AN ONLINE florist has come up smelling of roses after being shortlisted for three prestigious ecommerce awards.
Padiam-based iflorist has been shortlisted for three major gongs, including Small e-Retailer of the Year, International e-Retailer of the Year and Best e-Retailer Delivery at the eCommerce Awards for Excellence 2012 in London.
It comes after the firm received the Queen’s Award for Enterprise for its outstanding achievement in International Trade.
Founded in 2006 by David Price and Steven Harris, Colonial Gifts Limited is the name behind familiar brands iflorist.co.uk and ihampers.co.uk, operating both floral and gifting websites in 20 countries and delivering flowers to homes and businesses in over 110 countries worldwide.
Managing Director David Price said: “To be shortlisted in three categories is a real testament to the passion and commitment of our entire team.
“It is quite remarkable what has been achieved in such a short period of time.
“Global expansion is not for the faint hearted but having a local understanding in each country has been key to our success. We have websites in 10 languages and 6 six currencies, with technology being the key instrument to our rapid growth.
“Fingers crossed we will bring home some silverware.”
The business can deliver flowers within four hours across the globe and accepts over 80 types of credit card via their global payment gateway, which also understands the local geography in any given country.
In the UK, iflorist has a network of over 1,700 skilled local florists, each of whom is able to connect to upwards of 20,000 overseas florists.
The company employs 15 people and is based at Ribble Court.
The eCommerce Awards for Excellence take place at the Brewery, Chiswell Street on October 2.