THE oldest floristry business in Salisbury has changed hands.

Gullicks flower shop in Fisherton Street has been taken over by former manager Heather Jackson and her fiancé Gavin Fleming, who also runs Wessex Valeting.

The business was sold by Anita Lockwood, who ran it for 15 years.

The shop will retain the Gullicks name as it represents its 70-year history and the three generations of fathers, sons and wives who have maintained a floristry interest since William Gullick lived and worked in Devon in the 1870s.

Mr Gullick had five children including William Frederick, whose name appears above the Fisherton Street shop.

He developed the florist and nursery business in Salisbury and by 1939 he owned the Bowling Green Nursery, Waterloo Nursery and Pembroke Park Nursery.

His son William Kelly then ran the business with his wife Dorothy.

Mrs Gullick carried on running the shop following her husband’s death in 1974, and it is her name the shop is most associated with.

The new owners are “committed and thrilled” to be able to play a role in the preservation and further development of the long-established Salisbury business and they are joined by five members of staff.

Miss Jackson has many years of experience, having worked in Eastleigh and as the manager at Affinity Flowers in Tidworth until she became manager of Gullicks in 2012.

She has a level 3 diploma in floristry, and while working at Affinity Flowers she entered the British Floral Association Young Florist of the Year and was one of 12 runners up.