Florist News

I am looking to buy as much of my cut flower business from BRITISH growers through out the year ( not wholesalers !!!!! ) does anyone know where I can find a list of these nearly extinct creatures.
I am also looking to buy old fashioned SCENTED roses during the Winter/Spring season - does anyone know where I can buy them from ?????

hmm you're right british growers are dying out which is a shame. Have a look on www.masterflorist.com for suppliers. But really it depends on your area, where are you based? I'm in Cheshire and the ones I know only go round the local area really.
nationally David austin cut roses is an obvious choice for english roses but beware they are pricey although beautiful, not really every day roses more for weddings. The real flower company grow a lot of their own roses they also sell herbs and pretty garden flowers. I saw them at Tatton show they have some lovely stuff. They sell to the trade as well www.realflowers.co.uk.
Seasonally you can get british flowers from wholesalers like daffs in spring or blooms in autumn if you struggle for local growers for your area.

I can understand being British and wanting to sell only British grown flowers, but unfortunatley over the last 20 years, the British have never invested the money into the industry like other countries, and most growers have either gone bankrupt or just gone into retirement.

Also a big problem faced by British growers has been the lack of good marketing techniques. The Dutch obviously have the auction system, and this ensures that the growers are paid the same day, and the buyers are brought together to create a healthy demand. The English growers have to deliver individually to clients all over the UK who then pay them in 14-90 days. This has been one of the major problems that has led to the downfall of must good UK growers.

English product can be good, but unfortunately not consistent enough. Quality can vary as does the supply. The range of product is too limited, and the bulk of the varieites produced are out dated.

Do you think that a florist show can survive if you do weddings, but cannot supply :

lily of the valley, singapore orchids, large cymbidiums, anthuriums, strelitzia, protea, phalenopsis etc etc etc This is just another example of why you need to buy from many countries nowadays. (not just Holland)

I feel that a florist nowadays really needs to be different if they want to compete against the continuing pressure from the supermarkets, and this can only be done by offering a product/range/quality that sets it a level above the supermarkets, and this cannot be done by buying British only. (IMO)

Why don't you want to buy from a wholesaler ?

they offer a service by bringing the different products from different countries & British growers together to save their customers a lot of time and money. If you buy from a grower direct, because you are not buying large quantities, he will probalby charge at least the same as the markets are charging.

I think the main problem with the growers in England is the tax and land costs, in Holland the govenment subsidises everything for growers, also flowers have only a 6% VAT not like the normall stuff that is at 19%.

I dont know what subsidies the Dutch growers sre supposed to get ?

They used to be able to get subsidies on gas for heating, but that stopped years ago.

Recently spoke to one big rose grower, and his gas bill went up 300,000 euro's this year !!!!!

Also the VAT makes no difference because 90% of flowers produced are sold at the tax rate of the country being shipped to. You can only charge 6% on flowers for export if you ship below a certain amount each year. (I thought about 150K euro's)

Agricultural land in all countries is considerably cheaper than industrial land, and I would imagine that the UK is no dearer (if not cheaper) than Holland.

I still think the biggest problem with UK growers is the lack of professional attitude towards investment & have you ever heard of UK growers working together !!!

Unheard of !

Just my opinion

can you tell me anything that is british that you can buy of good quality nowadays. I do know of a grower that supplies alstro, which are brilliant, but they are miles away,

There are good growers out there.

Lilies, Tulips, blooms and obviously the full range of summer flowers, but unfortunately you cannot rely upon a regular supply. One week they have enough to sink a battleship, and the next week when you need it, they have a gap in production, or they have finished cropping.

Hi,
I just thought I should let you know about a new website championing the British Cut Flower.

You can find the site at Welcome to British Cut Flowers .com

We need your help. Let us know about sources and suppliers of British Cut flowers, if you are a shop, stall or designer using them.

Send us pictures of your displays, the bouquets or arrangements.

The more you help us the more we can spread the word about the British Cut flower industry.

Let the scent of pride sweep the nation

Thank you in advance

How ironic that the Keep Trade Local page has an ad for IF sullying it.

Why not pop along to the welcome section and tell us a bit about yourself bcf