Retail Business of the Year 2017

Start-up name: Bloom & Wild
Founders: Aron Gelbard and Ben Stanway
Started in: 2013
Based in: London
Business description: A ‘flowers through the letterbox’ subscription service

In an age of ever-increasing consumer convenience, it didn’t take long for an enterprising duo to realise the UK floristry market was beginning to look a little wilted.

2017 Young Gun Aron Gelbard and Ben Stanway decided to do something about it with their flowers through the letterbox subscription service Bloom & Wild.

Four years later, this conscientious, consumer-focused, e-commerce operation has won Retail Business of the Year at the Startups Awards 2017, after picking up the award for Commended business in the same category at the Startups Awards 2016.

You might be thinking that pushing a bouquet through a letterbox will knock all the petals off, surely? Well, not with Bloom & Wild’s protective netting and bespoke presentation boxes. What’s more, the flowers are delivered in bud so they last longer in the vase – blooming for seven days or more.

The company offers flowers for a variety of occasions including weddings, birthdays, commiserations and even Christmas. Customers can opt for a one-off bunch or a range of subscriptions at variable frequencies. And as the use of smartphones for shopping continues to grow, Bloom & Wild is at the forefront of consumer trends with 70% of its traffic coming via its mobile app.

To avoid unnecessary waste, Bloom & Wild also uses predictive analytics to source only the flowers it will use, and its packing is all recycled and recyclable.

Having cemented its position in the UK market and started to blossom in the Republic of Ireland, the company is already looking to expand across Europe in early 2018, with its sights set on France and Germany.

Highly Commended in the Retail Business of the Year category for 2017 was premium British men’s loafer brand Duke & Dexter, while Craft Clubs, the gin subscription service, took home the trophy for Commended Retail Business of the Year.