Victoria Bloom: Florist who started business in garage now has shops in Crieff and Fife

One woman’s passion for flowers led to her setting up flourishing business Victoria Bloom.

Behind the venture is 38-year-old Victoria Scott, whose first job aged 13 was in a florist.

She started in business for herself six years ago, working from her garage.

Now Victoria has shops in Crieff and St Andrews and a studio in Aberuthven.

She said: “I was always fascinated how flowers could create a masterpiece and the talent of all the florists I worked with.

“I stayed working part-time in florists whilst I went to university, then decided to go into recruitment for several years.

“However, on my days off you would find me in a florist helping.

“But it wasn’t until I was in my 30s when I started doing markets selling our handmade Christmas wreaths. I was so surprised how many we were selling. It gave me the confidence to then start freelancing for weddings in my spare time.

“I was getting busier and busier with weddings and inquiries about other events, so I decided to take the leap and start on my own.

“Now, six years on, we own a Crieff shop, my studio in Aberuthven which is our main hub for weddings and events, and our newest shop in St Andrews which we opened last July.”

Family involved in Victoria Bloom

The businesswoman said she has a fantastic team, and they include her mother Liz and Victoria’s fiancé Gary.

“My mum has been there from day one – I couldn’t have got to where we are now without her.

“Gary’s also been there from the start – he’s just left his job of 20 years to run the business with me.”

Victoria admits to having been apprehensive when the firm started trading.

“I remember the first week when we officially opened –  the phone didn’t ring, and nobody came into the shop.

“But I pushed through, advertised, got lots of products on social media. I also would create different creative window displays to catch people’s eye.  Slowly but surely my hard work paid off and we started getting customers through the door and over the phone.”

The businesswoman said the biggest achievements to date were the opening of the shop in St Andrews along with multiple awards.

“We were a British Flower Association finalist for retail florist of the year for the whole of the UK last year and we’ve just been awarded Scotland’s number one wedding florist of the year 2024 at the Scottish Wedding Awards in March – a huge accolade for us and a true testament to all the hard work.”

New branches to business as Covid hit

The arrival of Covid on these shores had a major impact on Victoria Bloom, but the business battled through.

Victoria explained: “We went from a full diary for the year to no weddings in the space of one month. It was very stressful.

“When we had to close, I had a day of sulking then thought: ‘Right. What are we allowed to do?

“We couldn’t get flowers from Holland initially, so I started contacting local flower  growers, initially using their flowers.

“We were allowed to deliver, so I contacted our funeral director clients to make them aware we would still provide them with our services but contactless.

“Once flowers were a little more readily available, I came up with an idea – VB Fridays, the brightest of bouquets for £30 with free delivery. Why not brighten everyone’s day up with some flowers as no one could visit anyone?

“It took off starting around 30/40 orders, but rapidly went to over 100 every Friday.

“The joy on people’s faces receiving their flowers and a card message from their loved ones was emotional but rewarding.

“We also didn’t have a website prior to Covid and as, everything was becoming so much more online, we had to act quickly and get a website launched. Now I don’t know what we would do without it.”

‘Perseverance, ambition and sheer determination’

The businesswoman said she loves creating large floral installations and florals for weddings and events.

“I’m in my element when I can be as creative as possible. I also love to learn new designs, – it keeps my portfolio fresh with ideas.”

Asked about the secret of her success, she replied: “Perseverance, ambition, and sheer determination.

“Owning your own business is a rollercoaster of emotions, but I’m very, very proud of what we have achieved so far.

“We’ve gone from starting in our garage to now owning two very busy shops and a studio.

“We’ve a fantastic team who hold the same passion about flowers as I do, and love growing with our business. We are an innovative florist, always full of ideas.

“We love creating unique designs and have the knowledge for small intimate events through to large installations. Every day is so different which makes our job really interesting and fun.”