Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1100407
04.04.19 11 INTERVIEW is the operational structure. When it was still new, our company had opened oth- er shops in Birmingham and Lancashire. I shut these down in 2006, and we moved away from physical expansion onto an online model. After that, we starting grow- ing massively, year or year, and are now the fifth-largest flower company globally. We also de- veloped a really high customer retention rate. When I first started with the company, sometimes I would deliver flowers myself, person- ally. It's not just a managing role for me; I have to look at all levels of the business. I believe you should never be afraid of doing the nitty gritty work – you could gain a lot of knowledge! What is the biggest factor behind your high retention rate? ere are two key factors be- hind this: having a good prod- uct and looking after our cus- tomers. Before being sold, all flowers undergo a quality-control pro- cess. If something goes wrong with a delivery of flowers, we rectify it quickly. ere is no point cutting corners here. For example, if a delivery is late, customers contact us, they get a quick reply from customer service, and they receive a re- fund. In 2012, we got rid of all tele- phone customer service lines and shifted completely to an online troubleshooting page, where our customers can tell us what is wrong and upload an image if they want. Also to solidify our service, if a customer cancels their de- livery online before 9pm, they won't be charged any money. Why did you choose to base Serenata Flowers in Malta? Although our company was born in London, this is a very expensive city when it comes to paying IT staff. Office space costs are also high. In Malta, these expenses are less steep, which is why we have been here for the past four and a half years. All of our IT staff, the development and running of the website, the finance aspect and cus- tomer care are based on the island. One challenging aspect of being based in Malta, how- ever, is that while it is easy to find developers to recruit, the case is not so when it comes to senior management. is is because the majority of these people prefer to work in the gaming industry. Another challenge is that while Malta offers a flat 15% income tax scheme for highly qualified foreign persons who work in a company licensed by the Malta Financial Services Authority, this obviously does not apply to our industry. Flowers can be expensive. What are you doing to make them more affordable? When we started out, we were targeting the high-end market. But when the recession hit in 2007, we were very quick to adapt to the new reality. We started pricing most of our bouquets at £19.99, so we had something for everyone. Our customers feel that they get what they pay for, and for three consecutive years we were awarded the Gold Trust- ed Service Award from Feefo, an independent rating service that recognises businesses for the exceptional customer ex- perience they deliver. Certain EU member states have been pushing for a ban on weed-killer glyphosate, although its use was renewed for five years in 2017. Would a ban on this herbicide affect you? It would not, since our grow- ers don't use glyphosate. When it comes to environ- mental considerations, the packaging we use is made of 90% recycled material and we collect all rain water from our warehouse to water the flow- ers. How is the flower business evolving and would you consider also expanding your delivery service to Malta? We are growing every year. For this year's Valentine's Day, for instance, we saw a 15% increase in sale compared to 2018. It would not make sense, un- fortunately, to expand deliver- ies to Malta, however, because the market is too small. Going full-on into a new market is very costly, so we are focusing on the markets at home, and we are still going strong in the UK. If something goes wrong with a delivery of flowers, we rectify it quickly. There is no point cutting corners here. For example, if a delivery is late, customers contact us, they get a quick reply from customer service, and they receive a refund