SOWING the seeds of success comes naturally to Gary Collinson. For Gary has watched his company, Botanical Interiors, enjoy a staggering 58 per cent increase in sales turnover in the last 12 months.

Gary and his ever-increasing team have branched out to provide a number of new services, which will become 'Botanical Group Services' in the near future.

"It's been a very important 12 months for the company as a whole and, I'm pleased to say, a very successful one too," says the managing director of the Blackburn-based business.

"At the start of last year, we had to make some important decisions about the future of the company and direction we wanted to take. Despite some difficult trading conditions generally, our planning appears to be paying off."

Little wonder then that Gary and his team are in the running for the Guardian Angel Network's coveted title of East Lancashire Entrepreneur of the Year, which will be announced in October at an awards ceremony in Garstang.

"We are delighted to have been nominated. It's a great honour for the company and reflects how far we have come." Formed 10 years ago, Botanical Interiors has a reputation for quality in the specialist field of interior landscaping, which has earned it contracts with corporate blue chip companies throughout the North West, such as Astrazeneca, the Co-operative Group and the John Lewis Partnership.

But the last 18 months has seen significant growth, with employee numbers doubling from six to 12.

"It's a very interesting period for the company because we are providing more services," said Gary. "For starters, we no longer concentrate solely on interiors. We also provide exterior grounds maintenance, as well as Christmas decorations and short-term exhibition rentals all at one source."

Gary says that he was able to cope with the company's growing pains thanks to his involvement in the Guardian Angel network - which gives up-and-coming businesses the chance to benefit from free advice and guidance from their more experienced counterparts.

"Our mentor was Alan Matthews and he helped us examine the business more objectively and form the basis of the business plan which has transformed the company in the intervening months.

"Getting advice for the company from a mentor who had a considerable amount of managerial experience proved invaluable to us. Getting that advice for nothing is incredible and I would recommend that other businesses in similar positions to ourselves enquire as to how they can be helped."

E-Commerce is a new avenue that Gary is venturing down, in his never-ending pursuit to build on the Botanical success story. He says: "We have a new website under construction -- Unrealplants.co.uk -- which will provide high-quality artificial plants for commercial and domestic customers throughout the UK over the internet."

Businesses which would like to get involved in the Guardian Angel Network, or businessmen and women who feel they could be a guardian, can contact Amanda Meachin on 01254 699910 or e-mail her at amanda@guardiansnetwork.co.uk