Page 27 - MarketTimesFebruary2016
P. 27

  Bridge Joshi, who sells fashion that appeals to festival-goers, is Christina Sylvester and her mum Debbie Sharman are pictured on one of the larger-than-life characters on Portsmouth market. He is the bag stall they run together on Portsmouth market
pictured with his assistant Chloe Aggar
Laurie Clark, who sells fruit, remembers the days when his father just sold bananas on the market and used to be known as ‘the banana man’.
And Les Webb, who has been standing Portsmouth market for 45 years, says he has had to change with the times too.
Les has a loyal customer base for his poultry and eggs, but there was a time when people used to queue up to buy his rabbits that he
would skin on the stall. European directives put an end to that.
“I have seen a lot of changes,” said Les. “These days you have to work an awful lot harder to make a living.”
Relative newcomers also do well on Portsmouth market.
Christina Sylvester helps run the bags and luggage stall her mother, Debbie Sharman, took over 13 years ago.
Love blossomed across the market stalls and Christina is now married to Shane Sylvester who works on the adjacent carpet and rug business.
Suschil Sethi, who was born in Kabul but came to the UK from Germany to be with other family members, has been selling pet supplies on the market for over a year.
And Bridge Joshi, a larger-than-life character who mainly sells fashion that appeals to young people at music festivals, heard that Portsmouth market was good so decided to give it a go recently.
“I usually stick to festivals but this market has a good reputation so I decided to give it a go,” he said.
With reasonable rent and good footfall, Portsmouth is worth a punt.
Suschil Sethi sells pet products on Portsmouth market
    FACTS & FIGURES
 l Market days: Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays
l Market rents: from £50 for three days for a ten foot pitch
l Portsmouth’s claim to fame: Portsmouth on the south coast has been an
important naval base for centuries and HMNB remains the Royal Navy’s largest dockyard. The seafaring Hampshire city is home to famous ships including the Tudor Mary Rose and Nelson’s flagship HMS Victory. The city was badly hit by the Portsmouth ‘blitz’ during the war which killed 930 people, and the D-Day troops embarked from its port. As well as being a naval base, Portsmouth is an international sea port for cruise ships and ferries.
Laurie Clark, who sells fruit on Portsmouth market, followed in the footsteps of his father, also Laurie, who was known affectionately as “the banana man” because, for many years, that was all he sold
Les Webb, who sells poultry and eggs, is Portsmouth market’s longest serving trader. He has 45 years under his belt
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