Success Story: Sprouts of Bristol
Sprouts of Bristol is an independent plant and homewares business situated on Kingsdown Parade in Central Bristol. Living with their cat, Indie and dog, Zelda, and surrounded by hundreds of house plants, Sprouts was founded by Jessy, a designer, and her partner, Tom, a musician.
Prior to starting Sprouts, Jessy and Tom had both been feeling restless in their jobs and knew they wanted to do something else with their careers, but were consistently busy with work, the band and other priorities. After moving into their new home in December 2020, during the second lockdown, Jessy and Tom found time and space to re-assess what they wanted from life. With Jessy’s house plant collection growing, and love of gardening flourishing, the idea for Sprouts was born one warm summer evening in the garden, whilst enjoying a couple of ciders.
They decided to turn their passion for all things green and sustainable into a business, selling plants, soil, pots and other handmade items online. The business took off with Jessy and Tom hand delivering plants around Bristol, but as they were both working full time, they were limited in how much they could push the business. Prior to working with BCDF, the business had reached a point where it was consistently generating revenue, but could not grow further without Jessy and Tom quitting their jobs and focusing on the business.
In September 2021, BCDF arranged funding that allowed Jessy and Tom to open their very own shop in Bristol, giving them space to grow that they needed. The cash injection allowed them to fit out the shop the way they had imagined and finally quit their other jobs. Sprouts now has a permanent home and a dream has come to life.
With Jessy and Tom now on board full time, their vision is to become the go to house plant shop in Bristol, or ‘the home of the urban gardener’ to quote one of their slogans. Jessy and Tom want to provide a great shopping experience in store and provide easy access to quality products for both those just getting into house plants and those who already have an avid interest, as well as those buying gifts for others.
Jessy and Tom are now in their second month of trading from the new shop and they are immensely proud of it, receiving loads of positive feedback around how beautifully they’ve designed the space. Looking forward, Sprouts is diversifying to provide workshops and consultations from their shop to support creatives and other independents from around Bristol.
When describing their experience of working with BCDF, Tom said; “BCDF were incredibly easy to work with and supportive in helping us with our business loan. As new, self-backed business owners with little previous experience, they made sure we were directed to the right places and took what could easily be a very overwhelming and stressful process, and made it a simple and streamlined one.”
We are proud to have played a small part in Jessy and Tom’s journey and wish them both the best of luck moving forward. Visit www.sproutsofbristol.co.uk to see the wide array of stock they have an offer and find the perfect plant for your home.
The government recently announced that it will provide funding for 33,000 Start Up Loans over the next three years through the Start Up Loans scheme. At BCDF, we specialise in helping new business owners access finance and have an excellent track record in securing Start Up Loans for our customers. For more information about Start Up Loans and how we can support you in applying, call us on 0117 251 0189 or drop us an email to [email protected].
