Janet Edwards, Janet Edwards London Ltd

Janet Edwards spent over 18 years working as a PA to a Director in the London Borough of Lambeth. Her interest in floristry started prior to her being made redundant in February 2008. She had developed her skills from a hobby to taking a City & Guilds qualification at Southwark College and working on a voluntary basis one day per week in a florist in East Dulwich and also taking a stall at Elephant and Castle market.

Following her redundancy Janet decided to open her own shop in South Norwood, where she traded until 2010. She undertook Weddings Intermediate and Modern Pedestal courses to improve her skills and moved into new premises in Brixton in autumn 2010. Janet Edwards London Ltd is still the only florist in Brixton and this year was nominated for a Lambeth Business Award for "Best Customer Care".

Janet wants to develop the ‘function’ side of her business (weddings, funerals and corporate work) as well as to improve the sales from the shop by putting a display outside on the pavement. In order to achieve this she needs a Council licence, an awning and some barriers to place on each side. The loan request also includes the installation of a new sink, membership of BNI, and some transactional functionality for her website.

Income has improved since Janet moved to Brixton and the shop is very near to the Lambeth Council offices where Janet knows many people. Even in times of local government cutbacks Janet hopes to pick up some of the corporate work that may be going and trade from the local offices.