By Beatrice Groth

Mark, the Evening Standard’s vendor, says ‘it’s all about manners’. As he settles down for an interview with me, he adds: ‘My mum thought me that good manners cost nothing.’ Mark, whose friendly and warm voice echoes through Stratford International Station, welcomes all Docklands Light Railway (DLR) commuters to the station in east London, saying, ‘free Standard, thank you and have a good day.’ Passers-by drift, almost trance-like, towards Mark’s newspaper stand. He is busy greeting those he is acquainted with, as well thanking everyone who picks up a copy of the London Evening Standard.

In an exclusive interview, Mark revealed his Irish Jamaican origin: ‘I am 54, Irish Jamaican, born in London, me dad is Jamaican and me mum is Irish,’ he explained with a faint Irish accent. Mark started his career working as a vendor in Ridley Road Market in east London.. That is where he met many friends and people from various racial and cultural backgrounds. There is hardly anyone who passed by without saying hallo to Mark. Some ask him for direction to their destinations.

Mark talked about his achievements since he began distributing the Evening Standard a few months before the Olympics games in 2012. The interests of the local people, who have remained in the area after the game, must be considered, he said. That was the reason they set up three newsstands in Stratford Shopping Complex, Stratford Station and the Westfield Shopping Centre. According to Mark, he and his colleagues give out about 15,000 copies of the newspaper daily. How do the publishers of the newspaper make profit as the paper does not have a cover price, I asked? While saying that only the publishers can answer the question, he suggested that they make their money through advertisements published in the newspaper.

For many passers-by and visitors to Stratford International Station, Mark’s friendly disposition and multicultural heritage are the most visible demonstration of east London’s cultural diversity and warmth. For mark himself, he is simply doing what he does best and contributing to the socio-cultural and economic development of post-Olympic Stratford: ‘This is what I know how to do best, and this is all I’m going to do for the rest of me life,’ Mark concluded.