Nadine Mansfield, a former marketeer for Manchester United and Manchester Airport, has announced a change of direction, exhibiting at this year’s RHS Flower Show Tatton Park in the Career Changer of the Year Competition.
After a 25-year career in marketing some of the UK’s best-known brands – as well as her stints as heading up venue marketing at Man Utd and airline marketing at Manchester Airport, she has served in marketing roles at Sky TV, The Jockey Club and British Airways – Mansfield decided to get back to nature and embrace her love of gardening.
In January 2020 the now-ex-marketer completed the RHS Level 2 Diploma in Principles & Practices of Horticulture, in which she gained a Distinction for the Garden Design Module and successfully swapped the corporate world for the outdoor design world.
Mansfield said: “I’ve always felt at home when in nature and gardens. My mum used to run her own floristry business in Cheshire and my grandad was an avid horticulturist, so it is most definitely in the genes.
“Designing a Show Garden at RHS Flower Show Tatton Park 2024 will be a fabulous next step for me in my garden design career and the category of The Career Changer of the Year Competition is certainly the perfect fit for me.”
Following the birth of her son in 2015 Mansfield found increasing pleasure from being outdoors and was spending more and more time in the garden. When she and her family moved house in 2018 she decided to embark on the studying route with a view to changing career. The garden was a blank canvas and it was the ideal opportunity to develop her horticultural and design skills.
“I have a lot to thank my previous career for, I spent over 25 years in the corporate world and was fortunate to enjoy some fantastic experiences along the way, travel the world and deliver projects of which I’m really proud of,” Mansfield went on. “The years I spent in senior marketing roles for major brands have stood me in good stead to be able to run my own business and work in an industry I truly love.
“It genuinely never feels like I’m going to work. Providing clients with creative solutions to their brief, and seeing those ideas built, is a privilege. Garden design is a wonderful career and horticulture is something we should see on the national curriculum as it plays a fundamental part in all our futures.”
Since the creation of her garden design business Mansfield has worked with many clients across Manchester, Cheshire and the North West of England in spaces both large and small.
Exhibiting at RHS Flower Show Tatton Park will be pertinent in her career change journey as she has recently embarked upon a Masters in Landscape Architecture Studies to build her knowledge and expertise further. She is also a Pre-Registered Member of the Society of Garden Designers.
The Career Changer of The Year Competition is a brand new category for 2024 and open to those aged 31 or over who have not exhibited in any Show Garden category at any RHS Shows previously.
While doubtless challenging, winning the RHS award should be a doddle compared to marketing Manchester United in their current condition, or indeed any UK airport given headlines over the last 12 hours or so.
