The growth of home working thanks to the coronavirus pandemic is resulting in businesses of all sizes using flowers to stay in touch with their employees.
Whether it’s marking birthdays, thanking employees for long-service, celebrating successes or just to say hello, local florists across the Direct2florist network are reporting increases in corporate flower sending.
This news comes as employers expect the number of staff working from home in the future to double in comparison to pre-pandemic levels, despite government plans to start getting office staff back into workplaces.
Almost two in five (37 per cent) employees will be working from home on a regular basis once the crisis is over, according to employer predictions made as part of CIPD research, compared to just a fifth (18 per cent) who did so before lockdown. Additionally, businesses expected the proportion of staff working from home all the time to increase from 9 per cent before the pandemic to 22 per cent.
“Corporate flower sending has always been popular, but we’re now seeing an increase in the number of occasions when organisations are turning to flowers to mark special occasions or send individual messages,” explains Simon Stirling, managing director of Direct2florist.
“With team members working from home it can be hard for businesses to keep in touch or to mark birthdays, celebrate maternity leave and so on. You can’t all gather in the kitchen and share a birthday cake in these strange times, so businesses are turning to flowers and their personalised message cards.”
This rise in corporate flowers for special occasions is providing a welcome boost to florists who have had a tough year due to the obvious impact of coronavirus and the ongoing struggles of high streets up and down the country.
“As is the case with so many businesses, this year has been tough for independent florists, especially with demand for wedding flowers dropping off a cliff,” explains Simon. “However, business is coming back, albeit in different ways. The rise in corporate flower orders is a good example that is providing a welcome lifeline to local businesses.”
Direct2florist is committed to helping local independent florists survive the current difficulties of the coronavirus pandemic by connecting flower senders with a network of independent florists. Same day delivery is available on all orders placed before 2pm or customers can specify a future day delivery of their choice.