Joost is the creative force behind Gilding The Lily flowerstall. He was born in Amsterdam in 1953 and has been in the flower business since he was 15 years old. In his formative years he travelled extensively through India and south East Asia to settle in Ibiza Spain, selling handmade jewellery and running a Mediterranean style restaurant.

In 1992 fate brought Joost to london were he cultivated the opportunity of selling fresh quality Dutch grown flowers on a small Market stall on the famous Portobello road market on weekends.

This was hard work but rewarding work.

Joost drove every week to the flower auction in Rijnsburg Holland to buy fresh flowers, to have them ready for his growing clientele in the trendy Notting Hill area.

2 years had past and Joost had built up quite a reputation. The london borough of kensington and Chelsea presented an opportunity to convert a disused public facility into what today 21 years on is Gilding the Lily a quality flower business in the heart of South Kensington.

This small business has a very big reputation for fresh cut quality flowers