Kourosh Salkhosh wants everyone to share his passion.

He says olives are not properly appreciated in the UK because of inferior quality or bad presentation.

But Kourosh, who runs Zaitoon Olives in Churchill Square's West Mall, travels around Europe to find the best olives and the best marinades.

He said: "I love olives and one day I thought those available in this country were never as good as I wanted them to be. Whenever I went to Europe, I found so many different varieties and so many different ways of preparing olives.

"People enjoyed them as part of a meal or on their own, rather than just having them as a pizza topping or on a cocktail stick.

"There are so many different ways of enjoying them, so many different flavours and different textures to complement different dishes and salads."

He found different countries had their own preferences. Italians liked to marinate with herbs and spices. Greeks liked to stuff olives with almonds and other varieties of nuts and fruits and chillies, while the French were the masters of marination and had hundreds of recipes.

He trained in France in the art of preparing and preserving olives.

"When I asked people if they liked olives most said no because they were too salty or too bitter. But I believe it is because they had never had a nice olive.

"Since I started a year ago, I have become well known in the city. People recognise me as the olive man. I have built up a good reputation because I bring the best olives from across Europe to the UK.

"People tell me they've been to Greece, Cyprus, or Italy but have not found olives to equal mine.

"I have people coming back from London, Hastings and Portsmouth just for my olives."

"Since I started in Churchill Square, I have had a lot of support from the management and I haven't looked back.

"I think I've converted a lot of people to liking olives."