Pets at Home

The first store was opened in Chester in 1991, by Anthony Preston.[2]

In December 1999, Pets at Home acquired Petsmart UK,[3] bringing a chain of 140 stores under Pets at Home branding.[4]

Pets at Home was sold to Bridgepoint Capital for £230 million in July 2004.[5]

In November 2007, the 200th store, Barnstaple, opened.[6] On 27 January 2010, Pets at Home was sold by Bridgepoint Capital, to United States-based investment firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) for around £955 million.[7]

The 17 September 2012 episode of BBC consumer affairs television programme Watchdog included a report on animal and fish welfare conditions at Pets at Home.[8] The programme had visited eight stores, as part of an investigation which included Mike Jessop, former president of the Small Animal Veterinary Association. The programme discovered evidence of mistreatment of small animals, dead fish being left to rot and be eaten in tanks, and sick small animals up for sale.[8][9] That month, Pets at Home issued a full response to the claims made in the broadcast.[10] The BBC trust published a clarification on 7 June 2016 that the website included a version of the item made before Pets at Home's points in reply to criticisms were incorporated. In response to the complaint the programme-makers acknowledged that this represented a serious breach of the BBC's editorial standards and replaced the item with a version which reflected Pets at Home's points.[11]

In March 2014, the company was the subject of an initial public offering.[12]

In January 2018, KKR sold its remaining 12.3% stake in Pets at Home.[13]

Pets at home operate 453 stores plus 316 grooming salons; Pets at Home also operate 394 veterinary surgeries operated on a joint venture partnership model and additionally 47 group managed veterinary practices.[14] The joint venture businesses are generally small businesses which pay a percentage of turnover as a management fee to the company for back office services. The company runs a graduate training scheme intended to produce future joint venture partners.[15]

The company owns Vets for Pets,[16] a Guernsey-based veterinary business which operates a national network of joint venture partner veterinary practices focusing on treatment of small animals (domestic pets such as dogs, cats, rabbits etc.).[17] The company enters into joint venture partnerships[18] with veterinary professionals (usually a veterinary surgeon or veterinary nurse)[19] to open new small animal practices. These practices are supported by 2 main support offices located in Swindon and Manchester which provide partners and their practices with full administrative support.[20]

The management team include:[21]

• Lyssa McGowan - chief executive officer
• Mike Iddon - chief financial officer
• William Hewish - chief information officer

Key members of the board are as follows:[22]

• Ian Burke - Non-Executive Chairman
• Dennis Millard - Deputy Chairman & Senior Independent Non-Executive Director

• Neville, Simon (9 April 2013). "Pets at Home pays around £40m for Vets4Pets". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 December 2016.
• Henry, C.; Obe, T.R.H.T.L.B. (2013). Veterinary Business and Enterprise: Theoretical Foundations and Practical Cases. Elsevier Health Sciences UK. pp. 124–125. ISBN 978-0-7020-5823-3.
• "Weirdest items found in dogs' stomachs revealed by Vets4Pets". Huddersfield Daily Examiner.

• Official website