The Sarah Raven

What The Sarah Raven does

The Sarah Raven is a UK-based direct-to-consumer gardening retailer that sells productive garden seeds, bulbs, plants, tools and lifestyle products through its e-commerce site at sarahraven.com, and through in-person courses and open days at Perch Hill Farm in Sussex and Sissinghurst. The platform is built on BigCommerce and organized into plants, bulbs, seeds, gardening and lifestyle products, gifts, and courses and events; it is supplemented by free downloadable instruction booklets, border collection plans, seasonal print catalogues, the weekly 'Grow, Cook, Eat, Arrange' podcast, and signed books authored by Sarah Raven. The business operates through two England-and-Wales-incorporated legal entities (Raven's Haven Limited and Sarah Raven's Cutting Garden Limited), and is founder-owned with Sarah Raven as the principal brand figurehead and product curator; she personally trials stock at Perch Hill Farm before release.

Customer segments are horizontal and primarily individual home gardeners, flower lovers, vegetable growers, and gift buyers, with no enterprise or B2B contracts in evidence. Pricing is pay-as-you-go per unit, with a free-delivery threshold above £60, seasonal promotional discounts, and a 10% first-order offer for new email subscribers. Distribution is exclusively D2C via the website, with fulfilment from a UK nursery and warehouse supplemented by direct despatch from selected suppliers; 97% of plants are sourced from UK growers and the Spalding nursery acquired in 2022 enables in-house production, with sustainability claims covering plastic-free packaging, bio-thermal heating, and rainwater harvesting.

The business makes money from three streams: one-time product sales (the dominant stream), professional services revenue from courses and events, and one-time sales of published books. Marketing is content-led via website articles, growing guides, email newsletters, social media, YouTube, podcasting, PR, and seasonal catalogues. Reported scale stands at 11–50 employees, founded 1999, with revenue not publicly disclosed.

Name

The Sarah Raven

Legal name

Raven's Haven Limited and Sarah Raven's Cutting Garden Limited

Website

https://sarahraven.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1999

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Sarah Raven is a UK-based direct-to-consumer e-commerce retailer selling productive-garden seeds, bulbs, plants, gardening tools, and lifestyle products to home gardeners, flower lovers, vegetable growers, and gift buyers, complemented by in-person courses, open days at Perch Hill Farm, books, and a podcast.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Marlborough

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Product Sales: Direct e-commerce sales of plants, bulbs, seeds, gardening tools, lifestyle accessories, and books through the Sarah Raven website. Products are shipped either from the UK-based nursery and warehouse or via direct despatch from suppliers.
2. Courses and Events: Revenue from in-person courses and events held at Perch Hill and Sissinghurst, including gardening workshops, floristry courses, and garden open days.
3. Published Books: Sales of gardening books authored by Sarah Raven, including 'A Year Full of Pots' priced at £27, available exclusively signed.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

The Sarah Raven is a UK direct-to-consumer gardening retailer that sells live plants, bulbs, seeds, gardening tools and lifestyle products through its own e-commerce website. The business is anchored by founder-led curation and trialing at Perch Hill Farm in Sussex and a plant nursery in Spalding acquired in 2022. It complements the retail offer with in-person courses and open days, signed books, and the 'Grow, Cook, Eat, Arrange' podcast.

