The famous song by Pete Seeger, so relevant in today’s political climate with the devastation in Ukraine, echoes in the background and in our minds.
Where have all the flowers gone, long time passing? Where have all the flowers gone, long time ago? Where have all the flowers gone? Young girls picked them everyone. When will they ever learn? When will they ever learn?
Flowers form part of our lives; English gardens, featuring plants, bulbs, and shrubs, are famous worldwide. The British delight in weekend shopping at local garden centres as a day out. Gardening for many is a national pastime.
Floristry and Brexit
The floristry industry on the surface is one that would seem to have a focus on goods rather than services providers, but in fact, this industry is quite hybrid. Akin to many other sectors, the damages caused to the industry by the new terms of the Brexit trade and cooperation agreement are to some extent masked by the Covid pandemic, which has made a serious negative impact on the entertainment and wedding industry, which are large markets for floristry services. This is despite the increased demand for flowers and plant products during the pandemic lockdowns.
The British Floristry Association (BFA) cited the UK’s Defra department in the run-up to the end of the Brexit transition:
“A Defra spokesperson said: We are working closely with the horticulture industry to ensure they can take advantage of the opportunities leaving the EU brings, and overall businesses are adjusting well to the new rules.“
(Hills, ITV)
This is a sweeping statement that brushes the real impact on the industry under the carpet: responding and adjusting well or perhaps just gone.
Most of the flowers bought in the UK are imported from the European Union (EU). To avoid tariffs those flowers need to be grown in the EU (or the UK) but most varieties are not.
A rose without a Rosa
Helen Mitchell (Magnolia of Tring) (Hills) warned of 10% extra costs. She could not afford to not pass on the extra charge to her clients, a blow which was sad for everyone but as Mitchell explained: “You can’t just take that on the chin.”
Other florists simply shut up shop completely and these are by no means isolated case studies; one of whom was Rosa Ashby from Oxfordshire, who ran a florist and floristry services business called Flowers by Rosa, the central product of which features roses, a pun on her name itself. Rosa gave a presentation in the run-up to transition end for Oxford for Europe at a seminar (4 Oct 2018).
Rosa Ashby moved to Oxford from Northern Ireland, where she had lived through the Troubles in her former professional role as a social worker. Rosa ran her floristry business for 21 years. The damage was already done to her business after the referendum where she saw a 20% price increase in flowers due to the fall of the pound and this made it harder for her, like many smaller florists, to fend off competition from supermarkets.
Vote Leave supporters, who were also among her clientele, argued that she should buy her supplies from the UK. This simply was not possible. Rosa used roses, lisianthus, and oriental lilies in her creations, which she could not source from the UK. Due to Brexit uncertainty, it was impossible for Rosa to give customers quotes for events in the future such as weddings.
Flowers in Wales
Rosa‘s concerns are echoed by florists in Wales.
“The flower industry is really struggling… it’s because of Brexit.”
Florists say the flower and gardening industry often gets overlooked but that it has been substantially damaged by Brexit, particularly due to an increase in product costs and import fees. Not only have flowers gone up in price, but also supporting products such as plant pots and wrappings.
Manager of Flowers by Sian in Morriston, Swansea, Sian Evans explained:
“It isn’t just fresh flowers, there are price rises across the board, with sundries, including floral foam, wrapping, ribbon, glassware, not to mention the huge increase of silk or faux flowers – another huge jump in price.”
Ribbons went up 30% in price.
Therefore, fewer customers buy locally. Higher costs and fewer sales ultimately mean many are seeing a significant decrease in profits. The supermarkets bear the costs, the family businesses do not. ( Dowrick, 2022)
To the uninitiated, the rising cost of energy and its impact on flowers comes as another nasty surprise:
“With energy prices, a lot of growers will now ‘cold grow’ which sounds okay, but it’s not. The price stays around the same, but the size of the bloom is massively affected, taking more flowers to create the same pieces of work, again pushing the prices up. It’s a no-win situation. “
Chrysanthemums, for instance, have almost doubled in price, and lisianthus is another that has rocketed. There is little point in buying it as it becomes too expensive to sell on (Dowrick, 2022)
Services gone and the community spirit of the florist
Small florist shops are not a big business, as Rosa explained, but get to know their clients well: they play a role in events, both happy and sad, for families such as weddings and funerals. Unlike an anonymous supermarket or a retailed online, they get to know their clients personally. That personal touch will be gone from the industry.
