'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 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