Post People Normas Newagents Wood Lane Dagenham Irem Ahmed

Iren Ahmed, 42, has managed Norma’s Newsagents, in Wood Lane, Dagenham for 24 years.

We opened up Norma’s Newsagents because it was in the perfect location – surrounded by houses and having three schools nearby.

I came right out of school into working in Norma’s, and I haven’t ever done anything else .

Nor do I have any future plans to change my profession.

I have roughly lived in the area for the same amount of time as the shop has been open.

I have two children, one boy and one girl, both aged 12.

The new leisure centre is really good and is attracting more business and I genuinely find that most people are friendly and the community in Dagenham is close-knit and trouble is rare.

Most of my customers are schoolchildren or local families.

You soon get to know the regulars and have a nice chat with them. This makes me enjoy my work.

Sometimes the work can be a little bit boring, with all the children at school and most people working.

But business soon picks up and there simply isn’t enough time to be bored.

After the schools finish we have to control how many people enter the shop as it gets too crowded.

It also allows the shop to be more manageable.

Working in a sweet shop means I do have a bit of sweet tooth but I would have to say that Twirls chocolate bar is my favourite.

Our bestsellers would probably be Mars, Kitkats and Snickers, but everything else is well portioned out.

Nothing too strange happens in the shop, if I’m honest.

The strangest thing for me personally would be that everyone thinks my brother, Tony, is my husband.

It is a family business but it is also my livelihood and I intend to stay here – unless I win the lottery, that is.