– using old fruit boxes rather than printing his own and delivering in unmarked vans so competitors could not see who his customers were.


In fact, they included Harrods, Fortnum & Mason and Selfridges, plus a growing order book from Hong Kong and the United States – and many of London’s top chefs.


“IN LATER YEARS MARCEL BECAME A HOLOCAUST TEACHER AND SHARED HIS WARTIME EXPERIENCES WIDELY"


NEW GENERATION Marcel retired from Forman’s after fire destroyed much of its premises in Hackney Wick in 1998. But the plant was reopened the following year and, in due course, replaced by a larger, more modern facility as the business was taken forward by Marcel and Irene’s son, Lance who this year is celebrating his 30th year at the helm.


Clockwise from top left: Mr and Mrs Aaron ‘Harry’ Forman; Louis Forman (in the Homburg) at Billingsgate, 1934; The Forman building today; Lance Forman in the Hackney Wick Smokeroom; Queens Yard, 1971; Marcel in 1970.


In 2005 the company’s site in the Lower Lea Valley – the last fish smokery in east London – was compulsorily purchased to make way for the London Olympics but, after a pro- tracted battle with then mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, Forman’s current premises and state-of-the-art smokehouse were built on Fish Island.


IN LATER YEARS Marcel became a Holocaust teacher and shared his wartime experiences widely, including with schools in Birmingham with 90 per cent Muslim children that had been subject to the Trojan Horse controversy—a plot to instill a hardline ethos at several schools. To mark his 85th birthday, children at Nansen primary school in Birmingham produced a scrapbook of artwork and poetry focusing on elements of his life and promising to retell his story.


As well as Lance, he is survived by his wife Irene (of Mrs Forman’s Cheesecake fame), sister Jacqueline and daughters Sharon, Candice and Suzanne.


33


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