One of Reading town centres' final flower stall traders has spoken out about being the last man standing in a struggling economy.

Broadstreet Flowers, run by Leanne and Neil Brown, is an established flower shop that has taken pride of place on Broad Street for the last 30 years.

As the economy has changed throughout the last few years, the florists has been forced to make exceptional adjustments in order for the business to stay afloat.

Neil Brown, who also runs the jewellery stand on Broad Street has said that he has noticed that a loss of popular high street stores has affected footfall.

The 56-year-old stated: “I believe we’ve been one of the last florist stalls in Reading for the last two years now and as time goes by, you just have to get on with it.

“Your prices go up so you have to change the quality and we definitely found that we had to up our game to retain customers.

“We are buying the flowers for the same price we would be selling them for pre-pandemic which means that prices have almost trebled.”

Due to the perishable nature of their products, the florists are often forced to dispose of their flowers if they aren’t sold within a certain amount of time.

This increases pressures within the whole industry to reduce their background costs.

Neil added: “Due to our presence in Reading for over 30 years, our reputation has helped us survive during this difficult time.

“We have also started to use Deliveroo for people who need flowers delivered. This however only started before Christmas and is still in its infancy.”

Following Brexit, Broadstreet Flowers has started to source their flowers from outside the UK including their tulips to Holland.

Although Neil and Leanne own one of the last florist stalls in Reading, there are a variety of flower retailers in the town centre including 7 Flowers & Tea, Forget Me Nots and Special Occasions Florists.