Leeds Kirkgate Market trader: 'Things have never been harder, but there's nothing else I'd rather be doing'

Shaun began working full-time at M&S Dolan, a fruit and veg stall in Leeds Kirkgate Market that has been in Shaun’s family for 80 years, at the age of 16.

Now running the stall himself, Shaun said changes in consumer behaviour, the cost-of-living crisis and Leeds City Council’s plans to develop the outdoor market have made things difficult.

Recalling the heyday of the market, Shaun said: “In olden days, you were busy. You couldn’t even get set up, you were that busy.

“Now, it’s hard work. If things are expensive, we don’t put prices up. We just give it a miss. If we wouldn’t buy it [for that price], the customers are not going to buy it. It’s trying to get stuff cheap enough that you can sell cheap enough.”

Despite these challenges, the 60-year-old said there is nothing else he would rather be doing.

Shaun said: “I wouldn’t know what else to do. You sit and think, ‘oh, I wouldn’t mind that job, that pays a lot of money’ but then you think, ‘could you do it?’ Sitting behind a desk all day.”

The long-standing market trader starts his day at 3:30am, making a trip to the wholesale market early before spend the morning unloading the stock and setting up the stall.

“It’s a long day,” Shaun admits. But he feels restless and eager to come back when taking short breaks away from work.

In his decades-long career at the market, Shaun has seen it all. Sightings of celebrities like English snooker player Ronnie O’Sullivan to the members of the Royal family. But really, it’s the people he meets that keep him going. Shaun said: “Before the stall was here, we used to have a big barrel with wheels. I used to stand on a wooden box [as a kid] to be able to see over the top.

“And it was great. There were loads of people. Meeting people - that’s the best bit about it.

“People come here now, they’re in their 90s, and say, ‘I remember you when you were a kid’. Sometimes you see them when you’re out, they remember you.”