A plant enthusiast who was hit by redundancy due to Covid-19 has been putting down roots with a new job and business based at C-Space.

Emma Gunn launched indoor plant business Trillium following lockdown and has recently taken on the role of plant specialist to care for all the indoor flora at C-Space.

She said: “During lockdown I really missed having plants around me so after taking redundancy I began selling plants from home and it went really well. But when I saw that C-Space needed someone to look after their plants and the opportunity to use the space for my own business, I jumped at the chance.

“I am thrilled to be based at C-Space, it is such a new exciting place and Real Ideas has been so supportive as I get to grips with launching my own business and the Crowdfunder team has helped me tap into further funding. They have some fantastic ideas for the development of C-Space and they want to include Trillium within that.”

Emma launched Trillium, named after the floral emblem of Ontario, where she was born, after a lifetime of botanical interests sparked by a plot of soil her father gave her to tend when she was just four.

She decided to start her own company after being made redundant this year from her role as Seasonal Displays Supervisor at the Eden Project as part of a round of redundancies caused by the impact of Covid-19. She had worked at Eden since 1998, taking on a number of roles including draughtsman, guide, plant propagator, show garden designer and florist.

And now she is using her years of knowledge and passion for plants to grow her own company with the support of RIO and Crowdfunder.

Emma said: “The need people have for ‘greening’ up their houses has increased dramatically during lockdown, especially for people who had no green spaces to escape to in the early stages. So it was fortunate timing to begin working at C-Space.

“Each week more and more businesses are joining us here and being able to watch the growth of C-Space while they support others with their business dreams is fantastic.”

For more information about Trillium, visit trillium_cornwall and emmatheforager on Instagram. A website for the company is coming soon at www.trilliumcornwall.co.uk.