Good Florist Guide are proud to announce we’ve put together a fabulous advisory panel of outstanding florists.
Philip Holley (Willow Floristry, Verwood), Sian Wild (The Flower Lounge, Didsbury), Leslie Nash (Jennifleurs, Colchester), Nikki Meader (West Malling Flowers, West Malling), Karen Massey (Fleurtatious, Dublin) and David Costa (Flowers Unlimited, Brighton and Croydon) have all agreed to be part of the new look GFG.
Together they’ve poured over the beta website www.goodfloristguide.com, advised on how best to attract customers and improve ease of use. All aimed at making sure the whole Good Florist Guide project to promote independent high quality floristry is guided by florists themselves.
Founder and third-generation florist Caroline Marshall-Foster explains, “My big life challenge has always been to promote the best independent florists which is why I wanted to get GFG back out in the public so that we can turn it into a nationally-recognised mark of high quality and good value. However it will only work if everyone is involved and that’s why it was so important that we had a team of florists we could talk to and make sure we are doing things that work for them.”
Nikki, who owns West Malling Flowers in Kent, said ‘I was honoured to be asked onto the advisory panel, and excited to be one of the first to see the new web site’. Like many of the advisory team, Nikki was drawn to the uniqueness of the Good Florist Guide as the only independently accredited listing of florists in the UK and Eire.
Karen, owner of independent florist Fleurtatious in Dublin, explained why she decided to become involved: “We need to have a standard of excellence, we need to have advice and guidance at our fingertips. It is too easy to buy your way into groups or associations, the GFG is different. You’re not in if you don’t make the grade. Being a florist can be very isolating so to have a website or group to turn to when you need advice is fantastic, the fact that you will be given feedback on your application is great and really helpful. It is about improving the industry standard overall and making floristry a great profession”.
Helena Forrester, who is in charge of the project on a day to day basis, told us: “Good Florist Guide is the only nationwide merit-based guide to the best independent florists in the UK and Eire. That’s why we really want the best florists in the UK and Eire to get on board so that together we can shape a movement that shows just how incredible this industry is.”
In the first fortnight of sustained work we’re already getting fantastic traction through our social media channels, now the website goes live we’ll begin the strategy of brand building so that, like the Good Hotel Guide and Good Pub Guide, it becomes the first thought for customers looking for flowers, from the everyday to the extraordinary. But we also want this to work for florists as well and why we’re so pleased to have such a strong panel to work with.
GFG membership is open to all florists, be they shop, studio or event based. If you have thoughts or suggestions or want to apply for accreditation contact Helena at hello@goodfloristguide.com or on 020 8237 1109 or alternatively apply online here.
