Northern Ireland

Dec- 2021 -

3 December

Jollyes to invest in Northern Ireland market

Jollyes has announced plans to invest £325,000 in Northern Ireland to open new stores and support key Irish suppliers. The pet retail chain, which already has 12 stores in Northern Ireland, will begin the new investment programme on 11 December, opening a new 6,700 sq ft store at Longwood retail…

Oct- 2021 -

28 October

Retailers

Jollyes acquires The Pet Store chain in Yorkshire

Pet retailer Jollyes has announced it is set to acquire The Pet Store and its three Yorkshire stores for an undisclosed sum. The Pet Store currently employs 10 colleagues who will now join the 720-strong workforce across the Jollyes UK network. Jollyes said the three stores will complement its existing…

21 October

Retailers

Jollyes to recruit 150 young people across stores

Jollyes has outlined new plans to recruit 150 young people to work in its stores. The pet goods retailer said it is looking for staff who will gain a wide range of retail experience as customer advisers, including looking after pets in sites that sell live animals, and assistant groomers…

19 October

Industry News

UK footfall return remains steady

Footfall across UK retail destinations declined marginally by -0.7% last week from the week before, according to Springboard. UK footfall last week was +28.1% higher than in the same week in 2020, which was a strong improvement from +24.5% in the week before. The fact that footfall did not change…

Sep- 2021 -

14 September

Industry News

Naturo Natural Pet Food announces partnership with Sarda In

Naturo Natural Pet Food, owned by Northern Ireland based Mackle Petfoods, and the life-saving search and rescue dog charity, Sarda In have announced a new year-long partnership. Sarda In, which featured on BBC Series ‘The Search’, is run by volunteers called upon to assist with searches for missing people in…

May- 2021 -

5 May

Retailers

UK retail footfall hit by bad weather

New data from Springboard has revealed that footfall at UK retail destinations dropped by 2% last week from the previous seven-day period, despite the reopening of non-essential retail stores across the country. The footfall decrease was primarily due to a considerable drop of 6.1% in high street footfall, despite footfall…

Apr- 2021 -

13 April

Appointment

Mackle Petfoods appoints new business development manager

Mackle Petfoods has appointed David Shorthouse as its new business development manager, a move that will see a bigger focus to work more closely with independent retail and the pet trade across the UK. While the group has seen its brand Naturo Natural Pet Foods reach shops in countries as…

13 April

Regulation

Rabbit legislation too ‘focused’ on commercial activities, says report

A review by Scotland’s Rural Collect (SURC) has revealed that rabbits are under-represented in most legislation, despite being the UK’s third most popular pet. Researchers at the SURC found pet legislation is generally focused on commercial activities involving animals, such as pet sales, products, exhibitions, and regulation relating to dog…

6 April

Manufacturers

Naturo Natural Pet Food launches national campaign

Naturo Natural Pet Food has launched its latest marketing campaign, which will be seen across TV and digital channels across the UK and Republic of Ireland and will last for 10 weeks. It comes as the brand has seen “exponential” growth over the past year, with a 64% increase in…

Feb- 2021 -

8 February

Manufacturers

Mackle Petfoods and Naturo welcomes rising sales

For nearly 50 years, Mackle Petfoods have been creating high quality pet food at their family-owned farm and factories in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The secret to their longevity in the industry? As well as sticking to their main principles of creating food to promote overall health and maintain a…