Town centre rare plant shop owner is ‘incredibly grateful’ for support and to celebrate two years open

The owner of a rare plant shop at the heart of Northampton town centre says he is “incredibly grateful” for his customers’ continued support, which has helped them reach two years open.

Not Another Jungle, founded by Tony Le-Britton at the end of April 2022, strives to sell products nowhere else has and offers a form of escapism in store.

The business owner has created a community of plant enthusiasts, and he and his team help them continue to learn from the oasis of calm in George Row.

From plants suitable to be purchased as a customer’s first, to specialist, rare and exotic variations, Tony hopes the store has all that any visitor could want from a plant shop.

When asked how it feels to have reached the latest milestone, Tony said: “It feels like it was just yesterday we opened. It’s crazy to think it was two years ago.”

Not Another Jungle has continued to buck the high street trend with year-on-year growth, but Tony wanted to stress times are “difficult” for town centre businesses and they all need support.

Tony says he did not anticipate the store would receive the response it has, and he had even considered a worst case scenario of using the building as an office space if things did not work out.

It has been so successful that Tony recently opened a second store in Bedford, which has had an “incredible” response after being created from the blueprint of the flagship Northampton shop.

“A lot of people visiting in Bedford didn’t know about our Northampton store,” said Tony. “As they’re in close proximity and many live between the two, they’re going to travel and support both.”

Tony believes what sets Not Another Jungle apart is the “expert advice, the quality of the plants, and the shopping experience”.

“I wanted to create a beautiful shopping environment, with music playing and candles burning,” he added. “It’s aesthetically pleasing. We’ve come in as a newer style of retail that is experience-led, rather than by the products on the shelves.”

Tony’s proudest achievement is being asked to create the wreaths for the Princess of Wales’ carol service at Westminster Abbey last year – which he described as “really incredible” and “very surreal”.

“We’re incredibly grateful for the continued support,” said Tony, when asked what he would like to say to his loyal customers.

“No matter how well businesses are doing, we need customers to support as the high street is a tough place. We want to keep growing to create something no one else offers and add to Northampton.”

Looking to the future, Tony would like to host more workshops from Not Another Jungle. He hopes to use the space after hours for horticulture-related workshops, such as creating plant pots from pottery.

The founder also wants to organise joint trips for Northampton and Bedford customers to visit botanical gardens for exclusive behind the scenes tours by experts, to build on the business’ community.

Not Another Jungle will be celebrating the milestone in May, with a day of activities, workshops and in-store discounts. More information will be provided on social media in due course.