Natalie Carr - whose late mum and stepfather set up the multi-million pound Country Baskets empire - talks about her passion for fashion and following in the family's entrepreneurial footsteps

She fondly recalls the shopping trips they embarked on and the outfits her mum bought her for Birthday treats.

Now, for the owner of After Dark, in Cleckheaton, selling occasionwear and prom dresses, those recollections are even more precious after losing her mum and step-father in a devastating accident.

It is eight years since the helicopter crash in the grounds of Rudding Park Hotel, Harrogate, which would change Natalie, her sister Jackie and the rest of their family's lives forever.

After suffering a miscarriage with her first child, Natalie and her husband Michael had gone on a skiing trip to France, otherwise Natalie says they would have probably been with her mum, Linda, and step-father Paul Spencer.

She explains how her husband, Michael, and Paul were great pals and both shared a love of planes. Michael would often fly with Paul in his helicopter. Natalie had flown with him too. "He was very good at flying," she says.

An inquest held after the crash found adverse weather to be a contribution to the cause.

Natalie recalls the moment she heard about it - on Sky News - as she and Michael were preparing to fly home at the end of their trip.

"I didn't know it was them to start with because they didn't say any names but I knew they were flying and I knew they were in Harrogate."

Natalie frantically called Paul's mobile phone but couldn't get an answer. She called her Mum's but it was switched off. According to Natalie, that wasn't unusual. She also tried contacting the hotel to find out the slightest bit of information.

She finally found out when she called her Auntie. "Your stomach drops, it's just awful," says Natalie.

"It's also a bit surreal. I used to have dreams that it hadn't really happened."

Waiting in the airport for their flight back home the following day after the crash, Natalie recalls she couldn't stop crying in the airport as reality hit.

The family have always been close, and probably more so as they worked side by side within the family business her mum and Paul had built up from scratch.

It was through hard graft over the years Linda and Paul built up their multi-million empire from very humble beginnings - as Natalie recalls.

She remembers a neighbour asking why their garage light would be on until midnight most nights. Natalie replied that they were busy making up dried flower arrangements.

But Linda had harboured a creative flair long before Country Baskets was born, as Natalie recalls.

"Mum was into sewing, dresses and clothes, she was very much into fashion. When she was a young girl she worked at Woolworths and would buy a piece of material and cut out a dress and wear it that night."

Linda did eventually open a dress shop and, after seeing a growing demand for sunbeds, set up an area above the shop for customers to top up their tans.

But it was the idea to buy some dried flowers and arrange them as a leaving gift for a fellow colleague at the firm she worked for in Bradford at the time which gave Linda an entrepreneurial idea.

The couple began the business on a stall in Halifax's Peace Hall. As the business grew they moved to premises in Drighlington. The business now operates from Ardsley Mills, Leeds, and has branches throughout the country including Glasgow, Gateshead, Loughborough and Manchester.

Natalie recalls being a teenager when the business began to take off. She recalls helping with the dried flower arrangements at weekends in between working in a travel shop.

"I wanted to travel the world, it was at basic price and you got educational trips back then," says Natalie, referring to her wanderlust.

Eventually though, she ended up joining the family business and, incidentally, her role as a head buyer, led to her travelling the world with regular visits to China and Hong Kong.

Motherhood intervened, Natalie's first son, Harrison, arrived in 2009 followed by her twin sons, Alexander and Lawrence in January 2011, forcing her to re-think her career.

"Having my children I didn't really want to work so I stayed at home with them to start with."

In September, when the boys started school, Natalie began to think about returning to work. She explains a friend of hers knew the owner of After Dark, which specialises in prom, evening, bridesmaid and wedding dresses. It is a long established business, set up nearly 20 years ago.

Natalie worked in the business for a while alongside the previous owner before taking it on in October. Among those attending the opening in November were the Mayor and Mayoress of Kirklees, Coun Paul Kane and Susan Bedford and councillor Kath Pinnock.

The 42-year-old, from Gomersal, says having boys the business allows her to explore her love of clothes.

"As I now live in a very masculine household After Dark is my haven!" she says.

"It is lovely to dress everybody in their prom dresses. One Mum burst into tears. It is all those moments and I really really like it.

"My Mum started her career with a small boutique in Bradford, so I like to think that I am now following in her entrepreneurial footsteps," adds Natalie.