From car boot to growing business: The Green East at Portview

The Green East began with a simple idea: helping people choose houseplants that would actually work in their homes and workplaces.

Founder Roisin Horgan started the business during the pandemic, initially selling and delivering plants from her car. The business later moved into a small premises at Banana Block, giving it a physical base where customers could browse plants and get advice in person.

Since then, The Green East has expanded beyond retail. The team now works with offices, hotels, restaurants, event spaces and other clients on planting, installations, maintenance and consultancy, alongside its online and in-person sales.

At Portview, that growth has also led to collaboration. In 2025, The Green East completed a large movable green-wall installation inside Banana Block as part of a project involving Portview, Tourism Northern Ireland, Belfast Rooftops and National Museums NI. The wall was designed not only as a planting feature but as a space to share stories about the old mill and ideas for Portview’s future.

The Green East’s development captures one of the things Portview aims to make possible: giving a small independent business room to establish itself, become visible to customers and gradually expand into new services and markets.

From a car to a shop, consultancy work and larger commercial installations, it is a distinctly Portview growth story