Building Something Delicate While Moving Through Chaos

The future of Britain's sustainable flower industry.

Words and photography by Rose Brookfield.

Flowers are not merely objects of beauty, they are social tools used to signify adoration, regret, grief, pride and even status. They are not, Stu Fenwick, florist, and founder of Bria Studio, assures me, ‘luxury’ items. Yet, when we purchase a bouquet, how often do we stop to consider the journey each individual stem has taken to charm our interiors for only a week?

In 2024, the UK flower industry turned approximately £1.7 billion in profit. Unbeknownst to most consumers, the majority of those flowers were imported from the Netherlands and places even further afield, like Ecuador, Kenya, and Brazil. These imported stems carry large carbon footprints and have been subject to intensive growing methods that include the use of harmful herbicides, pesticides, insecticides, and fertilisers.