A career in advertising and marketing for a newspaper group may have been busy and well paid but for Sue Lee, it just wasn’t fulfilling. ‘I thought, there must be more to life than this, what do I really want to do? Floristry was the answer.’
Originally based in Oxfordshire, a relocation back up to Yorkshire (Sue is from Lancashire) saw her studying floristry at college alongside getting vital practical experience in a florists in Yarm. ‘I considered buying a shop, but it was too much of a commitment, so I started teacher training and after qualifying, began working part-time at East Durham College, before taking up a full-time position at Askham Bryan in York.’
Sue and fellow tutor Karen Longbottom recently had the opportunity to take their students off campus to exhibit at the Harrogate Spring Flower Show. ‘We were invited to compete by the show’s organisers, it’s a fantastic opportunity for the students to adapt their classroom training to hands-on practical use. They have to study the criteria, think about techniques, flower material, sundries and work within a budget. All of this is invaluable training for the future when they may be working on large scale events or weddings.
‘As well as college training, our students work in a variety of different floral environments, from shops to the flower team at York Minster! Coming together to design at Harrogate was a great team building exercise and some students also competed individually, pushing their skills even further.
‘I hope that I can inspire people in the classroom, giving them the grounding in all the basics so they can take what they have learnt and run with it. There are so many opportunities for florists out there it’s an exciting time to be part of the industry.’
