Frannie Liddle

Frannie is co-founder of Window Fleur, the UK’s first ready-planted window box subscription club.

She grew up in the countryside, and although she’s a city-dweller now, she’s at her happiest potting up beautiful things and watching them grow.

These are things things Frannie knows for certain.

Please tell us what your role in the business is?

Hi, I’m Frannie and I’m the Co-Founder of Window Fleur, owner of the design studio ‘Frannie Liddle Design’ and Senior Print Designer at Freddie’s Flowers.

Where do you do most of your work?

I spend most of my time in the Window Fleur studio/workshop which is located at the end of my garden at home.

How many people do you work with closely on a day-to-day basis?

I work closely with my Co-Founder and cousin Joe, and our operations manager - it’s a small but mighty team!

What is the biggest challenge that you face at work every day?

Starting Window Fleur in lockdown has made it a tough undertaking for sure! And one of the greatest challenges has been getting our hands on the plants themselves.

As plant lovers, it’s been great to see a huge boom when it’s come to interest in gardening but this has put massive pressure on the plant suppliers.

At the same time with so many events in the horticultural world’s calendar cancelled, plant growers greatly reduced their growing numbers which again affected the plant supply later into the year.

We’ve also had a high demand for our service so finding the man power so early on in the business has proven tricky.

Talk us through lunch. A sandwich at your desk or a full hour in the park?

Sadly, a lunch break doesn’t happen often, but when it does it’s often a quick eggs and avo on toast at the kitchen table or in the garden/workshop.

What is the biggest lesson that you’ve learned that you wish you’d known when you started your career?

‘Don’t over think it’ are words I try to live by. In my circle of friends I was the only one working for myself early on in our careers, so I had to try and not set traditional career progression goals and remind myself that often creative and corporate are worlds apart.

I’ve learnt that often problems that seem massive at the time will sort themselves out.

Email. Friend or foe?

Foe.

Do you use a digital or paper To Do List? And how effective are you at getting everything done?

Paper to do list (nothing beats that ticking it off feeling) and then we’re big users of ‘Slack’ so we have shared ones on there so we can keep some structure and see what each other are working on.

Do you leave work at a set time each day?

Though it’s often an early start in the plant world due to deliveries and flower market opening times, I do try and finish at around 6pm, in line with my nearest and dearest.

How do you relax? Do you look after yourself properly?

In ‘normal’ times, I love to spend time with friends trying new restaurants, galleries and making the most of London life. And I'm also a big sucker of a BBC drama. And a hot bath!

How confident are you about the future of your business?

I feel super confident, as we’ve received the most amazing support so far and the more we grow the more people we’ll hopefully be able to reach, and more homes we’ll brighten.

Exciting times ahead!

What is your secret time-wasting technique at your desk?

I could list a few here... Pinterest, ASOS, and IMDB trailers. You basically get to watch 4 films in like 10mins.

Do you listen to music as you work and if so, what has been playing today?

Music and podcasts are a must when planting window boxes. ‘Haim’ feature heavily on all playlists and then if we’re feeling peckish we turn to Jessie Ware’s ‘Table Manners’ podcast.