Wiltshire-based floristry company Young Blooms has made the shortlist for the 2021 Small Awards, a national awards scheme that looks to highlight the smallest and greatest companies in the UK.
Based at Wiltshire’s Hartley Farm, Young Blooms is a finalist for the ‘Bricks and Clicks Award’ this year, recognising businesses that use multiple channels with innovation, flair and skill to develop their business.
With the weddings and events industry particularly impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic, Young Blooms successfully diversified its offering from a traditional floristry service to a multi-channel floristry skills provider.
During lockdown, raw floral materials were hand-delivered by Young Blooms to local customers’ doors, with virtual guidance and expert tips provided to create arrangements from the safety of their own homes. Young Blooms’ principal florist, Grace Farrimond, also runs floristry school workshops in small groups - held in outdoor, socially-distanced settings when possible - and via Zoom, and has developed a strong presence and following on YouTube, regularly sharing floristry hints and tips to make the profession more accessible to others.
Towards the end of last year, the business also launched Bloom Box: an online subscription service of British-grown flowers, providing joyful floral creations directly to subscribers while supporting the British flower industry.
Grace Farrimond, founder and principal florist at Young Blooms, comments:
“The events of the last year led to a big change in direction for us; like so many small businesses looking to survive during these very tough times, we turned a huge negative into a positive by evolving our floristry business into a number of different areas: alongside our core offering, providing creative floral arrangements for special events, we also now deliver a successful floristry school and an online floral subscription service, reaching our audiences in a variety of ways that feel comfortable to them.
This diversification has allowed Young Blooms to extend its creative services to appeal to a much wider audience, and the workshops we have run have become a supportive, positive community during unsettling times, with participants encouraging one another on their floristry journeys. I’m over the moon that our approach has led to us being shortlisted for The Small Awards.”
The Small Awards, now in their fifth year, are judged by some of the most well respected small business experts in the UK and aim to recognises small businesses that may otherwise be overlooked. This year’s event will be held virtually on 13th May, 2021.