Bryan Porter was part of the fourth generation to run his family's eponymous foliage business in the market. The Flower Market was in his blood long before he started working here in 1990. He tells Market Times the story of the company now known simply as Porters Foliage and looks at the current state of play
Let's start where it all began – how did the Porters get into this trade?
In the early twentieth century, my great grandfather, Aaron Porter, was a feather collector, delivering into London from Sussex. One morning, he saw the activity in the old Covent Garden, went and had a look, and discovered they were selling some cut foliage. He thought 'there's some of that near me' and after a few conversations, began selling foliage to the traders at the market. From those beginnings, he decided to take a stand in 1910, first selling his own produce and then selling products supplied to him by other people.
The business began as Aaron Porter & Sons, and at its peak, he had five shops in the market. The flower market was relatively small and they were selling from properties around Covent Garden, not in the main square, which was where the fruit and veg traders operated.
He had five sons working in the business, including my grandfather Ronald, and when Aaron died in 1948, he left a flourishing business. If I'm honest, my grandfather's brothers were more interested in reaping the benefits of their father's hard graft and spent all the money and lived the life! My grandfather, on the other hand, knuckled down to running the business and then went off on his own in the early '60s, creating Ronald Porter & Sons. Unfortunately, he died in his early 50s, in 1966, which is when my dad Brian and uncle Charlie took it on.