This ritual is played out every morning in Chichele Road, north-west London. Dozens of men in jeans and anoraks hanging around from 6.30am to discover whether they will be working that day. A car will stop, a negotiation will take place, a deal may be struck. Typically, the men will be whisked off to a building site or a house in the process of renovation. The morning I join them, it is wet and cold.
Men stand in twos and threes, chatting.
Cars and vans stop, and the driver indicates how many men he wants, what the job is and how much it pays. Some of the men haggle. Local residents hate the way their road has become a labour exchange, but say nothing, walking past with eyes averted. It has become a way of life in this part of Cricklewood. Not that they will admit it, because to do so would immediately signify that they are working illegally.