Business booms in business of blooms

With Lincolnshire said to account for more than a third of the land used in England for the production of bulbs and flowers, Mother's Day is big business for the county.

The point is illustrated by employment business Local Link Recruitment, in Wide Bargate, Boston, which supplies more than 200 workers each day to pick daffodils at flower farms and more than 280 factory workers to pack flowers and prepare professional bouquets in the run up to the big day.

Local Link Recruitment’s Operations Manager Jan Pawlikowski said: “Normally, we’re fairly quiet straight after Christmas, but this year the flower picking season started very early because of the mild weather.

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“Having to work outdoors in all weathers is challenging, but conditions are particularly favourable for pickers in Lincolnshire as we have large fields which yield an abundance of daffodils with long stems which make them easier to harvest than the short-stemmed varieties.”

Once the flowers are picked, they are taken to a packing factory where they are checked for quality and put into trays to be transported across the UK and Holland in time for Mother’s Day.

Although the UK as a whole has reportedly seen a decline over recent years in the cut flower industry, Local Link Recruitment says it is bucking the trend as the demand for workers has increased rather than decreased.

Communication and marketing manager Steve Buttery said: “In 2015 we had about 150 workers in flower factories on a daily basis but this year that figure has doubled to record levels.

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“It’s very challenging to recruit locally and provide so many workers, especially experienced and creative florists in such a short period of time.

“We are understandably proud that our customers can trust and rely on us to manage their supply of temporary staff during peak times and we have always delivered on our promises.”