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Business to lose 'thousands' as flower show cut

Ellen Knight
BBC Radio Shropshire
BBC Danielle pictured looking into the camera with a neutral expression; she's wearing a white collared shirt. She's sat in one of the restaurant's outside areas, which has its walls painted bright pink and orange. Behind her, to her left is a small tree with green leaves. To her right is a black table and chairs with a black and white chevron-patterned cushion. BBC
Danielle Ditella runs The Loopy Shrew restaurant and hotel, as well as bed and breakfast Darwin's Townhouse

The owner of a restaurant and hotel has said the cancellation of Shrewsbury Flower Show means they will lose out on "thousands" of pounds.

Danielle Ditella runs The Loopy Shrew and bed-and-breakfast Darwin's Townhouse in the town.

The event, which was due to take place in August, was called off on Wednesday, with the organisers blaming rising costs, including National Insurance contributions.

Ms Ditella told BBC Radio Shropshire her businesses could lose as much as £10,000 in cancelled bookings as a result.

Both the restaurant - with 12 rooms above it - and the B&B are popular with people travelling to Shrewsbury for the event, she said.

"All of our accommodation was fully booked as a direct result of the flower show," she said, adding that many guests returned every year.

Ms Ditella said she expected many of those reservations to be cancelled, which she said would have "a huge financial impact".

But not everyone is expecting to lose out - one cafe even believes it might increase takings.

Richard Davis, manager of the Quarry Kitchen Cafe, said security barriers for the flower show last year blocked one of its entrances.

Richard pictured looking into the camera and smiling slightly. He's wearing a navy blue polo shirt, on the left hand side it has 'QUARRY' embroidered in beige. He's stood in front of the entrance to the Quarry Kitchen, which has large floor-to-ceiling windows and fairy lights strung along the roof edge.
Richard Davis said one entrance to the cafe was blocked off by the Flower Show's security barriers

"We only had access from inside the leisure centre, which meant our trade dropped drastically from what we could have had," Mr Davis said.

"We probably only took about a hundred-and-something [pounds] for the day," he added, estimating that most weekends the cafe earned closer to £1,000 each day.

"Now we can have that trade, and see what we would have taken last year."

Established in 1875, Shrewsbury Flower Show was for a time listed as the longest-running event of its kind in the world, but has faced a number of issues in recent years.

It was cancelled in 2020 and 2021, during the pandemic, while the popular fireworks were cancelled in 2022 due to a heatwave.

The following year, a security alert saw the site evacuated in the evening and the event cancelled for the rest of the day.

A white flower show marquee on the grass in Shrewsbury's Quarry park. A sign outside reads: The Quarry Marquee, with the opening hours for the 2024 event
The annual event has regularly attracted thousands of people to Shrewsbury

In a statement on Wednesday, Shropshire Horticultural Society, which organises the event, said it had spent more than £150,000 on security and barriers for the 2024 show and had faced other rising costs.

It also blamed a hike in National Insurance contributions and the minimum wage.

However, Maelor Owen, chairman of the horticultural society, said the team had "struggled to put on a show that was financially viable for several years".

'In shock'

He added that organisers were "looking very carefully at the long-term viability of the Shrewsbury Flower Show".

Nineteen-year-old Maddie Hards said she went to Shrewsbury Flower Show "all the time" as a child and was "in shock" when it was called off.

"I think it's a big thing for Shrewsbury to not have it, you think of Shrewsbury and you think of the flower show," she said, adding that "it's always been such a big part of the town."

"I thought [the cancellation] was some fake news thing originally, and then I saw the statement from the horticultural society.

"It's unreal, it's mad."

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