The fish market inside Billingsgate

London's oldest wholesale market is on the verge of its biggest change in over a thousand years. Fish merchants are facing tough times. The market is under pressure to modernise and its iconic and ancient traditions are under threat. The job of the licensed fish porter, once a job for life, could be thrown open to all comers. The market is divided: will ancient custom or modern commerce win out?

The night-time market at Smithfield was once the sole supplier of meat and poultry to London and could play by its own rules. But now the modern world of political correctness and customer service is proving a challenge for some in this closed, traditional man's world. Smithfield has been supplying the capital with meat since the 12th century, but what does the future hold for the men of the meat market?

The fruit and veg trade in England was once a closed world dominated by traditional British costermonger families. But then London changed. Successive waves of immigration have brought new people to New Spitalfields market in east London, people for whom food has a deeper meaning.