SCILLY FLOWER SERVICE CONTINUES TO GROW

Scent from the Islands, the Isles of Scilly postal flower delivery service, is reporting a 6% increase in turnover so far this year - and that figure doesn’t include Christmas, traditionally the company’s busiest time.

Spending hasn’t increased but the number of sales has - indicating people are saving by cutting back but not cutting out altogether. Stan Lee, 96, from Tiverton, a former sales manager, is a long-standing frequent customer of Scent from the Islands. He attributes the company’s continued success to a great product and excellent customer service. Stan said: “I’ve got a lot of friends, some of them aren’t very well and I Iike to send them flowers to cheer them up. I always choose the vibrant, sweet-scented Narcissi because the promise of spring is such a healer. “I always choose Scent from the Islands because the quality of the flowers is always so good, the flowers are always fresh and I know they’ve been grown on the beautiful Isles of Scilly. The customer service is so good too - they remember who I am when I ring up. I love those flowers, sometimes I buy them for myself.” Zoe Julian, a director of the St Martin’s-based family-run business, said: “People recognise quality and when they have so little to spend on luxuries, like flowers, they are particularly keen to make sure they are getting a high impact, top quality product that is good value for money. At Scent from the Islands we always strive to ensure we provide all three. We also believe that people are keen to buy British and that they prefer to buy straight from source.” She explained that the farm is now working to capacity and that the greatest challenge is ensuring the flowers are managed carefully to ensure a ready supply of top quality blooms for as long a period as possible to satisfy customer demand. Zoe said: “Dragon’s Den investor Deborah Meaden was absolutely right when she said that growing a company is the easy part and that keeping it operating at its optimum level is much harder.” For more information, visit www.scillyflowers.co.uk Ends 23 November 2010 Photo: Scent from the Islands reports an increase in turnover

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