Much-loved Black Country flower business ready to celebrate 40th anniversary

Flowercraft in Chapel Ash in Wolverhampton will celebrate 40 years of serving customers from across the city and surrounding area and providing them with high quality products and a friendly welcome.

The business was founded on October 6, 1983 by Julie Daly and is a third-generation family shop - her daughter Nichola McColl works in the shop and three-year-old granddaughter Millie McColl helps out.

Ms McColl is the current manager of the shop and the 31-year-old said her 58-year-old mother had worked hard to build a good reputation over the last 40 years, with customers appreciating the good customer service.

She said: "My mum started this business 40 years ago when she was 18 and I think what has kept people coming back has been the customer service as we get customers who keep coming back.

"We also get customers who come in and say how they remember me when I was in a pram, and they have never left us.

"It makes me really proud to be part of this shop and of my mum as she's done so much to get it to this point and it's been great to see it grow through the time I've been here."

Ms McColl said the quality of the products produced by the shop played a big part in the return custom, with a lot of specialised works included.

She said: "We do flowers and plants and we also do a lot of hampers, gifts, chocolates, candles and wine and we do a lot for funerals and other events and celebrations.

"You can ask for anything and we'll try to make it for you, so such as postboxes, beer glasses, spanners and dart boards."

The family feeling in the shop has gone from mother to daughter twice as Ms McColl's daughter Millie has been part of the shop since her birth before the Covid-19 pandemic.

She said: "She was born in the February before the pandemic, so she did spend a lot of time with me at work because we couldn't open the doors and could only serve people online and over the phone.

"There was plenty of space for her to be in the shop and as she's been growing up, she's loved playing in the flower shop and makes little posies at the shop."

Looking to the future, Ms McColl said she hoped to still have the shop in 40 years' time. She thought back to when her mum had first opened it and reflected on the changing times.

She said: "I would love to still be here in 40 years and still doing this, but it's hard to think about as I look back to when mum started the shop and you realise that the internet wasn't a thing and everything seemed to be done on the phone.

"These days, orders just come in on the internet as we're part of Interflora, but all that time ago, people had to come in to order or make a phone call, so it's hard to imagine what technology there will be in 40 years time to make things different.

"We still get a lot of people coming in to see us though, especially during Covid when we were able to open up as people loved being able to come and see us and it was dwindling before, but I think people have realised the importance of seeing people."

The shop will be celebrating 40 years with a party on Friday, with the Mayor of Wolverhampton Dr Michael Hardacre coming along to start things off at 10am.

Ms McColl said it was a real achievement to have the mayor helping them celebrate an important anniversary of a place she calls home.

She said: "To me, it just feels like home and doesn't feel like I'm going to work as I'm here every day with my mum.

"It's just lovely because it never feels like I don't want to go to work because it just feels like where we belong."