Ian Duff, Union Street (opposite Lush), Bath

I’ve been doing this for 16 years. It’s a great magazine. I’ve got my regular customers who support me. But sometimes, people come up and say ‘Oh, I haven’t bought one in a while, is it still a pound?’ It wasn’t a pound even when I started! 

Before selling Big Issue, I was running pubs for a living, and then my company went into liquidation overnight. So I became homeless. 

I’d been a chef, done chef work all over the world. I trained here, but then I did sauces for six months in France, so I know how volatile chefs can be! You learn very quickly, it’s very rigorous. If you did something wrong, you’d get a pan thrown at you. But it’s also what you make of it. If you have a good crew, and you know what you’re doing, it’s easy.

I’ve done 200-plus covers, but if you’ve got a good crew, and you’ve got some Kylie Minogue playing in the background – something upbeat – then you make it really fun. If you get something wrong, you just start again and get on with it. 

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My favourite thing to make – that’s a really hard question. I like making curries, but I like cooking anything really, Italian cuisine, French cuisine. I don’t like stuff that’s too gimmicky; presentation is important, but taste is the best thing. It can look like the greatest food in the world, but if it tastes dull and it’s boring, it’s dull and it’s boring. 

I went back [to cheffing] a few years ago, but I’m getting a bit old for it now. I still do some catering, a bit here and there, but working in a restaurant, finishing at 11 o’clock, it’s a bit much now. I’m nearly 60 years old. 

Big Issue is good, it suits me. It’s not a case that I can’t do something else. It’s the case that why would I want to do something else? I enjoy doing this. I get out to meet people, I’m part of the community. If I’m not here, my customers go to the shop and ask after me. We have nice conversations. It’s about being there for other people.   

My customers love the dogs. I’ve had Trigger for three years and Marlene for two years. Before them, I had Boycie for 16 years. It was Christmas Day as well [when he died, in 2021]. I missed him, I knew I wanted another dog. They’re really good for my mental health as well. 

It was four or five months before I got Trigger. He was hard work, bless him, he’d been buffered around here there and everywhere, since he was a pup. But when I got Marlene, he completely changed. He’s much more content, he’s a completely different dog. Much happier. She annoys him, but he loves her. They cuddle up together all the time, they play all the time. He nicks her food all the time. Marlene is a lovely dog. She’s a bit naughty too. 

The dogs are why my customers come up. It’s not my personality! It’s definitely the dogs. Marlene was on the front cover at Christmas [2024], and that issue just went like hot cakes. 

The Big Issue office in Bristol have been so good to me over the last year, I really want to mention them. Hattie, Kris, Susan, Amber and Frankie – they’ve really helped me, especially over the last six months. I’ve gone through a bit of a tough time, mental health and stuff, and they’ve been there for me. I just want them to know that it’s really appreciated. And, you know, they don’t get enough praise. 

Interview and photo: Lottie Elton 

Union Street, Bath, UK