A florist fit for the Queen is hoping everything will come up roses as he opens his new venture this week. 

John Horan is opening a new farm shop at Brighton Garden Centre this Friday, with the final touches to the store being carried out now.

While Mr Horan already owns the flower shop at the centre in Warren Road in Brighton and a successful farm shop in Kent for more than 15 years, he admits that the new venture is a “step into the unknown”.

The new farm shop takes over the former Edinburgh Woollen Mill shop and contractors are currently overhauling the site to give it a farm shop feel.

The 55-year-old’s award-winning Polhill Farm Shop in Kent is in a 7,000 square feet unit, and while the shop in Brighton is a quarter of that size at the moment, Mr Horan is hopeful that if the shop is successful, it could expand into a bigger space.

The new business of Mr Horan and his partners Ian Pettit and Philip Allford will create up to 12 jobs, with interviews being held last week.

His flower shop supplied bouquets for the Queen’s recent visit to the county.

Mr Horan said: “There aren’t that many farm shops in the area so we hope to get a lot of new customers as well as our regulars to the flower shop.

“We are very conscious we try to support our local growers and producers, we will try to get as much in-season produce as we can.

“I don’t know the Brighton area so I am trying to get out there and source them and Google local suppliers and take it from there.

“But it’s a little bit of step into the unknown and you can’t predict how it will go.

“Hopefully the garden centre customers will wander around and then buy their food on the way out.”