Trader of the Week: Plant One On Me in Bradford's John Street

So it’s somehow appropriate that nature – in the shape of an amazing array of houseplants – is what her business is all about.

Ursula – Bradford BID’s Trader of the Week – owns and runs Plant One On Me, a surprising hybrid of specialist plant shop and nostalgic tearoom, that has recently moved from Upper Millergate to its new home in John Street.

Plant One On Me has a quirky charm

Ursula sells a variety of house plants

If the name itself isn’t enough to illustrate the quirky nature of this independent gem, then try this description from its Instagram page: “A shop for converted cat ladies, boys with plants, closeted leaf fondlers, plant whisperers, urban jungle explorers and self-diagnosed black thumbs.”

It may only have been running for a mere 16 months but Bradford born-and-bred Ursula has made such an impact on the city that she’s often seen as a shining beacon of independent trading and a perfect example of the sort of business that could give her beloved city a whole new lease of life.

She talks with so much passion about Bradford, about plants, about her business, about independent traders, about her family, about not allowing your roots to define you, that you start to believe she could achieve just about anything she sets her mind to.

Ursula is passionate about plants

Ursula would probably describe herself as a – forgive the pun – late bloomer.

“I was born on a council estate and still live on one,” she says. “And I was a nursery nurse, an early years practitioner around Bradford, for 20 years. I gave it up mainly because I had a back injury which made it harder and harder to do the job.

“And then I had five years of travelling with my son, Zak, who’s an actor. He started quite young and I was chaperoning him. So I was quite lucky, I went all round the world with him.”

She mentions, quite casually, that he has a film out next week in America: “He’s been in a few – Grimsby with Sacha Baron Cohen, Peter & Wendy, with Paloma Faith; he’s had a nice little career so far. He’s done well.”

Now, at 19, he’s a little too old for a chaperone.

“I got to a point where I really wanted to do something else – to work for myself, to create something,” says Ursula. “And it was purely by chance that someone said to me one day: Why don’t you sell some of these plants you’ve got at home – you’ve got enough!”

Her passion for collecting them comes from her dad: “It started when we were kids. Dad’s always done it. And when I got my first home I decided to collect plants as well – any house plant that takes my fancy. So my home is very full!

“And I’d visited these little boutique plant shops around the country and thought ‘why don’t we have one of these in Bradford?’ And then I thought, well, I’ll do it!”

Customers can browse round the plants and enjoy a cuppa and light bites

She soon found that people responded really well to this little green oasis in the heart of the city.

“To the point where I’ve had people walk in and cry,” she recalls. “I think city centres, by default, can be quite harsh places – they’re busy, noisy, full of big buildings…

“But we’ve got more and more people living in city centres. So I think when they walk in it’s almost a bit of respite for them. It doesn’t look like a garden centre and it’s got a bit of a living room feel.

“So you find when customers come in here they’re talking to you like you’re at home and they’ve come in for a cup of tea. There’s something unique about it.”

Despite setting out just to sell plants, she started asking people if they wanted a cuppa while they browsed and chatted.

“And then I realised we needed to get some tables in here,” she says. “That’s how it started and then I really started falling in love with the city again and the people and the next thing I knew I was so adamant and had become such an advocate for making sure independents were in Bradford that it all snowballed really, in a good way.”

"It's almost a bit of respite"

Her plant stock – from the common to the rare – mainly comes from Holland. She orders direct from the Dutch auction every week but she also tries to use British growers where she can.

And the food is all homemade: “It comes from a lady I’d met who’d lost her café just before I opened. She a business that she runs from home and every morning all this baking goes in the oven at six o’clock and it’s down to us by nine.

“We’ve just started introducing some light snacks – such as tomato and mozzarella salad – and I get my produce from Roswitha’s Deli in the market. I try where I can to use local independent suppliers.

“Now I’m talking to some independents who are making plant pots.”

Her passion for local and individual shops and businesses shines through: “The beauty of being an independent is that it doesn’t matter if there’s a plant shop in Bradford, or Manchester or York, we’re all going to look different.

“We’re going to have a different feel, bring something different to it. And it makes it an experience then when you come into the city centre. You’re going to wander into these places. I love them.”

The unique feel of the décor and style of Plant One On Me is also homegrown. Husband Shaun is a builder by trade and built all the shelves, the crates, the counter, the tables.

“He makes everything for us,” says Ursula. “He’s very good; he goes along with all my madcap ideas!”

It would be easy to see the success of Plant One On Me as the template for a franchise empire – but that’s not Ursula’s way.

“I’d really like to help other people get on the ladder,” she says. “There’s nothing better than creating your own employment – it’s such a satisfying feeling.

“I’d like to help other people realise that you don’t have to know your place all the time and there are ways of breaking the mould that you’ve been put into or people think you should stop in.

“Maybe I’ll write a book about it…”

With Ursula’s energy and enthusiasm behind it, only a fool would bet on it not becoming a best seller!

* Plant One On Me, 29 John Street, Bradford. Tel: 07931 845322 E-mail: plantoneonmeyorkshire@hotmail.com; Website: plant1onme.co.uk; Facebook @plantoneonmeyorkshire; Twitter @plantoneonmebfd; Instagram @plantoneonmeyorkshire

The plant stock is from Holland and British growers too