A Norfolk household has been transformed into a jungle in a bid to save the family business.
Kerri Notman, who owns Leslie Terrance home and garden, and her family are living among 4,000 plants as she strives to keep up with online orders.
Ms Notman, who lives with her one-year-old daughter Maggie and partner Byron, said bringing the stock to her home was the only way to keep the business viable during lockdown.
MORE: Where to find fuel below £1 a litre in Norfolk“It’s madness,” she said. “We’ve got 200 or 300 species and thousands of plants – they’re all over the house, in the garage, in the caravan – we’ve got the outdoor plants all over the drive. I haven’t been able to close the curtains in weeks because I’ve got hanging pots on the curtain rails.
“We shut down the day before we were told to and packed all the stock into a van. Since then our online orders have gone through the roof. I’ve had days where I’ve started packing at 7am and finished packing at 5am - you’ve just got to do whatever it takes.”
Ms Notman has run the Norwich-based business single-handedly for six years, and would often bring her daughter into the shop so she could keep regular opening hours.
“Maggie was a bit confused at first about why there was suddenly loads of plants in her play corner. We have had to move some to unreachable spots as she’s started walking recently,” Ms Notman said.
Ms Notman is now operating out of her home near Mattishall, and is making around 30 deliveries into Norwich daily as well as sending hundreds out by courier to the rest of the UK.
“The response from our customers has just been wonderful,” she said. “We’ve got customers ordering from across the road to our shop in Magdalen Street who are happily paying the delivery charge as we’re driving in from outside the city.
MORE: Can employers legally make you go back to work?“I also see a lot of customers coming back. It’s an order I think I’ve already sent out and then I realise another one for the same plant but a different species has come in. I think people like to collect all the different varieties.
“The support has been amazing. We couldn’t think of a way to say thank you enough, but we are going to be doing a lucky dip where we select a random order number and you’ll be sent an extra plant or voucher.”
For more information visit www.leslieterrance.co.uk.
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