'I was a high-flyer at Manchester United and British Airways - quitting for a minimum wage job was the best thing I ever did'

Nadine Mansfield decided on a total career change after 25 years as a corporate high flyer - and is now reaping the rewards

Nadine Mansfield quit the corporate world for a minimum wage job at her local garden centre - and she says it was the best decision she ever made.

Nadine, 47, was a high-flyer and worked in marketing for some of the biggest organisations in the north west across her 25-year-career including for Manchester United, British Airways, Key 103 and Manchester Airport.

But after the birth of her son Marley, Nadine realised the long hours and stress of the corporate world no longer worked for her. She says many were surprised by her career change - but going to work at her local Notcutts garden centre would prove to be a revelation.

She had already fallen in love with gardening after moving house from West Didsbury to Poynton, and setting to work transforming the "blank canvas" garden at her new home. And meeting an expert plant buyer at her job at Notcutts further fuelled her interest in gardening.

As friends and former colleagues began to hear of her change in direction, she won her first commission for a garden makeover. By January 2020 she had set up her own business Nadine Mansfield Garden Design.

Now, just four years later, she has won her first prestigious Royal Horticultural Society medal after creating a garden at the RHS Flower Show at Tatton Park for the first time.

Nadine says: "I'd worked in the corporate world for forever and a day, but my last job was extremely stressful and after I had my baby, I thought I’m probably not going to maintain the same level of stress and working nights and weekends.

"We moved house from West Didsbury to Poynton, and the garden there was a blank canvas. I started working on it and I thought 'do you know what I’m really enjoying this'.

"I signed up to Cheadle and Marple College for an RHS diploma in horticulture, it was the best thing I ever did. Alongside it went to work at my local Notcutts. It was a massive change - working for minimum wage in a garden centre.

"But there I met Tony Jones, he’s the plant buyer for Notcutts, and there's nothing he doesn’t know about plants - he was really supportive in my journey."

As word got around among her friends, there was interest from people asking Nadine to do their gardens.

Nadine said: "Naturally people were interested that I’d gone from massive corporate jobs to working down the garden centre. By January 2020 I had my first client, Marcie Incarico, who was an old friend I had met when I was working at Key 103, and she asked me to do her garden in Didsbury.

"That's when I set up my own business, Nadine Mansfield Garden Design, and I've never looked back. It proved to be the best time as we went into lockdown as there was this influx of business because people wanted to improve their own spaces."

In the summer, Nadine decided to take on another challenge - exhibiting at the RHS Show at Tatton Park for the first time. She entered The Career Changer of The Year Competition, a brand new category for 2024, which was open to anyone who had never showed at an RHS event before and celebrated those who changed career to gardening.

Nadine said: "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.

"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."

Creating an RHS Show Garden also enabled Nadine to pay tribute to her friend Marcie, who trusted her with her first garden commission, who sadly passed away in May from cancer. Artist Sam Baguley created a live artwork in the garden during the show, with prints of the finished work raising money for The Christie Hospital which had cared for Marcie.

Nadine said: "Marcie was an incredible woman, entrepreneur, and friend. She was always the cheerleader of her pals and championing new talent. She died in May which was heartbreaking, and so that is why the garden is dedicated to her."

Her RHS garden was called “A Better New Build Garden” as she hopes to inspire new build home owners and property developers to make more of their spaces and to ditch environmentally damaging artificial grass. She was delighted to win a Silver Gilt Medal for her work.

"The rate at which new builds are being built is astounding, and the gardens that come with the houses can have a reputation for being difficult to work with", Nadine said.

"Homeowners often just put artificial turf into these spaces without realising the negative effects and others simply struggle for inspiration for their muddy rear gardens.

"Artificial lawn manufacturers and installers often claim the plastic grass can be recycled. It can’t. At the end of its short life, it ends up in landfill.

"With my show garden I wanted to present what can be done in the new build space that is practical, aesthetically pleasing and good for wildlife. The intention is to show how a new build garden can be a haven for people and nature alike.”

Nadine's career change journey continues, as she has recently embarked on a Masters in Landscape Architecture Studies to build her knowledge and expertise even further. She is also now a Pre-Registered Member of the Society of Garden Designers.