Bristol florist Barry Toogood originally trained in retail management at Sainsburys, so it seems slightly ironic that Barry’s shop is situated between not one, but two supermarkets. Despite this proximity to readily available and often cheaper flowers, Flowers by Barry Toogood is a well-established, successful retail florist with a solid, loyal customer base that has been built up over the past thirty years.
‘The business has changed dramatically since we started in 1991’ explained Barry ‘I put our continued success down to the accumulative effect of long-term contacts and networks and unparalleled customer service. With approximately 90% of flowers being bought either through supermarkets, online or subscription services, it’s our personal approach which brings our customers back through our doors again and again.’
For Barry, floristry is all about the people ‘It’s always been the customer who comes first. People love people, and we provide a service that you just can’t get from a supermarket. For example, ethical sourcing is very important to us, we can trace our flowers back to the growers, and that matters to us and a lot of our customers.’
Creating individual and bespoke designs is also an integral part of the business, especially so when it comes to funeral work. ‘We always invite our customers to view tributes the day before so that we can make sure we have everything exactly right for them. We try to personalise them too. For example, we recently created a spray of flowers that contained items that had been collected from a beach which was a favourite holiday destination of the deceased. Knowing that you can bring that personal touch which can hopefully comfort the family at such a difficult time is something we never take for granted.’
