A floristry education bus will be coming to Milton Keynes on October 6th, as part of a nationwide tour, powered by Florismart
The bus is designed to raise awareness of the floristry industry and give advice and support to florists of all shape and sizes. Floristry is one of the last remaining skills on the high street and is being diluted by mass produced supermarket flowers. The bus tour also aims to rejuvenate flower growers in the UK.
A concept like this has never been done in the floristry industry before.
The bus is powered by Florismart which brings together exporters, wholesalers, and growers all on one transparent digital marketplace. This enables florists to buy from a variety of sources directly and save up to 20% on cost as various layers of the supply chain are removed.
Florismart is the first platform to connect British florists and British growers. They are championing the amazing quality of locally grown flowers, and getting them back to the florist.
Independent florists in Europe purchase approximately £2bn worth of cut flowers per year, of which 70% is currently traded through the Dutch auction house. The industry has been slow to adopt technology, and until Florismart was launched 16 months ago there was no way for those florists to buy directly from growers. The complexity of the supply chain and lack of pricing transparency have subsequently increased costs for florists and reduced the number of varieties of flowers available to consumers.
Steve France, CEO of Florismart and board member of the British Florist Association said:
“Floristry is a skilled craft, so the mass-produced supermarket bouquets aren’t doing our industry any justice. At Florismart we want to bring the flower-power back to the high street by connecting growers directly with independent florists, and by giving them a huge range of quality and prices.
“The high street is on the decline, therefore so are local florists. It’s a real loss to our communities. Floristry plays such an important role in key moments of life – not just weddings, funerals and birthdays but also ‘thank-you’, ‘sorry’ and ‘goodbyes’.
“We want to start a movement that sees more consumers supporting local florists, bringing the industry back to life.”
