It’s the distinctive scent of Christmas trees that hits you first, then the riot of colour as a market garden comes into view to reveal everything from wall-to-wall open lilies, potted orchids, “antique” roses, the last of the pink, blue and green hydrangeas and foliage in all its forms.
New Covent Garden Flower Market stands out from its fruit and vegetable counterpart as a centre for both trade and creativity, a world away from the pallets stacked high with fresh produce, busy forklifts and banter just on the other side of the railway line.
The businesses here are gearing up for their biggest trading period of the year, which stretches over Christmas, Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day over the coming months. However, the New Year will bring a key trading shift in the shape of the VAT tax hikes to 20 per cent, combining with the spate of cutbacks that are expected to form a “psychological barrier” to sales.
At the same time, the tenants’ association will continue to thrash out its ideas for the much-anticipated redevelopment of the market to put its stamp on plans as they begin to take shape.
The flower market turned over
£47 million last year, albeit falling from £52m the previous year in the face of the economic crisis and the pressure to not be seen to be spending on luxuries. The site is still home to 46 companies including wholesalers, contract florists and two flower schools, all hoping that the much-anticipated redevelopment of the market will act as a catalyst for something of a turnaround.
The trading environment is a competitive one, which has already seen so-called Flying Dutchmen - in many ways considered the equivalent of Tesco in the grocery market - taking business from the wholesale market by going direct to its customers and changing the dynamics of supply and demand forever.
Another blow came in the form of the supermarkets getting in on the flower category and hiking up price pressure. Only this month, Caroline Marshall Foster, spokesperson for the Flower & Plants Association, warned that low retail prices for flowers and plants are having an adverse impact on the floral industry and run the risk of turning flowers into nothing more than a commodity. “The insistence on keeping prices low is in danger of undoing all the good retailers have done in creating market interest and bringing flowers to the masses,” she says.
On top of this, the rise of cutbacks and the VAT tax increase is expected to make trading conditions trickier than ever.
Barry Porter, who heads Porters Foliage and sits on the tenants’ association, admits that the last 18 months have been “problematic” for traders. “The troughs seem to be longer and lower but there are periods when we are still busy, so it’s not Dante’s Inferno,” he says. “Saying that, if we turn on the lights in January we are losing money. Taking the VAT up to 20 per cent will make it easier for me to calculate how much money I’m losing. The impact might not be that bad but it’s a headline-grabbing thing, so it will affect us.”
But the traders at New Covent Garden Flower Market are a resilient bunch. The lease renewal process at the end of March saw few companies fail to renew their commitment to the market and in a sign that many still have faith in the flower trade, a number of businesses have been set up in the last 18 months and are still making a living on the market.
Boomerang Flowers opened on the market just over a year ago, specialising in English and Dutch flowers. Owner Jeff Edwards maintains that “if you can make it through a recession, you can make it through anything”, though he admits that trade has not always been easy. “I just got in here and worked hard,” he reasons. “We are working on getting more customers outside the market by delivering and we are working on getting a website up and running. I could have been shut in six months, but I’m still here.”
Another new firm is Global Nature, which opened on the market in the last year, as a direct importer specialising in tropical flowers mostly from South America.
But even some of the long-established firms are innovating to bring in new business wherever they can. Miles Morris, for one, introduced its own hand-tied bouquet service six weeks ago, using stock from the stand. Two florists have been hired to create the lines to order and the team is looking to set up a website at the end of the year. Bernard Elliot, who heads the firm, says the move represents a “new avenue” for the business. “It is a new direction and we were dubious at first,” he says. “We can come right under florists’ prices, at around £20 delivered,” he says. “We have built up to 150 bouquets a week now - we are aiming that at anyone and everyone and even florists buy them because they are so cheap and they save time. I think it’s going to make a difference to the business.”
Alongside the day-to-day activities, the traders are taking a longer-term approach to the market in their involvement with the proposals for the redevelopment of Nine Elms and the creation of The Garden at New Covent Garden Market.
The project will see the flower market join the fruit and vegetable wholesalers on the main site, in four new market buildings. The land that the flower market is on will be sold off to generate funds for the redevelopment project, as part of a plan that will completely change the face of the market as a whole.
But the devil is in the detail and the plans are being drawn up between the market authority and the three flower market representatives from the tenants’ association, who are fighting to make the blueprint practical while retaining the spirit of the existing flower market hall.
A series of meetings between the market authority and the tenants’ association is helping to forge a way through the redevelopment process and make sure that the traders’ needs are taken into consideration.
Porter is diplomatic about the redevelopment process even though a number of traders have raised concerns about the plans. “Let’s see what happens,” he says. “We are trying to make sure that the interests of the tenants are realised within the redevelopment.”
Also on the tenants’ association, Dave Knight from Quality Plants speaks for everyone when he stresses that the traders are keen to achieve a “usable market” through the redevelopment process. “We are in the best position to know what we need. I for one have been here for more than 20 years,” he says. “That’s what we are fighting for at the moment. It’s very, very important we get it right because we only get one crack at it. The plans we see are not practical. Sure, we are grateful but we would like to see more of what we have got here.”
The overarching strategy has been put together by the Covent Garden Market Authority (CGMA), in consultation with a number of bodies.
Helen Evans from CGMA explains that the market will tie in with the fresh produce offer to be “the focus for food and flowers in London” in the future. “There isn’t another flower market like this one; it’s iconic,” she says. “We want to maintain that point of difference, because the flower market has a national status.
“In a way, the flower market is a prime example of why the redevelopment is needed,” she argues. “Back in 1974, this market was state of the art because it was built with a translucent roof and the whole thing is temperature controlled. At the time, they didn’t foresee the way that the industry would change. Flowers used to come in dry-packed in boxes but today, they come in water. But there is no water in the hall and no drainage.
“The market is not fit for purpose. We know we can provide the same amount of trading space, we have a good idea of what their needs are and we are talking to customers as well. Hopefully, we will come to something that works for them.
“We are constantly trying to refresh the offer and position the market so that it is not just a place where you can buy flowers, but where you can be inspired, learn and network.
“We have an open dialogue with the tenants and it’s important to get footfall from customers, but some things we can do and some we cannot. We want to strengthen links with the supply side, starting with British growers because that is one of the unique selling points - you cannot get this stuff from the back of a van.
“The flower market has been in decline over the last 10 years but over the last three years or so, the decline has been nowhere near as big as expected,” she adds. “We have not seen the level of business failure that you might have expected and we are positive about the future.”
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