 36 years working in Nine Elms, since joining the flower and foliage industry quite late at 32 years of age.
“I’d never been a market man like some of the other people in the market who joined as teenagers or followed in family footsteps,” says Dave. “When I left school, I started working for an insurance company. Then I worked in retail for Marks and Spencer, followed by a stint in the civil service.”
However, Dave’s family did have a connection with New Covent Garden Fruit and Vegetable Market, as his dad ran a greengrocer’s business in the days before supermarkets expanded and swallowed up a lot of the local trade. “I’d spend a lot of time working alongside my dad in his greengrocers and that’s where I picked up my strong work ethic,” remembers Dave. “Even when I started working full time, I’d take holidays from my 9-to-5 job and work for my dad, as I enjoyed it so much!”
Unbeknown to Dave, the market his dad bought fresh produce from was to become a much larger part of his own life. “My time at the Flower Market came about by chance really,” explains Dave. “The owner of foliage business AF Bacon had just got married and was looking to spend more time with his wife, and he offered me the job to cover Saturdays. At the time I was already working full-time elsewhere, but I needed to work six days as I had a young family and the job with AF Bacon was perfect.”
Read more: newcoventgardenmarket.com