Paul Emanuel, who enjoyed a long and successful career in Covent Garden’s old and new, died in June, four days short of his 80th birthday.

On leaving school – Dover College, Paul was given the choice of going his own way or heading straight into the Market to work with his father Joe Emanuel. He took the latter option and so began a near 60-year association with wholesale market life.

He first worked for the family’s wholesale firm Joseph I Emanuel, on the floor alongside his brother Lewis. When Joe passed away in 1983, Lewis and Paul founded Lewis Emanuel and Sons, and whilst Lewis ran the import arm of the business, Paul remained on the floor running the wholesale side. An accomplished and respected salesman Paul ran the wholesale business until 1991, when he moved ‘upstairs’ to focus on not only supplying wholesalers but also supermarkets. Lewis sadly died in 1996 - when Paul took the reins for the business.

He long held the nickname ‘The Tom and Cue Man’, as the biggest seller of cucumbers and tomatoes in the Market. In 1998, he sold Lewis Emanuel and Sons to the Poupart group, left the Market and began working alongside Jonathan Olins to grow Poupart Imports, which focused on sales to the entire UK wholesale market network. His cousin Philip Emanuel, himself a major figure at NCGM, went to work alongside Paul at Poupart in 2003, a partnership that flourished until Paul retired in December 2019.

Outside of work, Paul was a keen sportsman. He represented England schoolboys at shot put and also played rugby, hockey, and cricket, as well as following all sports and in particular being a fan of Wimbledon Football Club.

He met his wife Patricia in the old Covent Garden, where she was a cashier at NatWest Bank, and they were married for 49 years. They had two sons, Thomas and Richard, who gave them three grandchildren, Freddie, Isabella, and Joseph. Paul fell ill early in his retirement and tragically he and Pat also lost Richard last year. Paul died peacefully in his sleep on 30^th June.

Rest in peace, Paul.