Product overview

Sarah Raven operates as a UK-based gardening and lifestyle ecommerce platform offering a comprehensive range of products organized into six core categories: Plants (perennials, annuals, shrubs, climbers, and specialty varieties), Bulbs (alliums, tulips, daffodils, lilies, and seasonal bulb collections), Seeds (flower seeds, vegetable seeds, salad seeds, and herb seeds), Gardening & Lifestyle Products (tools, planters, growing supplies, and equipment kits), Gifts (garden-themed gifts organized by type, recipient, and price), and Courses & Events (in-person workshops at Perch Hill, Sissinghurst, and away days). The company also publishes books (A Year Full of Pots) and produces the Grow, Cook, Eat, Arrange podcast as content offerings. Supporting resources include downloadable instruction booklets for planting guidance and border collection plans for garden design. The platform is built on BigCommerce infrastructure and integrates with email marketing (Ometria), review management (Trustpilot), customer analytics tools (Ibehaviour, Sub2, Experian), and social media platforms. Sustainability initiatives include bio-thermal heating at their nursery and rainwater harvesting systems.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Plants Live garden plants for home gardeners including perennials, annuals, biennials, shrubs, climbers, Salvias, Cosmos, Zinnias, Clematis, Geraniums, Lavenders, Hydrangeas, Dahlias, Pelargoniums and Verbena, supplied in seedlings, 9cm pots and 1L/2L/3L pots.
• Bulbs Flower bulbs including Alliums, Anemones, potted Dahlias, Gladioli, Lilies, Narcissi (Daffodils), Nerines, Snowdrops and Tulips, plus bulb collections, bulbs-in-the-green and container/window-box bulbs.
• Seeds Flower seeds (annuals, biennials, perennials, cutting-garden flowers, meadows/wildflowers, seed collections) and vegetable, salad and herb seeds (brassicas, herbs, lettuce/salad, peas/beans, root veg, squash/pumpkins, tomatoes/chillis).
• Gardening & Lifestyle Products Gardening equipment and lifestyle items including cold frames, polytunnels and cloches, tools, pots and planters, plant theatres and staging, sowing and growing supplies, plant supports, compost and fertiliser, clothing, gloves and boots, watering equipment and kits for clematis, dahlias and sweet peas.
• Gifts Curated gift range including diaries, calendars and advent items, garden kit and tools, garden wear, plant and bulb gifts, seed gifts, signed books and stationery, tableware, wildlife and bird gifts, and gift vouchers, organised by recipient and price range.
• Courses & Events In-person paid experiences including gardening workshops at Perch Hill, garden open days at Perch Hill, events at Sissinghurst, away days, courses with Sarah Raven, flowers and floristry workshops, and vegetable and fruit growing courses.
• A Year Full of Pots (Hardcover Book) Hardcover book written and exclusively signed by Sarah Raven (£27.00) showing how to create evolving container colour through long-lasting seasonal combinations. Sold as a standalone signed publication.

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration15 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• BigCommercecoreTechnology or IntegrationE-commerce platform provider powering the Sarah Raven website, enabling online product sales and customer account management.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Hayloft Plants: UK-based plants-by-post specialist selling perennials, bulbs, and garden plants direct to consumers via catalogue and website, overlapping on live-plant DTC delivery.
• RHS Plants (Royal Horticultural Society): Retail arm of the Royal Horticultural Society offering plants and gardening products to UK gardeners, leveraging horticultural authority — comparable in mission, audience, and curated plant retail.
• Suttons Seeds: Long-established UK mail-order seed and plant retailer serving amateur gardeners with flower and vegetable seeds, young plants, and gardening kit — directly comparable in product category and target customer.
• Thompson & Morgan: One of the UK's largest mail-order seed and plant retailers, selling flower and vegetable seeds, bulbs, and young plants direct to gardeners — directly overlapping Sarah Raven's core product range and DTC e-commerce channel.
• Mr Fothergill's Seeds: UK-focused seed and young plant supplier with strong consumer brand and DTC catalogue channels, directly comparable in product range (seeds, plants, bulbs) and home-gardener customer base.
• Dobies: UK seed, plant, and gardening supply retailer with deep heritage in mail-order catalogues, comparable to Sarah Raven in customer profile and catalog heritage.
• Parker Garden Company: UK-based garden retailer focused on herbaceous plants, bulbs and companion plants via mail-order/DTC channels — closely aligned with Sarah Raven's live-plant mail-order model.
• Crocus: Major UK online garden centre selling plants, bulbs, and garden equipment with strong DTC proposition and curated collections, closely overlapping Sarah Raven's product mix and customer base.

Broad incumbents

• Notcutts Garden Centres: Established UK garden centre chain selling plants, bulbs, and gardening products across physical retail, comparable category overlap with Sarah Raven's plant and bulb assortment at broader scale.
• Burpee: Large US-based seed and plant retailer with broad product portfolio serving home gardeners, comparable as a category incumbent in the gardening DTC space (regional in US vs Sarah Raven UK).

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/srkitchengarden
• Facebookfacebook.com/sarahravensgarden
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/sarah-raven

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Sarah Raven