THE RHS Chelsea Flower Show would have been a poignant event for summerhouse specialists Scotts of Thrapston as this is also the firm’s centenary year.
The Northamptonshire-based company has a proud reputation of turning timber into a range of products and has been at the forefront of summerhouse manufacture for nearly seven decades.
The world-renowned annual flower show, together with the RHS Hampton Court Garden Festival, has always played a major part in the Scotts of Thrapston calendar.
The family-run business first exhibited at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show in the mid-1960s and has a proud collection of show catalogues which are testament to its history.
However, the company is still determined to mark the prestigious flower show and aims to stage its own virtual ‘Chelsea’ stand on its website and social media in May.
The company was founded in 1920 by James Scott, and had humble beginnings delivering tools to local farmers. The mantle then passed to Douglas Scott and the business is now run by the third and fourth generations, chairman David Scott and his son James, Managing Director.
David said: “The RHS Chelsea Flower Show is a very important event for us, not just for our order books but for the pride we feel when attending. I first took our summerhouses to the show and it has a special place in all our hearts.
“We spend months designing our stand, working closely with our landscaper, to create different themes each year. We always receive positive feedback from the show judges and last year received a four-star trade stand rating, which we were delighted with.
“We are all facing unprecedented times, and although we cannot meet at Chelsea as we would wish, we plan to stage our own ‘virtual’ version of our stand as a nod to this incredible show.”
Like many other businesses, Scotts is experiencing other show cancellations, including Badminton Horse Trials and the National Homebuilding & Renovating Show.
James Scott added: “It is times like these when a business has to be creative and adopt new means of communicating and showing its products to respective audiences.
“In our centenary year, we weren’t expecting these unprecedented challenges. However, we must continue to produce products that stand the test of time and which will help the business not only survive through this current time but also thrive into the next 100 years.”