Thirty years ago, Pat O’Brien and his wife Linda, helped by their son, Shaun, set up a small plant nursery and a shop selling plants and fish.
When the UK recession hit, money was tight, and the shop had to close due to overhead costs. The family continued selling their plants at car boot sales, until Shaun had the idea to start selling their stock on eBay.
It all started with a few listings. Shaun and wife Karina would package up the plants in their living room and dispatch them.
Gradually the orders started rolling in. This encouraged the couple to increase their stock and to build a small shed on their nursery to work from, employing two more staff members in the process.
The business blossomed.
Their experiment with eBay was paying off, so the team employed two additional full-time staff members and established the brand Direct Plants.
The company now owns five acres of polytunnels, home to thousands of trees and plants and employs ten members of staff to fulfil over 500 orders a day.
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Launched during the credit crunch, from a single nursery, the business is set to turnover a staggering £1.5m in 2019, with their eBay store accounting for 70% of sales.
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