which I know is still part of the magazine’s philosophy.” But it worked both ways…


customers in those days were equally courteous. “I still remember the fi rst funeral tribute I made. An upright wreath on mossed frame. It cost two guineas and they wrote me a beautiful thank you note which I still have!” Jayne also became a member


of Interfl ora. “I thought the idea of being able to deliver fl owers for personal clients all around the UK, indeed world, was brilliant and became secretary of District 1. However one meeting was particularly memorable because I fell asleep. I’d been on market and simply couldn’t keep my eyes open. They had a good chuckle but it was all very friendly in those days.” But it wasn’t just because she’d


Jayne in 1951 on the cover of the magazine she went on to take over, The Florist


“Customers were always Sir or Madam to their face whatever you thought of them behind their back!”


on a budget could see we had something for them as well.” The rest of the time though


promotion was down to word of mouth and strong window display. “If I say it myself, our windows were good. Trudi and I spent a lot of time dressing them and they were always visible. Most fl orists pulled the blinds down when they closed... we made sure our windows were


70 F&wb Spring 2013


always lit up, day and night.” Oh yes and supreme levels


of customer service. “I had to teach Trudi how to talk to the customers… as a Land Girl she was more used to talking to cows. But it made such a diff erence. Customers were always Sir or Madam whatever you thought of them behind their back… something I instilled in Caroline and Marcus and


been up early that she snoozed off . Jayne was also heavily pregnant with Caroline and a typical day was get up at four, have a cup of coff ee, be collected by the driver, go to market, have another cup of coff ee, be sick, do the buying and go back to the shop for a day of work. Because Jayne was an indomitable character, and a little thing like being pregnant wasn’t going to stop her. “It was tough but not impossible. Anyway you just had to get on with it because the orders were always for something special.” And that’s why she loved


having a shop so much. “All the customers were there for a good reason. Be it happiness, love, excitement of a wedding, joy of a birth, sadness at a funeral. I could respond to the emotions and it made me realise how lucky I was to work with a product that meant so much to people. That’s why I wanted to make everything so well, because it mattered so much to both giver and receiver.” But while Jayne loved retailing, the arrival of son, Marcus, made even her indomitable spirit


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