Member Article

Businesswoman’s flower firm blossoms with help from Sheffield Enterprise Agency

Businesswoman Tracey Campbell’s flower firm has expanded from a one-woman start-up to a budding enterprise with help from Sheffield Enterprise Agency (SENTA).

Tracey’s business has grown from a one-woman start-up to employing the staff who designed the flowers, bouquets and buttonholes for Jessica Ennis-Hill’s Olympic homecoming in Sheffield.

Campbell’s Flowers, which specialises in vintage and seasonal flowers and is based on Hunter House Road in Sheffield, also won the Best Wedding Florist category for the region in the Wedding Industry Awards 2014.

Tracey said: “I worked in marketing and advertising for 15 years before deciding on a change in career.”

“I’ve always been a very keen gardener so I decided to study forestry. I then also got a PGCE and taught at colleges in Doncaster and Rotherham before working for various florists in Sheffield.

“When my children got to an age where they were more self-sufficient, I thought about giving my own business a go – I knew for it to be a success I would have to dedicate every ounce of energy to it and wanted to wait until the kids were grown up enough.”

When she first branched out, the 54-year-old mum of two turned to SENTA for practical start-up support.

“My advisor at SENTA was fantastic, she was a great ‘go-to’ person for any ideas and queries.

“The start-up support in the early days was brilliant because SENTA helped with all of those practicalities you don’t know about as an entrepreneur just starting out, like setting up a pay roll system or registering for tax.

“Their mentor system was invaluable, too, and really helped me in the first couple of years of my business. More recently I’ve enjoyed being a mentor myself for other SENTA start-ups, too – it’s good to be able to give something back.

“Looking ahead, I want to continue to build the business further and increase revenue. I have three employees but two are part-time so I’d like to be able to make those roles full-time and just continue to grow.”

Paul Tinsley, SENTA enterprise manager, said: “Campbell’s Flowers is a thriving city business and a great example of how we can help entrepreneurs in the early days – combining their passion, commitment and creative flair with the nuts and bolts business know-how of SENTA.”

Sheffield Enterprise Agency (SENTA) provides support to the city region’s entrepreneurs and start-ups and has contributed £32 million to the city economy as a result. To date, the agency - which was incorporated into Sheffield Chamber in 2002 - has assisted more than 8,500 new businesses, creating more than 5,500 local jobs.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Clare Burnett .