Our History by Mark Button
In early 1969 Eddie Button, my father, started a wholesale jellied eel and shellfish business in a very small shop in Old Montague Street in East London. He built a successful small business supplying shellfish stalls in East London.
Barney Gritzman was one of Eddie's biggest customers; he owned a retail stall in Goulston Street in Aldgate opposite the more famous Tubby Isaacs stall. Not many people know that Barney was the brother of Solomon Gritzman, the owner of Tubby Isaacs. Barney also operated a wholesale business from larger premises in Chamber Street in East London.
When Barney decided to retire in 1970 Eddie took over the business. Eddie took over the name Barneys, the business still operates from Chamber Street today.
In 1979 Tubby Isaacs sold their wholesale business which was based in the old Billingsgate Fish Market, to Barneys. This gave Barneys a trading base inside Britain's premier fish market which it kept until the fish market relocated in the early 1980s.
I joined the business in the early 1980s, I learnt all aspects of the business from Eddie. I became managing director of Barneys after my father died at the end of 2008.
In 2005 Bill Gricks another long standing East End seafood merchant decided to retire and Eddie agreed to take over Bill's business, adding customers as far away as Birmingham and Biggleswade.
The business is very different to the one my father started all those years ago. People's tastes have changed, a far greater range of products is now available and people are far more health conscious. Having said all of this the principles of running a successful fish and shellfish business are still the same; work starts at 5am come rain or shine, preparing eels is still a hard, time consuming and extremely skilled business, the customer is always right (well mostly) and quality is everything.
After 40 years of trading Barneys has now entered the digital age with the launch of our website. We hope you find it useful and interesting. In the future we plan to further develop the site. Historically, Barney's roots go back to before World War 2 and we hope one of the key aspects of the website will be photos and information from this period.
We would be very interested to hear from you if you have any stories about East End life, and particularly those that encompass jellied eels and shellfish. If you have any photographs you think would be of interest please send them and we will add them to the history section of the site.
Barneys Team
Mark
"I joined the businesses in 1983, Iím now the manager director of Barneys, we are a small business so I do what ever needs to be done. I spend time each day talking to customers and suppliers, looking for new lines and trying to give the best deal possible to our loyal customers. Iím responsible for all aspects of the business; one day I might be in a meeting with the bank manager the next I might be unloading several lorries."
My favourite fish is skate cooked in black butter but I also love scallops and tiger prawns.
My favourite fishy joke is:
What did the boy octopus say to the girl octopus?
"I wanna hold you hand, hand, hand, hand, hand, hand, hand, hand!"
Billy
"I've worked at Barneys for just over a year, i'm still learning my trade. My job is to prepare and cook eels. Depending on what else needs to be done I also cook crabs, winkles and scampi, and generally help with whatever needs to be done."
My favourite fish is freshly cooked mussels and of course our own jellied eels.
My favourite fishy joke is:
What do you call a fish that writes controversial novels?
Salmon Rushdie!
Ginger
"My main job is the prepare eels to be cooked. Iíve been at Barneys for 5 years, although Iíve been involved in the fish trade for more than 35 years. As a fully qualified fish monger I am able to prepare all kinds of fish and shellfish. Barneys is a good place to work, we are a team, in a small business it has to be like that."
My favourite fish are sea bream and skate. I also love scallops, cooked very simply with some olive oil, lemon and a little chilli. To be honest I like all fish.
My favourite fishy joke is:
Where do shellfish go to borrow money?
"The prawn broker"
Frank
"Until recently I was the new boy, I've been at Barneys for 5 years. I have lots of contact with our customers, taking and preparing orders, keeping on top of our stock, visiting the fish market, organising maintenance and cleaning regimes and generally supporting the smooth running of the business in any way I can.
My favourite fish is just cooked warm scampi, I also like all types of prawns.
My favourite fishy joke is:
1st kipper: "Smoking's bad for you."
2nd kipper: "It's OK, I've been cured."
Steve
I used to work at Barneys during the summer holidays in the 1970s when I was a student. The business was very different then; we only sold about 10 different items, now we stock about 100. My job now is to ensure we do everything we need to do to run a safe and healthy business and also to develop a more modern approach to marketing.
My favourite fish is haddock fillet, covered in batter, fried in a nutty oil and served with proper chips and mushy peas. I also enjoy smoked haddock with mash potatoes and a nice fresh dressed crab.
My favourite fishy joke is:
What do you call a fish with no eyes?
"Fsh!"