Rosa shared some staggering statistics. Between the referendum result in 2016 and May 2018, 1900 florists shut up shop. Between May to October 2018 more floristry businesses closed.
It takes time to train as a florist. Yes, customers can buy flowers from a supermarket but its not the same…
Rosa’s Dutch suppliers were not happy either. The Dutch have great quality produce and a well-experienced industry. Why should a florist seek supplies from the UK when the knowledge and expertise was readily available in Holland, plus its supporting infrastructure and logistics (minus Brexit-induced red tape). No one could give Rosa the answers she needed. Her MP never came to hear her speak despite receiving an invitation.
Financial impact
Floristry specialists told another story to Defra and explain the practices of their industry. Joe Hills of ITV reported on the negative impact of Brexit on floristry.
Tom Brown Flowers purchases its supplies at auction in the Netherlands; the famous red roses are originally from Ecuador, the yellow roses are from Ethiopia, the hydrangeas and carnations are from Columbia, and the foliage is from Costa Rica.
The BFA reports that the UK imports 80% of its flowers and around 70% of its plants through the Netherlands. This makes it one of the most important export markets for the Dutch horticultural sector. In 2017, approximately 14% of the total Dutch export of flowers and plants, €837mn, crossed the Channel and it’s this trade that is vital to maintain a sustainable supply to our florist businesses and the consumer alike.
The UK government began levying tariffs on cut flowers at the beginning of 2021. As a result, these flowers are now taxed, adding 8% to the price, something which finance director, John Davidson, had not expected:
“I wasn’t expecting tariffs, to be honest … I think originally we thought thought this was a zero-tariff, bi-lateral [Brexit] deal. It’s not. It doesn’t feel like a free-trade deal.”
Extra costs send many florists into free fall to economic hardship, as we will explore in one of our case studies.
The weeds of red tape: phytosanitary certification
It’s business as usual for florists based in Northern Ireland. However, the rest of the country faces red tape. Nigel Jenny of the Fresh Produce Consortium (Joe Hills) described the mountains of red tape as highly damaging.
“Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) has adopted a phased approach to plant health controls for plants and plant products imported from the European Union (EU). This phased approach started in January 2021 and will end in July 2022.”
(gov.uk)
You can see the list of requirements below:
- phytosanitary certificates – documents issued in the country of origin that prove the consignment is biosecure
- pre-notification – you must give the responsible authority advance notice each time you import regulated plants and plant products from the EU to Great Britain
- document checks – an inspector examines official certifications and documents (these take place away from the border)
- identity checks – an inspector confirms that the content and labelling of the goods match the information provided in certifications and documents
- physical checks – an inspector checks the health of the plants, the consignment’s packaging, means of transport and labelling and will help you with any other tests you may need
All cut flowers imported from the EU require a phytosanitary certificate and inspection by a government official for pests and diseases, adding extra costs; Dutch suppliers warned of delivery delays to the UK by an extra day at least. The flower industry works at a lightning pace, as florist Rachel Husband explained in her detailed account of the supply chain for her SW Devon floristry business. People talk about delays to the fish supply, in which thousands of pounds worth of supplies, go to waste but floristry is on par in terms of timing, especially where a florist supplies products and services for a large event, such as a wedding … explains in her blog.
