Major Sleaford employer Interflora UK sold in £47m deal to US firm

Teleflora, the world’s largest floral services provider, announced on Monday it has acquired Interflora UK, a long-established and leading provider of floral services and products in the UK.

A major employer in Sleaford, all 250 staff at Interflora’s Watergate headquarters will remain, as before, employed as Interflora staff, although the company will be under new ownership, explained a a spokesman.

The deal is said to extend Teleflora’s international reach with both business models said to complement each another, connecting consumers with top florists for decades.

“We’ve been very impressed by the strength of Interflora’s brand in the UK, their management team, and their network of high-quality florists,” said Jeff Bennett, president of Teleflora. “We have complementary businesses, as Interflora prioritises their retail florists, and we’ve long held a strategy of putting our retail florists first.”

Teleflora taps into nearly 10,000 partner florists in North America alone. Teleflora’s network of professional florists create artistic arrangements personally delivered in a vase, often on the same day.

Interflora has been the UK’s most trusted name in flower delivery since 1923, with over 1,200 local Interflora florists across the UK and Ireland, to deliver flowers same day, or in as little as three hours. They also have Interflora florists around the globe delivering to over 130 countries, which made it the world’s largest and most experienced flower delivery network

Used throughout the company’s lifespan, the Mercury Man emblem is recognised worldwide and Interflora is one of the world’s most recognised brands.

Interflora has won gold medals at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show and has raised hundreds of thousands for Breast Cancer Care and will continue to raise more for new charity, Evergreen.