Booming pet supplies business broadens its horizons from rural Warwickshire

Further recruitment, an expansion of premises and increased exports are all on the cards for Warwickshire rural-based business PetShop.co.uk.

The on-line business is reaping the benefits of a much higher on-line profile driven by the brave decision to change the company name.

A change from 'PetShopBowl' was felt necessary by the firm, which delivers pet food, medicine and a range of accessories to customers, in order to harness potential demand. It has worked well with the business going from strength to strength.

Co-founder Adam Taylor is taking nothing for granted. The success story so far is based on hard graft and a lot more of that is needed to maintain the upward curve. But a success story it undoubtedly is.

And from his office at Hatton Rock, between Leamington Spa and Stratford-upon-Avon, Adam is quick to flag up the crucial role played in the company's rise by a grant from Warwickshire County Council.

A £96,000 Micro Enterprise Grant, accessed via the Warwickshire Rural Growth Network, was quite simply "a game-changer" he said.

"We are very pleased with the progress so far," Adam said. "The name change was a bit of a leap of faith but we felt that PetShopBowl sounded a bit too niche and the new name of PetShop.co.uk complemented our goal to be the 'go to' pet shop in the UK.

"We were a little bit concerned because it was a big change but the switch to PetShop.co.uk has gone really smoothly. We now have a great presence on Google and are in position one for the search terms such as “pet shop” and in top positions for Pro Plan dog food, Iams cat food & James Wellbeloved.

"We have taken on further staff, now up to 12, and in the next two or three years will be looking for a bigger and more permanent base, definitely still in Warwickshire and hopefully within ten miles of where we are now."

And although the business will remain Warwickshire-based, its customer-based is reaching increasingly further afield.

"Our export market is an area with a lot of scope to expand and we plan to set up dedicated platforms, through language-translation websites, for Germany, France and Spain which are our principal markets in Europe.

"It has been an exciting journey and it wouldn't have been possible without the micro enterprise grant from the county council. That was very helpful at a time when we really needed that bit of extra support, both in terms of finance and also the excellent advice we received.

"Effectively, the grant revolutionised the business. It was a game-changer.

"We regard ourselves still very much as a Start-up. We know that 99 per cent of pet-owners don't know we exist. But we excited by the challenge and making good progress!"