A former dietician who quit his job to pursue his passion for plants is set to put on a display at the Chelsea Flower Show.
David Morely, who runs The Plant Workshop in Newcastle's Fenwick store, is set to wow crowds later this month when he transforms his exhibition space into a stunning home office filled with house plants. The invitation from the Chelsea Flower Show just how far the 39-year-old has come since launching his business just before the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
David, from Stockton, called time on his job as an NHS dietician to open up his own house plant store The Plant Workshop in Northallerton, but when the first lockdown hit in 2020, he turned to online orders and his business quickly took off.
"I was working as a dietician with the NHS before so it is a completely different career path," David said. "I just thought the NHS wasn't for me and wanted to work for myself and create something."
Since then David, who runs the company with his husband, Steve Vernon, 43, has opened two more stores in Newcastle's Fenwick and Billingham which are said to be thriving - just like the plants he sells to customers across the UK.
Now the pair are getting set to put the North East on the map with a stunning showcase of more than 150 'easy-care' house plants at the Chelsea Flower Show. His exhibit will be part of the House Plant Studies section of the event which will run from May 24 to 28.
"It is a huge deal for us and we are really excited," David said.
"We are honoured that they asked us to exhibit as a small North East company. Our design intention is to concentrate on the work from home aspect because after the pandemic a lot of people are working from home.
"We have seen a huge resurgence in house plants where people will come to us to make their office at home a bit nicer. [For our exhibit] we are going to create an exaggerated office filled from floor-to-ceiling with house plants."
David hopes his display will inspire people to have house plants in their home offices to create a "nurturing, productive and stress-reducing environment".
His 'home office' showcase will feature a range of plants of different sizes, textures and colours, including Snake plants, Hoya plants and Aglaonema.
"We wanted to focus on the wellness aspect of the work-life balance in the home," David continued.
"We wanted to create a home space that balances both productivity and downtime. We just want people to be able to see that they can create a lovely wellness environment in their own home which will help when they are working from home."
READ NEXT:
