Let's work together to solve problems

I confess I am cross at myself about the whole Bloom Local affair. Not because it happened … businesses fail and are relaunched for all sorts of reasons … but because I couldn't do more to warn the industry that there were issues and perhaps help more florists avoid potential non-payment.

Because, as reported in our News section, some 200 independent florists are now out of pocket and whilst I doubt any are facing ruin, collectively it’s circa £400k that may not be paid and that will undoubtedly have a knock-on effect. Maybe not huge in the general scheme of things but an unnecessary loss which could and should have been avoided.

I did what I could. I spoke with people to find out what exactly was happening, and I contacted Bloom Local to say I was concerned.  Like the florists chasing their money I was told all sorts of things/reasons as well as receiving an email telling me to stop meddling and know the boundaries of decency.

Sorry! When I hear of hard-working florists not being paid in large numbers, as a trade magazine with the biggest UK readership, I think the decent thing to do was precisely try and find out what was happening and report/act accordingly!  

However, despite reaching out to everyone and anyone I could think of to see if anything could be done not a lot happened and so it continued.

And that both worries me and, I think, needs to be addressed.  Because not only could something like this happen again but there is a whole lot of other garbage going on in our sector and too many florists - many desperate for revenue given how slow trade is – who are making it possible for companies to profiteer from their hard work.

No way would I ever want to get into witch hunts or negative comment just for the hell of it but, if there is clear evidence of either wrongdoing or risk then there needs to be a mechanism that can deal with it and get it out to the industry at large.

I will always do anything I can to protect florists, but it is not a one (albeit loud!) woman job. It needs a joined-up approach and I for one would be more than happy to be part of it.