Richard Clements, Sales Manager at Premier Foods Wholesale, died on June 14^th, aged 52.

Richard was born in Denmark Hill and during his childhood, his mother and father Gordon and Jill ran a greengrocers, Weamacs in Park Hall Road, West Dulwich. Gordon owned and ran the shop for around 40 years, until the early 1990s. Several family and friend links to New Covent Garden Market and was a regular visitor with his dad before he came to work here, for Thorogoods, starting on March 22nd, 1998.

He was at Thorogoods for around a decade, then spent a period at P&I, before joining what was then Premier Fruits 12 years ago.

Richard’s wife Diane has worked for The French Garden for 24 years and theirs was a true market romance – Richard would see Diane walking along the balcony above him while he worked at Thorogoods, before one day asking her out for a date.

The couple married in 2008 and have a 12-year-old son, Louis, who Arsenal fan Richard would often take to Selhurst Park to watch local team Crystal Palace. Richard was also a regular at the gym and a massive music fan. "He was totally dedicated to market life," said Diane. "It was his main focus. During the school holidays, he would take Louis into work on occasion to meet his friends and customers and show him what dad did for a living. Louis now knows lots of them by name."

Jason Tanner, Richard’s boss and long-time friend, said: “He was always a likeable person, having a laugh and a joke with everyone, and a helpful and thoughtful man who invariably put other people before himself. Workwise, he had a good following and was very well liked by suppliers and customers, many of whom he’d been working with for more than 25 years.

“We will miss him - a massive hole has been left in the Premier family and the market, as he was a great advocate of market life.”

Richard’s funeral was at Sevenoaks on July 15^th.

Richard's last show at Premier Foods Wholesale in June