UK: Businessman opens cash and carry chain
The new venture is the brainchild of Scott Lewis, who has 30 years’ experience running multi-million pound horticultural businesses supplying some of the UK’s biggest supermarket chains.
Mr Lewis, 45, is a previous joint owner of a flower packing business which he grew from a £1.2m turnover to £21m in just six years.
He has won national awards for his innovation in the field and his work in the logistics of supplying fresh flowers to major supermarket chains.
Flowers & Plants Direct Limited will throw open the doors of its first store in Peterborough this October and has set a target of selling eight million stems in its first year.
The store in Hampton Business Park will feature a 8,000 sq foot unit and a 2,000 sq foot state of the art cold storage facility and will open Sunday October 1st.
The business will create five new jobs immediately, with a further three jobs later this year. It will stock hundreds of different varieties of flowers and procure David Austin Roses, winners of 23 Chelsea Flower Show gold medals.
Around 15 percent of its stock will be sourced from the UK, with other flowers and foliage coming from as far afield as the USA, Colombia, Ecuador, Kenya and Israel.
Mr Lewis, who lives in Donington, plans to open a second outlet next year.
“We are really excited about the new venture and confident it will be just the first in national roll-out,” said Mr Lewis.
“I’ve worked within this field for decades and believe the team I have assembled for the new venture are the best in the business. We know quality, variety, price and service are the key drivers of success.”
“We believe there is a gap in the market for a business built on those cornerstones and we can’t wait to get the first store up and running this year, with a second to follow next year.”
Residents, clubs, societies and businesses will also be able to buy direct from the store and Mr Lewis plans an open day for people to see the businesses before it officially throws open its doors on 1st October.