Top 30 UK petcare retailers: market report 2025

Selection criteria

To be included, businesses must be UK-registered entities with a primary or significant revenue stream derived from the retail sale of pet products (food, accessories, and pharmaceuticals) to end consumers. This includes:

• Speciality retailers: Traditional “bricks-and-mortar” and omnichannel chains.
• DTC subscription services: Digital-first brands providing tailored nutrition directly to consumers.
• Clinical-retail integrators: Online retail arms of major veterinary groups.
• Rural/agricultural cooperatives: Significant distributors of pet supplies in rural markets.
• Retail-facing manufacturers: Large-scale manufacturers with dominant consumer-facing brands or high-volume DTC platforms.

Data harmonisation

Financial data is sourced from latest available statutory filings (Companies House), preliminary results for 2025 where available, and trade performance reports. To ensure comparability across different financial year-ends, figures have been adjusted to their nearest annualised equivalent. In cases where retail turnover is part of a larger group (e.g. Booker/Tesco or CVS Group), we have extracted the specific pet-retail or online-retail divisional performance.

Weighted ranking score

The final ranking is determined by a composite score based on the following weightings:

1. Turnover (60%): The primary indicator of market share and consumer reach.
2. Profitability (20%): Measured by Adjusted EBITDA or net profit to assess business model sustainability.
3. Operational scale (20%): A combined metric of UK headcount and the number of physical or distribution locations, representing infrastructure strength.

Pets at Home Group PLC

Pets at Home remains the undisputed market leader, operating a unique model that blends a massive retail footprint with a comprehensive veterinary and grooming service network. For the financial year 2025, the group reported a statutory revenue of £1.48bn.

However, the group’s “Consumer Revenue” – the total value of goods and services sold across all its channels – reached £1.96bn, a 2.7% increase year-on-year. This growth was primarily driven by the Vet Group, where revenue increased by 13.0% to £655.1m, offsetting a 1.8% decline in the retail division.

The group’s profitability is robust, with an adjusted EBITDA of £134.6m for FY2025, representing a margin of 20%. Its ‘Pets Club’ loyalty programme is a critical strategic asset, boasting 8.2 million active members and providing the data necessary for personalised marketing and high-retention subscription models. 

Despite its dominance, the company has faced headwinds from rising operational costs, including a significant impact from the UK Budget’s changes to National Insurance, which prompted a downward revision of profit guidance in early 2025. The company employs approximately 18,000 people and operates over 450 stores across the UK.

Best Pets (Booker Group)

While primarily a wholesale operation within the Booker Group (a subsidiary of Tesco), Best Pets is a vital pillar of the UK petcare retail infrastructure. It serves thousands of independent retailers and smaller chains, reporting a turnover of £1.63bn in its most recent full reporting period.

Its inclusion in a retail ranking is justified by its direct influence on market pricing and product availability. By leveraging Tesco’s supply chain efficiency, Best Pets enables smaller local retailers to compete with national chains on essential items, particularly in the value and mid-tier pet food categories.

Jollyes – The Pet People

Jollyes has positioned itself as the most aggressive challenger to the market leader’s dominance. Backed by TDR Capital, Jollyes has undertaken a significant expansion, with turnover jumping from £115.2m in May 2023 to £144m in May 2024. This growth trajectory is remarkable given that sales stood at just £86.9m in 2022 and £67.9m in 2020.

However, the rapid expansion has come with financial costs. The company reported a pre-tax loss of £13.3m for the year ending May 2024, compared to a £5.3m loss in the prior year. These losses are attributed to £1m in pre-opening costs for 13 new stores, a £6m asset write-off, and nearly £2m in supply chain transition costs. Despite these figures, Jollyes remains operationally strong, increasing its headcount to 1,160 and implementing an “everyday low pricing” model to attract cost-conscious consumers.

Pets Corner (UK) Ltd

Pets Corner occupies a premium, ethical niche in the speciality retail segment. Headquartered in Crawley, the company operates approximately 150 stores and emphasises the expertise of its academy-trained staff. Reported turnover for the Pet Family group (which includes Pets Corner) was £79.9m in 2020, with revenue estimated in the range of £90m to £100m for 2024 based on its expanding footprint.

The brand’s strategy focuses on “natural pet care,” avoiding the price wars of larger retailers in favour of high-margin, specialised products like insect-based proteins (Yora) and high-quality raw foods. This differentiation is supported by an expanding range of services, including veterinary centres and pet spas, designed to create a premium, high-engagement shopping experience.

