When Hilde Galton founded Galton Flowers in 1948, little did she know her florist’s shop would be still going strong – as one of the best known in London – 70 years later.
Hilde’s passion was carried on by daughter Brita Wolf and it saw stores spring up in places from Golders Green to Brent Cross.
Then, 25 years ago, Sayeh Rafiei took a job there and eventually became a partner in the business – now Sayeh and Galton. Today, Sayeh operates the business, run solely out of the Flask Walk store that opened in 2013, on her own. But she still meets Brita once a week.
Sayeh, 50, said: “There’s still a real family ethos here, even as we’ve had amazing success.” The florist, who once presented flowers to Princess Diana, added: “People come back who remember going to Galton Flowers in the 1950s. The company has always been magnetically attracted to Hampstead.” It has provided flowers to Burgh House for decades, and now runs a flower academy there.
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