The British Florist Association has been an established organisation for over 50 years with roots dating back to 1917 starting with the British Floral Marketing Association but, was officially founded in 1948.

They are a non governmental association so rely on membership subscriptions for funding and holding events up and down the country. It doesn’t stop there though, they are also recognised by the EU and have become a major part of floristry in Britain.

The Vision event was first held in 2015 but is already a big hit in the floristry industry as it brings people of the trade together and gives them information that they can apply to their businesses. The event includes talks and business workshops with a dinner and complimentary cocktails for the members that stayed for the whole weekend.

The overall feel of the occasion was a glamourous one, not to mention the picturesque setting of the venue and beautiful weather giving the occasion a positive vibe. This gave florists and floral companies a great opportunity to meet people, mingle and gain vital information for their business.

There were many talks each with there own twist making the event very enjoyable and equally as interesting. From the likes of Jonas Zwitzerlood, the social media guru, who gave advice on communicating with your customer base in the new digital world to Tim Huckabee the president of Floral Strategies, that discussed customer services and easy staff management. Helen Goodwin then gave tips and tricks on window displays and the best way to entice potential customers to your shop. There was also John Young a speaker from the Bank of England who gave an insight into financial matters and the effect of Brexit on the industry, who delivered his talk in a light hearted and humorous way.

Our Creative Development Manager and experienced florist, Tracy Rowbottom, was the allocated team member to visit this years Vision event, here’s what she had to say:

“For me the best thing by far was the sense of community and the positivity of the industry, it is a tough industry both physically and trading wise but florists are passionate about what they do and it is great to see everyone pulling together and enjoying one another’s company.”