“We have decided to sell the Blooming British registered patent brand and website, as we are stopping our cultivation of cut flowers in the UK,” says Ian Matthews, Managing Director of Matthews Flower Group. For their floristry businesses, they will buy in from Dutch and UK growers. The reason for this change is cannabis. “We are concentrating on our new venture of growing organic cannabis and hemp in Portugal. The organic CBD oil and isolate will be supplied to the VIVE skincare brand as well as other pharmaceutical companies.”
The story of Blooming British
Brothers Eric and Bill Matthews bought their first nursery in Great Wakering, Essex, in 1953 and founded Matthews Flower Growers. The brothers started growing Gladioli, Sweet Peas, Stocks, Wallflowers, and Dahlias. After meeting a Dutch grower, the brothers widened the range in 1959 to include roses, which were prepacked for sale to Woolworths and garden centers. Eric’s wife Joan, a florist, operated two florist shops which saw the business develop into a wholesale business supplying florist shops in Essex and East London.
At the time, the British flower industry was going through challenges. There was pressure on British cut flower growers because of the cheap airfreight imports. The British flower industry, which once employed thousands of people, lay in ruin with just a handful of small nurseries left and all the rest imported. Eric and Joan’s son Ian had an audacious plan in mind to bring the British flower industry back from the brink. The aim was a simple one: to resurrect the British cut flower industry and classic varieties by building glasshouses next to energy plants to minimize costs and increase efficiency.
Now, Blooming British, the cultivation side of the company, is selling its registered trademark brand and the www.bloomingbritish.co.uk website. Anyone interested in more information can contact Ian at ian.matthews@matthewsflowergroup.com.
For more information:
Blooming British
Ian Matthews
ian.matthews@matthewsflowergroup.com