New Research on the Floristry Industry Released by Michael Dark

Online florist www.michaeldark.co.uk has released a piece of research to show what the floristry industry actually means to the UK. This piece of research shows contributions to the economy, prospected growth and the actual work that florists do. It is hoped that this piece of research will create a newfound respect for florists and what they actually mean for the country as a whole.

Michael Dark is one of Newton Abbot, Devon’s most respected and well known online florists. The company has today released information on trends within the floristry industry across the United Kingdom. The figures released provide an interesting insight into how popular flowers actually are.

photo/ ProfDEH via wikimedia commons

“We have always felt as if the floristry industry was slightly forgotten in economic forecasting”, says a spokesperson for MichaelDark.co.uk. “Although people buy flowers all the time, they don’t really think about what this means for the GDP and overall economy, not just in the UK but actually worldwide. Our research hopes to shed a better light on this.”

The floristry industry is worth some £1 billion per year, which is a huge figure. Various other very interesting pieces of information came forward out of the research. This includes:

• There is no dominant floristry business in the UK

• The industry has grown by 5.2% between 2010 and now, which is very significant. Other research performed by Michael Dark has shown that an increasing number of people are turning to flowers as gifts, which would explain this growth.

• Some 12,072 people work in the industry in the UK, across 593 different businesses.

The research showed just how popular flowers are in the country. There seems to be a particular preference for daffodils, roses, lilies and chrysanthemums. Flowers are particularly popular at certain special events like Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day, but also for weddings and funerals. Although the industry is so large, and so many people purchase flowers in this country, only very few flowers are actually grown nationally. Rather, businesses seem to turn to the Netherlands to import flowers. At the same time, however, the public is asking for locally grown flowers, mainly because they want to support their own economy. Michael Dark believes that if florists answer this demand, the industry could actually grow even more.

Michael Dark worked together with various other statistical analysis experts on this piece of research. Through their work, it was found that the UK economy is forecast to grow by 2.2% per year between now and 2020, and that the floristry industry is set to grow by 3.5% per year, which is above national growth. This means that the industry will remain popular and continue to thrive.

The industry is very wide, which is another aspect that many people do not understand.

“Most people believe florists simply sell bouquets and arrangements to individual people”, added Michael Dark’s spokesperson. “In reality, however, we also supply to councils, landscapers, wholesale businesses and various horticultural businesses. Plus, we are also responsible for growing turf, seed collection and foliage for displaying and cutting.”

Indeed, the piece of research also clearly showed what the main industry activities are, listed as being:

• Growing plants for ornamental and planting purposes.

• Growing plants for roots, tubers and bulbs.

• Growing plants for slips and cuttings.

• Growing plants in order for mushrooms to spawn.

• Growing fodder roots, mangolds, alfalfa, clover, fodder maize, sainfoin and a variety of other grasses.

• Growing seeds for forage plants including beet seeds, although not sugar beet.

• Floriculture.

The industry, in other words, is far more impressive than most people would realise.

Guest Author: Lolita Di