Mole Valley Farmers (rural retailing)

As a farmer-owned cooperative, Mole Valley Farmers (MVF) plays a critical role in the rural petcare segment. For the year ending September 2024, its retail division – comprising 55 stores trading under MVF, Mole Country Stores, and Bridgmans – generated £237m in revenue. Although retail sales were down 4.5% year-on-year due to a subdued agricultural market, the division remains a major distributor of pet supplies to rural communities. The group reported an improvement in EBITDA to a £2.7m profit, a significant turnaround from a £2.7m loss the previous year, highlighting the focus on operational efficiency.

Tails.com (Tailsco Ltd)

Tails.com, a majority-owned subsidiary of Nestlé Purina, is the leader in the bespoke dry dog food market. The company reported a revenue of £95m for the year ending December 2023, reflecting a five-year CAGR of 32%. Its model utilises proprietary algorithms to blend customised kibble based on a pet’s breed, age, and health requirements.

Despite its high revenue, Tails.com faced a financial loss of £10m in 2023, leading to a strategic restructuring that included laying off 55 employees – approximately 25% of its workforce – in early 2024. This move reflects a broader industry trend toward prioritising ‘self-sustainability’ over venture-backed growth, as the company aims to become profitable by 2026.

Butternut Box (Dogmate Ltd)

Butternut Box is the UK’s most prominent ‘fresh’ pet food provider. Since its founding in 2014, the company has raised over £380m in funding, including a massive £280m investment from General Atlantic and L Catterton. In May 2025, the company secured an additional £63m+ (€75m) debt financing facility from Liquidity to expand its European manufacturing capacity, particularly in Poland.

The company employs 830 people and has expanded its footprint across the UK, Ireland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, and Poland. Its brand strength is reflected in its organic search dominance, where it captures nearly a third of the traffic in the £200m UK fresh and raw dog food market.

The role of CVS Group and IVC Evidensia

CVS Group and IVC Evidensia are primarily veterinary corporate providers, yet they operate significant retail arms that leverage their clinical infrastructure. CVS Group’s online retail division, dominated by Animed Direct, generated an adjusted EBITDA of £1.1m in the first half of 2025, despite a 35.3% decline in EBITDA compared to the previous year, highlighting the competitive pressures in the online pharmacy space. 

Similarly, IVC Evidensia operates Pet Drugs Online, which ranks among the top five UK pet websites for organic traffic visibility, capitalising on the shift from physical prescriptions to online purchasing.

The strategic importance of these retail arms lies in their ability to retain customers within a corporate ecosystem. When a pet owner receives a prescription from a Medivet or CVS clinic, the corporate entity can direct the sale of the medication and follow-on therapeutic diets to their own online platforms, effectively capturing the high-margin ‘medicalised’ retail spend that was traditionally lost to independent pharmacies or supermarkets.

The price factor: professional services vs. retail goods

Research indicates that prices for UK veterinary services rose by 63% between 2016 and 2023. This has catalysed the growth of online retailers who focus on pharmaceutical products. The convenience and lower overhead of these digital pharmacies allow them to undercut traditional clinics, a trend reflected in the 245% YoY traffic growth for science-based food sites like Hill’s Pet Nutrition and the 63% increase for supplement brands like YuMOVE. 

Fresh food and the raw revolution

Natures Menu, Butternut Box, and Bella & Duke dominate the fresh and raw dog food market, which is now worth over £200m in the UK. Butternut Box’s recent B-Corp certification and its commitment to reducing waste – 90% of which is now recycled or turned into bio-gas – reflect the evolving expectations of the ‘pet parent’ demographic. These companies are not just selling food; they are selling a lifestyle of health and sustainability, delivered directly to the doorstep.

The profitability challenge in subscription models

The struggle for profitability at Tails.com, despite its £95m revenue, highlights the high costs of customer acquisition and logistics in the subscription space. The industry is witnessing a consolidation of marketing spend, with players like Butternut Box raising massive amounts of capital to achieve the scale necessary for long-term viability. 

For smaller DTC brands like KatKin and Pure Pet Food, the path to success likely involves being acquired by global FMCG giants like Nestlé or Mars, who can provide the necessary supply chain efficiencies.

Consolidation risks

The high level of private equity involvement, particularly in chains like Jollyes and through acquisitions by the ‘Big Three’ (Mars, Nestlé, Hill’s), suggests that consolidation will continue. Speculation regarding a potential bid for Pets at Home by BC Partners highlights the attractiveness of the sector’s cash flows to institutional investors.

The regulatory ceiling

The outcome of the CMA’s investigation into the veterinary market will be the single most influential factor in the sector’s future. If the regulator mandates a separation of retail and clinical services, or imposes pricing caps on medications, the financial models of integrated giants like Pets at Home, CVS, and IVC will need to be fundamentally rebuilt.