Florist Profile:Glenholme Florist in Beverely, East Yorkshire UK Part 2

In our previous blog post, Karen shared a little information about her town and it's history, In part 2 her training and wonderful accomplishments. (Karen pictured below with her husband,Ruarigh)

"I left school at 16, went to the local college for a year to do day release Floristry till I was old enough to go to The Welsh College of Horticulture for two years leaving with a Diploma in Floristry and Flower production with a Distinction pass. As part of the course I did a work placement for 6 months at Shirleys, in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, UK. On completion of my course I then ventured to the US for four months work experience at Flowers Wayne Jones, Virginia Beach, Virginia.
Upon returning from the US I returned to work in the family business where I have been ever since. I went on to obtain my ICSF (Intermediate Certificate of the Society Of Floristry) then my NDSF ( National Diploma of the Society of Floristry) with distinctions. This is the highest floristry qualification in the UK which I achieved in 1992, quite an achievement at that age (23).
"After gaining my qualifications I trained and eventually became an examiner for the Society of Floristry and for three years taught Floristry at all levels at the local College. Currently my energy is focused primarily on the family business, helping to develop and move the business forward, more recently developing an e-commerce web site to make buying much easier for our customers."


I have entered and been successful in floristry competition in the past, but now get more pleasure encouraging the younger members of staff to succeed.
Our shop won the national competition of “Retail Florist of the Year” in 1996 out of over 500 entrants. This was an incredible accolade and something we will be ever proud of.
"We have had the great privilege of creating flowers for the Queen twice! The first time was in July 2002 when she was visiting Beverley. We created two separate presentation bouquets and flowers for the tables where she and the Duke had lunch. In March this year a bouquet presented to her on her arrival to the local City of Hull was created by us.

What do I enjoy most about being a florist is the diversity of it, the challenge of being creative and providing flowers for people at the most important and memorable times of their life. Making people smile is a wonderful reward."

Karen- I feel so fortunate to have had this opportunity to share your story with my blog readers!
Thank you so much-

You can find Glenholme Florist on the web at www.glenholmeflorists.co.uk
and you can follow Karen on twitter @GlamFlowers

Florist Profile: Glenholme Florist in Beverley, East Yorkshire UK (Part One)

I've often been curious about florists in other countries and what their shops are like. What flowers are popular? Do they share some of the same social traditions we have like prom? Are they required to have special training? A million other questions come to mind, and I wish I could sit down with a
latte' and talk shop for an afternoon. Instead, I'm fortunate to have the next best thing, an online interview!
( even better because I get to share with you)


Recently I've been in touch with Karen, a florist in the United Kingdom.
Karen has graciously agreed to share with us her story and a little about
what's going at Glenholme Florist .

I asked her to tell a little about what her store is like and where she is located. I was also interested in the type of floral selections she offers to her customers.
So, in her own words...



"The town of Beverley is located on the north-east coast of England, 30min drive from the sea. We are a historical market town full of history and fantastic old buildings. We have two magnificent churches, one being the Beverley Minster."

"To the west of the town we have an amazing expanse of pasture land that holds the racecourse, a golf course, an ancient disused mill and has cows freely grazing that can wander across the road at will!
We still have two local markets selling fresh produce and various other products twice a week in two separate market places. The population of the town is approx 29,000 which has increased rapidly over the last few years with developments of much more modern town housing and living."


"Our most popular floral gift is definitely the aqua-packed hand-tied bouquet (flowers arranged by us, tied ready to go straight into the customer’s own vase and gift-wrapped with a cellophane bubble holding water at the base so the flowers don’t dehydrate), although more modern, structured designs using a limited number of more choice/ tropical flowers are becoming increasingly popular."

"The most popular flowers are still roses and all varieties of lilies, with more tropical flowers becoming popular such as anthuriums and strelitzia to suit the newer more minimalist new homes."


"A lot of our flowers are imported from Holland, although we do like to stock as many locally produced flowers as we can, when seasonally available. Tropical flowers are imported from all other corners of the world. Prom is very different here I think to in the US, it didn’t exist when I was at school and only really evolved slowly over the last decade. Unfortunately flowers at the moment don’t play an important part and is something we are looking at to promote to the youngsters."

I hope you enjoyed your virtual field trip to Beverley's finest flower shop!

In Part 2 Karen will be talking about her required schooling to become a florist, and her many accomplishments including the ICSF (Intermediate Certificate of the Society Of Floristry) ,NDSF ( National Diploma of the Society of Floristry) and providing flowers for the Queen!

Karen is available to answer any questions or read comments you may have about her shop, her town or if she would like a few house guests! (just kidding)
Please leave a comment or question and we will get back to you right away. You can also follow Karen on twitter at GlamFlowers