Busy Florist with Two Shops

An excellent opportunity to acquire La Collina Gardens, a long-established and highly regarded independent florist with two well-positioned shops in St Leonards-on-Sea and Bexhill-on-Sea.

Established in 1980, the business has been operated by the same couple for 46 years and has built an outstanding reputation for quality, service and reliability.  The business benefits from a substantial base of repeat retail customers together with online and telephone orders, walk-in trade, local deliveries and an established portfolio of corporate customers.

Corporate clients include a number of established funeral homes, hotels, restaurants, schools and other local organisations, providing a valuable and diverse income stream in addition to the retail business.

The owners are now offering the business for sale due to retirement.  There is an experienced and established team already in place, meaning the business is not dependent upon the day-to-day involvement of the current owners and offers an incoming purchaser the opportunity to acquire a genuine turnkey operation.

The vendors are prepared to provide a full handover to the purchaser to ensure a smooth transition and to introduce the new owner to key suppliers, customers and established business relationships where appropriate.

Location

The business operates from two prominent town-centre locations in St Leonards-on-Sea and Bexhill-on-Sea, both benefiting from good levels of pedestrian footfall and established surrounding retail and residential communities.

The St Leonards shop is located at 13 Norman Road, St Leonards-on-Sea, TN37 6NH, in the heart of the popular and increasingly fashionable St Leonards area.  Norman Road is well known for its independent shops, cafés, restaurants and other businesses and provides an attractive trading environment for an independent florist.

The Bexhill shop is located at 18 St Leonards Road, Bexhill-on-Sea, TN40 1HN, occupying a convenient town-centre position with good levels of pedestrian traffic.

Both locations provide strong visibility and accessibility and are well placed to serve local retail customers together with the wider delivery area.

Business

La Collina Gardens has been established since 1980 and has been operated by the current proprietors for many years.

The business has developed an excellent reputation and benefits from a loyal customer base, with trade generated through:

·         Walk-in retail customers

·         Telephone orders

·         Online orders

·         Local deliveries

·         Funeral work

·         Corporate customers

·         Weddings and events

·         Plant and gift sales

The business offers a wide range of services including bespoke bouquets, hand-tied flowers, floral gifts, funeral tributes, wedding and event flowers, house plants and seasonal garden plants.

There is a local delivery service, with deliveries available Monday to Saturday across Hastings, Bexhill, St Leonards and surrounding areas.  The existing corporate customer base is an important feature of the business and includes several large funeral homes together with hotels, restaurants, schools and other organisations.