A Day in the Life

A Day in the life of a florist

Working with beautiful flowers from around the world, creating bespoke gifts, bringing smiles to homes…it all sounds terribly glamorous doesn’t it?  That is the picture so many people think of when they conjure up a florist in their minds.  The reality is definitely some of that but it’s also a whole lot more as you’ll find out below…

Every day is different

People are unpredictable and more often than not, so are trade patterns. We live in a cycle of perpetual reactivity, never quite knowing what will happen each day so we’re kept on our toes!  We may imagine a gentle start to a morning and slow run up to lunchtime, only to be inundated by phone and web orders requiring immediate response.  One thing is for sure, everything has to be done to a deadline. There’s no way a birthday, anniversary, funeral or other key moment can be missed!

Across the decades

As a family we’ve certainly seen some changes over our six plus decades in business.  Long gone are the days off heading off to Middlesbrough market at 4am to buy flowers.  There was always a great atmosphere and tremendous camaraderie there, but we must admit, it was hard work!  The advent of online ordering has transformed our lives and business considerably.

Technological times

Nowadays we purchase our flower supplies over the internet.  You may be fascinated to know how this works: we see real time pictures of flowers and detailed information about them to allow us to make our buying decisions.  From their stem length, to how open the buds are and how many flowers are on a stem, we get to know it all instantly now!  Growers become well known to us and we get to understand their different qualities and specialisms.  With the help of ‘our man in Holland’, our rep who acts as our eyes on the ground, we are fully covered.  

Multi-tasking

As small business owners we wear many hats during the course of a day – marketeer, creative artist, salesperson, technologist, logistics expert, buyer, driver, negotiator, planner, accountant, counsellor…. When people apply to work with us, they need to be pretty flexible as you can imagine!  Creativity is why we are here at the end of the day though; there is simply nothing better than seeing a stunning bouquet of fresh flowers make its way to someone for their special moment!

Team work

Our team is fantastic - always happy and friendly which means everyone has a good time at work; laughing and joking gets us through.  They’re great at stepping up at peak times like our recent Mother’s Day rush when we suddenly switch to five times our daily output!  Thankfully each team members knows their strengths and hunkers down doing what they are best at to ensure our customers receive our very best output, at the right time – with a smile!

The highs & lows 

As florists we really do see all sides of people’s lives and naturally get pulled in with that.  It’s another way that we wear many hats, often acting as counsellors, allowing our customers time to talk.  Funerals are particularly special for us and give a real sense of satisfaction to the team if we’re asked to create something specific to reflect a loved one’s life and passions.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, we recently had a very excited gentleman at our gate in Hurworth whose wife had just given birth; he was eager to treat her to some beautiful flowers to congratulate her.  That was a lovely moment to witness!

Other stand out moments from the past months include a 60^th wedding anniversary (now that is something to celebrate!), the 100^th birthday of a longstanding customer and continuation of our relationship with a gentleman who rings up regularly to send gifts to his friends and family for all their special occasions.  

It’s these long-term, loyal customer relationships that make what we do extra special.  Thank you so much for your support and we look forward to continuing to be of service to you!