House of Flowers opened in Wantage this month

Anthony Shearman, of East Challow, officially opened House of Flowers, in Market Place, on Wednesday, July 6.

The store provides floral displays for occasions such as weddings, arrangements for the home or for the workplace, for a tributary, bespoke flowers, and as accessories.

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Mr Shearman, who has been a florist for about 15 years, didn’t intend to open the store but an estate agent showed him the space when he moved back to the town and he decided to go for it.

Anthony Shearman outside his new store in Wantage (Credit: Ed Nix)

“During the first two weeks we’ve been open it has been manic,” he said. “We’ve been so busy every single day.

“It has been phenomenal the amount of people who have come into the shop. I wasn’t even going to open a store to be honest.

“I found this house in Oxfordshire and the estate agent showed me the shop at the same time and I was intending to do it but then I decided to open the shop at the same time as moving – two for a penny.

“I used to live here a while ago for about two months so I know the area well and since coming back it has certainly changed – it’s much nicer than I remember it being.”

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The 45-year-old first became a florist after helping out a friend at her own shop in Sunningdale in Berkshire who then suggested he take on the role as well.

“She asked me if I would considered doing it myself,” he said. “It was very different so I paid for a private tutor who does the Royal Ascot events and it went from there.

“I think it’s the creativity and the fact that everything is always different that I enjoy. You can do one or 100 of the same flower bouquets but they are all so different.”

Anthony Shearman outside his new store in Wantage (Credit: Ed Nix)

This is not the first store Mr Shearman has opened as he used to run one under the same name in Berkshire.

However he decided to close it down about a decade ago to focus on private appointments.

He said: “I started doing private events such as weddings and decorating homes – most of my clients were in Berkshire.

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“It was just going to homes and doing their weekly arrangements and seasonal arrangements such as at Christmas time and lots of events and charity events.”

The new store is open four days a week from Wednesday to Saturday from 10am to 5pm.

For more information, visit houseoflowers.co.uk or follow them on Instagram at house_of_flowers_ltd

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Read more from this author

This story was written by Gee Harland, she joined the team in 2022 as a senior multimedia reporter.

Gee covers Wallingford, Wantage and Didcot.

Get in touch with her by emailing: Gee.harland@newsquest.co.uk

Follow her on Twitter @Geeharland

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