Mark Welford and Stephen Wicks are ex-ballet dancers who decided when they hung up their ballet slippers to open a flower shop. Judi Herman went along to meet them.
From left - Mark, Sarah and Stephen |
Mark and Stephen met when they were 11 years old at the Royal Ballet School in Richmond Park. They were both bullied at school because of the ballet, and this common experience drew them together. They cemented their friendship some years later when they joined the same ballet company. When they were both approaching thirty and their sell-by date as dancers was fast approaching, they decided to do something together. They considered opening a restaurant, but the prospect was too daunting, so they decided on a flower shop.
They're quite different in their working styles. "Stephen will happily throw together a wonderful minimalist arrangement with three strands of grass and a leaf and it will look fantastic".
Mark married Sarah in 1994, and the duet became a trio as all three became very close. The three of them spend a great deal of time together, not just in the shop but at weekends too.
Mark and Stephen realise how lucky they are to have gone from one career that they loved into another which they love just as much. Their rapport and friendship has much to do with it. Sarah says "They really are scales - they balance each other very well".
There are parallels between the world of ballet and the world of flowers "It's very much a performance when you're talking to a customer, especially if you're trying to get a bit job you really have to perform. You've got to sell the product". Sometimes having to complete a flower display very quickly brings a rush of adrenaline similar to dancing. The standing around trying to look elegant is also common to both!
The feedback is gratifyingly instant with flowers. "Sometimes as a performer you would do a performance in the evening and go home and nobody would say a word about how you had done. Whereas with flowers you go into an empty space, you create something and people come in and go 'wow', so there's instant feedback. That's what's lovely about it".
