Emanuel Sugarman, who worked for more than 50 years in old Covent Garden and then Borough market, has died at the age of 85.
Known as Manny or Bill to his many friends and colleagues in the trade, he became the first Sugarman in the fruit business when he began work for Percy Dalton in Covent Garden in 1938.
His career was interrupted by World War II, when he served as a mechanic in the Air Force, although son Andrew said mechanic was stretching it a little as he “couldn’t change a light bulb and perhaps his greatest service to Great Britain was the fact that he spent most of the war playing tennis in Rhodesia!”
On his return to the UK, Manny picked up in Covent Garden, where he had a series of sales jobs before being lured to Borough in the early 1950s.
Manny established E Sugarman in 1959 and built up a reputation as a vegetable specialist, thriving on the fact that one of the country’s most important auctions was held on his doorstep, in the Borough.
Both of his sons joined the business - first Martin, who went on to set up his own business in the market before leaving the trade, and then Andrew, who joined in 1980 and still runs the firm, renamed E&A Sugarman.
Manny sat on the Borough’s tenants’ association board for more than 20 years, was chairman of the board for more than a decade and was responsible for organising the lavish annual dinner and dance, in Park Lane. Andrew has followed in his footsteps and been chairman of the tenants’ association for many years.
The company name has remained the same, despite Manny retiring 20 years ago. He spent half of each year in Florida and was a big supporter of the Sportsman’s Aid charity, reflecting his biggest interest in life outside the business - horse racing. He was a regular attendee at race meetings and a number of his closest friends were from the bookmaking fraternity.
Manny and his wife Betty celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary on March 30.
He died earlier this month due to complications following his diagnosis with lung cancer. He is survived by Betty, his sons Martin and Andrew, four grandchildren and three great grandchildren.
freshinfo’s condolences to Manny’s family and friends.
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