Jane Adams, wholesale florist in Hertfordshire, supplies around 40 local shops. Jon Adams, the owner, told Hills “costs keep going up and up and up and it makes it more and more difficult for small businesses to survive. You hear about fishermen who can’t get their langoustines out to Spain when they catch it in Scotland, well, it’s just as difficult for us bringing stuff in. Our flowers are highly perishable and we are really reliant on imported flowers in the UK.”
Rachel Husband said:
“I work on huge weddings where I can buy thousands of pounds worth of fresh flowers, where myself and the team need a few days to work through in order to create our amazing weddings. If stock is delayed by a day because of checks, then this will hugely inconvenience us. We only have a set amount of time to fulfil our wedding work, and I am so experienced in buying my stock on the correct days. In May when the peonies take longer to open, we buy on a Tuesday so they are open for a Saturday wedding. I’ll buy flowers with a shorter life such as stocks, on a Thursday so they are ready to be used that day in the wedding work and still look at their optimum beauty for a Saturday wedding.”
Thie certification process will add cost and some Dutch suppliers warned of delayed delivery to the UK by an extra day. The average flower stem has a shelf life of ten days.
The floristry industry demanded that the UK government delayed the introduction of phytosanitary checks on imports at the border until it would be possible to submit forms online. And it predicts the following disruption if the plans don’t change.
Nigel Jenney, CEO of the Fresh Produce Consortium said:
“If the government doesn’t offer an effective (IT) system with the opportunity for traders to prepare, there will inevitably be delays, there will likely be shortages and, frankly, in simple terms, it will become a car crash.”
The Fresh Produce Consortium estimates that the new customs rules and tariffs, post-Brexit, will add £100 million to the cost of importing cut flowers into the UK.
Feedback from its members suggests the wholesale price of stems in the UK is set to rise by between 5% and 10%.
Creative services and exports
The BFA in its Position Paper: January 2018 voiced concerns about staffing and services.
“UK florists not only make key events in our lives more memorable or easy to bear, they also take their skill and creativity around the world. “
To ensure that florists can continue to work in the EU. was a big ask of the TCA…As far as CBS knows, an artistic florist would not be included in the exempted professions in the TCA, such as engineering. Flower power, it seems, is not required for business.
Flowers are a serious business and art
Floristry is a serious business and art. The problems artists face to import works to exhibitions is well documented. Many of the talented floral artists are based in Europe. What happens if British clients wish to use their services and vice versa, if a British florist wishes to work in the EEA?
Notwithstanding that many of the bilateral agreements Britain enjoyed worldwide intercontinentally went up in smoke after Brexit.
Employees and consultants
On a similar note, European workers used to come to Britain to pick fruit and products which is no longer easy. The BFA has concerns:
“Non-UK nationals from EU Member States are employed across the industry at different levels. The industry needs assurances that the UK will continue to be able to access the EU labour market, and provide confidence to non-UK workers to remain in the UK long-term.
“Without the recruitment of staff from Poland and elsewhere in Eastern Europe, business growth would have been very much slower and smaller. Most UK employers in horticulture and farming have a positive perspective on immigration. Immigrants are ready to accept outdoor work and unsocial working hours. This has enabled businesses to thrive, helped economic growth, and increased the government’s tax revenues. Many of our flower growers in Lincolnshire use EU citizens for the summer season.
“We need to ensure a stable workforce with labour from other EU member states and all sectors of horticulture and flower growing, harvesting etc in the UK. (BFA position on Brexit, 2018) “
Concerns from Wales
There is a labour shortage and that crisis started to bite British suppliers. Gower Fresh Christmas Trees and Rhossili Sunflowers in Wales have both struggled to have enough staff. He said:
“We employed a lot of foreign people, they have a great work ethic. These people want to work. Covid and Brexit has created a lazy workforce in the UK, people are used to working from home and don’t want to work out in the cold. “ ( Dowrick, 2022)
Welsh businesses are seeing mostly negatives from leaving the EU.
“It’s not us putting the prices up, it’s Brexit.”
Audio for this article: sung by Sabine Munro and read by Yvonne Wancke
