From large multiples, huge independents and small family businesses; each chapter of my career has taught me something valuable.

I’ve learned something from everywhere I’ve worked, and after spending 20 years doing so, I went into business on my own.

After 15 years, ‘The Plant Man’ (www.theplantman.net) has now matured with a great team behind it.

We do things our own way, and we do it well. When it comes to selling plants, our philosophy is to provide exceptional quality and great value.

But most importantly, a service which keeps customers coming back. Our reviews on Google and Facebook speak for themselves.

The following quotes will say it better than I can…..

‘It takes months to find a customer, seconds to lose one’

‘Customer service should not be a department. It should be the whole Company’

‘Although your customers won’t love you if you give bad service, your competitors will’

I left school at 15 with a handful of GCSE’s, an early interest in plants and lots of energy. I spent 2 years learning ‘on the job’ with the YTS scheme from the 1990’s, followed by a Diploma in Business and Horticultural Marketing.

I passed the exams…..but learned very little about the industry or about plants. 35 years experience has done that.

I’m not an academic. I’m not a boffin. No A levels, no degrees. Good with numbers, a very good knowledge of plants, common sense and a willingness to try new things. And a business of my own to prove that it works.

I’ve failed. Happy to admit it. Not every idea works….that’s life! So I’ve kept trying new ones….and my own business continues to go from strength to strength, with a brilliant team behind it.

‘Take risks. Failure is a stepping stone to success’