Although I hadn’t the foggiest who they were until I’d done my judging (Emily kept everything incredibly secret!) I wasn’t surprised to find all three finalists in the recent Wedding Industry Awards were in our Good Florist Guide.  Because it’s fair to say that florists who’ve gone to the effort of applying for GFG accreditation are not just better in terms of self-promotion but consistently show themselves to have the better shops.

But we’ve decided that we’re going to expand GFG out.  Because the reality is having a shop on a street somewhere is no longer the benchmark of what defines a florist.  In fact, if I am brutally honest, there are businesses out there who have no shop window but do far better work than some ‘proper’ shops … after all the ghastly bouquet below came from a florist shops that descibes themselves as a designer florist!!! 

Now some may curl their lips and stick pins in my picture at the thought that I could possibly credit a person who runs a business from a workshop or a home based studio or even (at this point she ducks!) a supermarket.

The truth is, I’ve learned the hard way, from testing an awful lot of florists, that where the work is done is no barometer of excellence and if I am going to have a credible brand that I can quote as being the sign of quality for consumers I need to move with the times.

My belief is that GFG will always be dominated by independent, shop based florists simply because they can do the whole gamut of designs and services.  However on the basis GFG is about helping consumers choose a business that will hopefully give them an above average flower buying so they want to buy flowers again and again, I can’t preclude anyone.  

Because I am far more concerned about promoting the best our industry offers; not being protective of florists who let the side down and think it’s OK just because they have a shop window.