French florist's career blooms under Shanghai's economic sunlight

On his first visit to China, florist Sebastien Lathuile was so wowed by the country's relentless energy and forward momentum that he vowed to return as soon as possible, with a view to starting a business.

Sebastien Lathuile developed a passion for flowers courtesy of his horticulture-loving grandparents from France. Mark Graham / for China Daily

That was back in 2004 and immediately after returning to his London base, the Frenchman sold his flat, moved to Shanghai and set up shop, initially with a contract to provide the five-star Pudong Shangri-La hotel with flower arrangements for rooms and restaurants.

The business - with the grand title of Sebastien, the French Floral Artist - has expanded rapidly in the past seven years, with operations in Shanghai, Shenzhen Jinan and, as of this month, the capital city, Beijing.

The owner has major growth plans for the near future, with the ultimate ambition of having a chain with branches spread across the vast nation.

Lathuile has a track record of thinking big: a recent wedding in Shenzhen saw the florist and his team arrange a total of 40,000 roses around the venue, including the 88 tables in the banqueting room, a project that had a total budget of 800,000 yuan (80,000 euros).

"What I can achieve in China I could not achieve anywhere else," says Lathuile.

"The people are more challenging here, but also very hard working, you have to lead them in the right way. There is real flexibility and hunger to understand and to know to develop skills and get better."

Lathuile, 37, is an old hand in the floral trade. He first showed interest in blossom-gathering and flower-arranging as a small child growing up in the Alpine region of France, where his grandparents passed on their love of horticulture.

The passion for flowers stayed with him through university, and a stint in the French army, until he was finally able to eventually parlay it into a full-time career.

"In France we believe in know-how and professionalism, it is really taken seriously," he says. "Although I knew a lot already, I had to learn the techniques."

An obvious initial step to broaden those professional horizons was to move to Europe's largest and most cosmopolitan city, London, where work came easily, broadening the young florist's experience and range of industry contacts.

Before long, the new immigrant found himself working with a team doing the arrangements for the wedding of James Bond actor Pierce Brosnan, and the annual charity fund-raising shindig of flamboyant pop star Elton John.

It gave Lathuile the confidence to set up his own business in the British capital. It was while running that operation that a chance meeting piqued his interest in moving to Asia.

"I had had enough of London," he says. "I met people from Vietnam who kept telling me to go to Asia, and I met another girl from Dalian, whose mother was a florist. Then everything just clicked. I went to Shanghai and after two days, I knew I was going to move there. The energy in the air was something you don't have in London. I went back, sold my apartment, and three months later I was in Shanghai.

"When it comes to doing business here, everything is possible. The most difficult part is to understand how Chinese do business. What makes my company successful is that I never give up, even when it is not easy. We have a motto which is: 'we know what we can do and we deliver what we promise'. Up to 95 per cent of our business is word of mouth, people come to us."

A recent high-profile client who signed up for Lathuile's services was Beijing-based Huawei, a giant communications and technology company with annual revenues of $20 billon (14 billion euros). Flowers for their Beijing lobbies, offices and functions, will be provided by the newly-opened Lathuile operation; one of the many skills and services that impressed Huawei executives was the ability to make arrangements that represent the flags of more than 100 countries and to recreate, in floral form, the logos of various mobile phone manufacturers.

Contracts such as this mean Lathuile is looking to hire more team members. People who join Sebastien, the French Florist, can look forward to a clear career path, with promotion prospects and training opportunities clearly mapped out. All the current 40 employees attend a daily video teleconference to ensure there are clear lines of communication.

Says the boss: "I want to be in the 100 cities that have more than one million people, that is why I am spending so much time developing training. I have staff who have been with me for six years and they stay because of what you give them, and what you offer them.

"We offer staff a future; it took us three years go develop a training program. It means that anybody who is new to flowers has a career path over the next five years and knows his salary and position. It is very structured, it has to be.

"Over the years I have learned a lot, I saw mistakes being made and basic rules of the job not being applied, and the consequences, so I have a very clear idea of what is needed. I know what works and what doesn't work."

The celebrity florist is a regularly interviewed by Chinese-language lifestyle magazines that seek his views, and advice, on flower arranging, home decor and western-style etiquette. One of the entrepreneur's more recent initiatives has also generated plenty of positive press. Lathuille made a conscious decision to ensure that part of his workforce was from the less-advantaged section of society: five of the staff members are deaf mutes.

The extra effort needed to train the employees, and the communications hurdles, are, he says, more than compensated for by the quality of their work and their diligent attitudes.

He says: "I like the chance to put back into society; I think everyone has potential but it has to be given a chance. We worked for Hilton in Shanghai on a project and they have two deaf-mute people. I spent an afternoon with them and it was a revelation how easily I could communicate with them, it has to be straightforward communication. I love that.

"Today 20 per cent of the work force is deaf and mute - everyone told me it would be a challenge but it is fine, they are not treated differently. They are grateful for a job and it has also helped my other staff to see things differently and to communicate better and to go straight to the point.

"I think their inner voice is quieter than ours: they are focussed on the task in hand. I think there is also something universal about the language of beauty and flowers."

Indeed there is, and Sebastien Lathuile plans to benefit from the economic boom that is allowing companies and individuals to splash out on more on glorious flower displays for everyday enjoyment and special occasions.