2019-07-01_Country_Homes_Interiors

❝I wanted to champion

nostalgic British cottage

garden flowers❞

N

ostalgicEnglishflowers,butwith

anAudreyHepburnfeel– that’s

theimageI hadinmindwhen

I setupTheGreatBritishFlorist,’

saysHeatherGorringe.Hercompanynow

deliversbouquetsoftraditionalBritishgarden

flowerstoeverycorneroftheUK,withmany

ofthebloomsgrownontheHerefordshire

farmthatsherunswithherhusband,Phil.

Heather’sentrepreneurialspiritwasevident

fromanearlyage.‘I alwayswantedmyown

business,that’swhatdroveme,’shesays.

Afterartcollege,sheworkedforherfather’s

companyandthen,atthefirstopportunity,

setupherownbusinessprintingT-shirts

andties.WhenshemarriedPhilin1992,

HeatherwentontofoundWigglyWigglers,

acompanysupplyingnaturalgarden

productssuchaswormeries,composters

andnaturalbirdfeedfromtheirfarm.‘Atthe

time,farmersweregettinga hardtimefrom

environmentalists– I wantedtoshowthe

goodthingsfarmersweredoing,such

ascompostingandsowingwildflowers.’

AspartofWigglyWigglers,Heatherstarted

a cutting garden and supplied bouquets. ‘This

sideofthebusinessquicklygrewandwe

realisedthatpeoplelovetobuyflowersthat

varyfrombouquettobouquetandchange

throughtheseasons,’saysHeather.‘During

therecessionof2011,wecutbackonlots

ofproductsbuttheflowersaleswerestill

doingwell– it wasanaffordableluxury.That

inspiredmetothinkofa waytothrive and

survivethroughtherecession.’

Around 90 percentoftheflowerssoldin

theUKaregrownoverseas.Heatherdecided

tohelpchangethatandbecomea champion

ofBritish-grownflowers,butsheneeded

togivetheflowerssideofthebusinessits

ownidentity.‘Onthewaybackfroma trip

toLondonweweretryingtodecideona

nameandmyniece,San,suggestedThe

GreatBritishFlorist,whichwasexactly

whatweareabout.Bythetimewegotto

Cheltenhamwe’dboughtthedomainand

registeredthenamewithCompaniesHouse!

‘Atthetime,gerberawerethetrendy

flowers– theyweremodernandstructural

• butI wantedtodeliverbouquetsofold-
  fashionedrosesandstocks;flowersthat
  made you go, “Ooh, I remember walking

Florist and Flower grower HeatHer gorringe

>