CAROLINE CLITHEROW, 56, FLORIST

When Caroline and Bruce Clitherow’s eldest daughter left for university they decided to leave home, too. Their lives had been based around schools and jobs and yet these things were soon to be a thing of the past. “When your parents have died and you’re both approaching retirement age, life gets a bit daunting,” Caroline says. “We needed a new project.”

They sold the family home in Hampshire, where Caroline had moved when their eldest child was one, and found something smaller near Lymington, with land for chickens and horses.

The move enabled them to clear their mortgage and put money aside to support their children, Charlotte, now 27, Emma, 25, and Henry, 22 during university and into their careers. “It’s a mistake to think your children won’t still rely on you financially once they’ve left home,” Caroline explains.

In Lymington, they were introduced into a new social scene separate from the one they’d been thrown into through their children’s schools. “The move gave us a new outlook; something to talk about other than the kids,” she says. “Bruce started to cook, which is something he enjoys, and I got a job helping out in a local florist.”

At the shop, she met Katie, a professional florist, and after working together for a few months they decided to set up a floristry business together, run from an old stable at Caroline’s home. “I lacked confidence initially but Katie taught me the techniques I needed,” she says.

Within six months of launching No. 17 Flowers, Caroline and Katie had made back their initial investment and were paying themselves a salary. “There are no overheads and there are always weddings, funerals and people wanting to go to floristry workshops.”

The business has helped her embrace a new phase in her life. “I always liked flowers at school but I’d never have thought to do this; I would have been too frightened,” she says.

The children are her biggest supporters, setting her up on social media and spreading the word among their pals. “The first five weddings we did were friends.”

The business suits her relationship with Bruce, too. They’d always been independent and had their own hobbies. “He’s pleased that I’ve found something I love and is so helpful,” she says. After years of being bound to the house, she now travels wherever her jobs take her. “I’d go anywhere; Scotland, overseas,” she says. “It’s my time, I feel I can put me first.”