Hüseyin Kovancı
People from Turkey are among the many traders who come each day to sell their wares in London’s Spitalfields Market.
The east London venue has hosted a market for nearly 400 years: in 1638, King Charles gave a licence for flesh, fowl and roots to be sold on Spittle Fields, which was then a rural area on the outskirts of capital.
The market square today is a popular fashion, arts and crafts, food and general market, open seven days a week, and is particularly busy at weekends.
Among their number are many migrants from Turkey who ply their skills and trade. One such man is Hüseyin Kovancı, who came to London five years ago.
“I used to be involved in the insurance business in Bursa. I have been setting up my own stall in the Spitalfields Market for the last two years. I work in a textiles office during the week and work in the market in the weekend.
Ali Türk
“This is one of those markets where you can find things you can’t find anywhere else. Designers who create their own items set up a stall here and sell them to the public. 80 percent of customers are tourists; 20 percent are Londoners.
“I really enjoy the work I do – it’s a lot like the coastal villages or upper class neighbourhoods of Turkey, but there isn’t an exact equivalent.
“It is the winters that are particularly close here. We have to start wearing our woollens from November, and they stay on until April. My family want me to come home and do the same work back in Bursa, but when I tell them I am happy here they seem content.”
Another trader is Ali Türk, who came to Britain from Kayseri in 2000. He told us how he worked at a food wholesaler and then ran a fish and chip shop in Dover for a few years, before deciding to branch out into running a market stall.
“I first started in Portobello Road. I now open a stall just in Spitalfields five days a week. I prefer it to opening a shop – for some reason, it is easier than the food business. You work 15 hours a day in kebab shops, which creates stress because of the long hours.
“But market trading is far better for your hours. I am at home each night around 6pm. It leaves you freer and able to go on holiday when you want. And the Europeans like the items I sell. They even barter with me.”
Ceyda Çelik insisted market stalls were not like a 9-to-5 job: “running a stall is not what people in Turkey expect of university graduates. I didn’t want a 9-to-5 job. I wanted a job where I was mentally calmer and happier. That is why I came to London and worked at a bar for a few years before opening my own stall.
“I am here at the weekends. I do my own work, free and relaxed. I stand on my own two feet and able to pay my bills.”
Ceyda Çelik