Successful Petpals Pet Sitting, Home Sitting and Home Boarding Franchises

Mum-of-two Clare Needham knew she needed a new challenge when she was made redundant in 2002.

Having worked in the IT industry for 18 years, the shock of redundancy acted as a catalyst for Clare who had toyed with the idea of setting up her own business.

She attended a franchise exhibition to explore the options open to her and was drawn to Petpals due to her love of animals and the great outdoors. Persuaded by the advantages of being her own boss, Clare took the plunge and set up Petpals Fleet in June 2002.

Clare takes up the story: “It all started really when we bought a dog to help my younger daughter, Holly, get over her fear of dogs. Millie the golden retriever moved in with us and it all tied in when I discovered Petpals at the franchise fair.

“We haven’t looked back since and I certainly couldn’t go back to working in an office. There’s nothing to replace the outdoor life.”

Over the last six years, Petpals Fleet has built an enviable reputation for excellent service whether it’s dog walking, visiting cats and other small pets at home or boarding dogs.. and even a gosling.

Said Clare: “That was one of our more unusual requests. I was asked if I could ‘board’ a four-week-old gosling on its holiday from the farm! We get asked to do all sorts of things. One I particularly remember was when I had to feed some bearded dragon lizards while their owners were on holiday. This involved giving them live locusts, but not before they had been dipped in a vitamin powder!”

Clare and her dedicated team of pet carers work closely with the local community, including vets, the police and community groups to deliver a personally-tailored service that puts pets first.

Millie the golden retriever has been joined by Lucy the terrier cross and Esther the elderly cat, all sharing Clare’s home with daughters Holly, aged 12, and 14-years-old Beth.

Clare’s leap into the unknown when she set up Petpals Fleet has certainly paid off as she’s now one of Petpals’ top-performing franchisee. And Holly has overcome her fear of dogs.

For more information on new and resale franchises please call Petpals on 0845 6439981 or e-mail us

I worked for a leading mail order company for 18 years, mostly as a business analysis manager. However, I could see the writing on the wall with the traditional mail order business generally going down the pan, so I took voluntary redundancy.

I knew I didn’t want to do the same thing that I have been doing previously and saw this as an opportunity to do something different. My financial adviser suggested I looked on the British Franchising Association website. That’s where I found Petpals and, as I had always loved animals, I was thrilled to see there was a franchise opportunity to do with looking after animals. I was fortunate my redundancy package covered the cost of buying the Petpals franchise and the van.

I find the network of other franchisees extremely useful when it comes to asking people what they do in certain circumstances, as well as being able to bounce ideas off the other franchisees who are often in the same situation as yourself. The Petpals’ Annual General Meeting is another excellent avenue for support. It gives us the opportunity to shape the business by voting on important decisions as well as sharing knowledge with other franchisees face to face.

To be successful you really do have to work extremely hard to start with - there’s no getting away from it. You need to work out a strategy to deal with it, like employing staff. You come out the other side and eventually end up with a fantastic team. There are peaks and troughs but when it boils down to it, I love it!

Petpals is a full member of the British Franchising Association (BFA) and is therefore fully vetted and monitored, so it’s worth checking that any other franchises under consideration are also members of the BFA. Franchises in general, and Petpals in particular, provide a network of support which can prove invaluable to people starting up in business.

Stockport has an interesting demographic mix which, while attracting a lot of competition from similar businesses, reflects a healthy market. I want to continue to provide a consistent, reliable service to existing clients as well as steadily expanding to offer friendly and professional pet services to even more pet lovers.

For more information on new and resale franchises please call Petpals on 0845 6439981 or e-mail us