Freddie's Flowers raises almost £5m with 'flower bonds'

Freddie’s Flowers raises almost £5m from customers and investors by selling its first ‘flower bonds’

After a year of explosive growth, Freddie’s Flowers has raised almost £5m from customers and investors by selling its first ‘flower bonds’. 

The subscription and delivery firm had aimed to make £2m. But it raked in £4.8m from the six-week funding round, which closed last month. 

Backers include Keith Abel, head of the food group Abel & Cole, for whom Freddie’s Flowers founder Freddie Garland used to work. 

In full bloom: Freddie's Flowers, founded by Freddie Garland (pictured),  has been one of the so-called 'lockdown winners'

In full bloom: Freddie’s Flowers, founded by Freddie Garland (pictured),  has been one of the so-called ‘lockdown winners’

Investors had to put in £2,500 – but more than 50 committed at least £25,000. The four-year flower bond offers twice-yearly cash payments worth 5 per cent of their investment or regular boxes of flowers worth 7.5 per cent. 

Freddie’s Flowers has been one of the so-called ‘lockdown winners’ after the number of subscribers to its weekly delivery service rose from 60,000 to more than 100,000. 

It offers a £25-a-week subscription for bouquets buyers assemble themselves, and sells one-off boxes at £28. 

Garland, 32, founded it in a gazebo in his parents’ garden in 2014, and now delivers 40,000 boxes weekly and makes £3.3m a month in the UK. 

In October, it launched in Germany, where it already has 2,000 customers.

source: dailymail.co.uk