A little bit about us.
A History
In 1954, Henry George Harris purchased a newsagents and tobacconist shop in Bromley, Kent. He named it after his beloved wife Ivy Amelia. Despite running this business, he continued to work as a representative of a wine and cider company.
In 1959 the son of Henry and Ivy, David Harris joined the business having completed 2 years National Service in the RAF. He took an active role within the business, with the guidance of his parents and began to expand, buying adjacent properties and land.
David took over a large share in the company and added Son to the company name. I A Harris and Son became a major family concern, and with much dedication and commitment from Henry and Ivy, the premises were enlarged, and what started as a newsagents became a general store incorporating fruit and vegetables. This in turn became self-service, in today’s terms a mini supermarket.
In 1981 a new addition was added to the I A Harris and Son family, when Richard Harris the son of David, joined the business. Richard’s main ambition was to develop the ever-growing market of fruit and vegetables along with a flower section. As his interest grew, he began to source fruit and vegetables from New Covent Garden Market directly. Where he gained experience and knowledge that carries right through to today.
1985 sees the arrival of Carl Smith the grandson of Henry and Ivy, to help in the development of the supermarket and the day-to-day running of the business. Carl and his uncle David worked on developing the supermarket; they added a bakery making fresh bread and Delicatessan. Richard meanwhile concentrated on fruit and vegetables opening another green grocery shop in Blackheath and a florists shop in West Wickham.
Sadly in 1989 Henry passed away, but left the ultimate legacy of a true family run business with 3 generations of the same family adding to the success of I A Harris and Son. Henry derived great pleasure from seeing his family develop the business. Keeping close to her husband’s memory Ivy committed herself to being more involved in the business.
The company began to supply restaurants with fresh fruit and vegetables. A new warehouse was purchased adjacent to the store that was used for the wholesale arm of the company. Cousins Richard and Carl then began to concentrate on the wholesale supply of fruit and vegetables, while David continued to run the supermarket.
In 2000 after 41 years of dedication to customer satisfaction David Harris retired and the supermarket was sold.
In 2002, I A Harris and Son moved to New Covent Garden Market in Nine Elms, London where they found premises to continue the business of wholesale supply. I A Harris and Son Limited was then formed.
The business grew and the company moved to a larger warehouse and office suite. A year later, the I A Harris family welcomed Kenny Marshall as a Director. In keeping with tradition, Kenny has a similar family background as his parents were also purveyors of fruit and vegetables and his sibling is the Chairman of the New Covent Garden Market Tenants Association.
The Present Day
After half a century overseeing her business Mrs Ivy Amelia Harris passed away in 2008. She would have been delighted to see how her grandchildren have continued to expand the business. What had started as a humble newsagents shop is now a well-established company in New Covent Garden Market (The largest Fruit and Vegetable Market in Britain).
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Our passion, coupled with our uncompromising drive for customer
satisfaction enables us to establish strong relationships with
chefs and suppliers alike. We’re proud to say we have a varied
customer base ranging from London’s finest restaurants to
schools, deli's and award winning gastro pubs. We ensure that
each customer receives the same high standard of produce and
attention to detail throughout.
It is not just fruit and vegetables that we supply; we also have an extensive range of Dried, Dairy, and Frozen goods, and have just introduced a new range of freshly prepared Pasta to our list. Since moving to larger premises, we have the capacity to prepare fruit and vegetables to any specification and squeeze our own juices.
We have 4/5 tireless representatives who cover the areas we deliver to. They make the effort to see clients on a regular basis, answer any queries they may have and discuss their needs and are always on call. All of our representatives are very knowledgeable in regards to fruit and vegetables and the needs of the catering trade.
