r Bitter winter was 'final nail in the coffin'.

THE brothers behind one of Northern Ireland's best-known companies have told how the bitter winter destroyed their business.

Malcolm Ferguson of Ferguson Flowers International said that the harsh weather over Christmas was "the final nail in the coffin" for the family firm as he was declared bankrupt.

Established in 1975, Ferguson Flowers International became Ireland's largest retail florist chain, which once boasted 15 stores including four main outlets in Belfast and other branches in Lisburn and Newtownabbey.

The firm is headquartered at Wellington Place in the city, serving customers both locally, nationally and internationally and taking daily importation from around the world.

Mr Ferguson and his brother David have already closed two Belfast shops and is in negotiations to save a third.

He said that the company is restructuring in a bid to save the jobs of between 12-15 people.

"Like a lot of businesses, the internet, big shops and supermarkets hit us hard, we've gone the same way as a lot of other people," he said. "Christmas was the final nail in the coffin, the worst Christmas I've ever seen in 40 years of business. No one came through the doors.

"We took in a huge delivery, lorries full of flowers for the period, and then the ice and the snow came overnight, followed by the thaw. The flowers just turned to mush, no-one was expecting temperatures of -15 and -16.

"That, combined with the rents and the rates bills going through the roof, was the final nail in the coffin.

"We decided to take drastic action and are restructuring and letting some parts of the business go and we will focus more on the internet end and try to keep as many jobs as possible. It is sad when we once used to have 15 shops, but that's the way things are, the high street is finished.

"But we're still trading and we intend to fight back and move with the times. No-one is going to come in to a shop and ask us to send flowers to their granny in Edinburgh when they can go on the internet, find a place round the corner from her, pay with their credit card and they're on her doorstep in minutes.

"That's where we need to be going."