| Owner starts food business to help poorly pet |
Link to an article that was published in the Bolton News :-
http://www.thisislancashire.co.uk/news/4427237.Owner_starts_food_business_to_help_poorly_pet/ |
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By Wes Wright »
When his pedigree dog Milo became ill after an allergic reaction to his food it made owner Stephen Ward pause for thought.
It had cost him hundreds of pounds in vets’ fees for prescribed steroids and other treatments, so he began looking for answers to the dog’s allergies.
After tests he discovered that Milo was allergic to wheat and gluten and he searched everywhere for suitable dog food.
He finally found a specialist non-allergenic, or hypoallergenic, local dog food supplier, and the father of two was thrilled to see his pet pooch make a rapid recovery.
But when the supplier suddenly went out of business Mr Ward, faced with the prospect of a sick dog and further vets’ fees, decided to set up his own pet food supply business from his home at Heights Farm, in Harwood.
Now the company, Heights Farm Premium Pet Foods, is taking off.
Mr Ward, aged 41, said: “We always wanted a Dogue de Bordeaux, which is a French mastiff, but Milo became ill with very red eyes and was scratching all the time.
“He was very irritable but we eventually found a specialist hypoallergenic food supplier which was gluten-free and once we gave it him he soon got better. We had been taking him to the vet and paying lots of fees for steroids but the food we got returned him to health very quickly.
“Then one day I went to get his food and found the shop had gone out of business. I didn’t want to start paying large vets’ fees again or give him steroids, so I began to search for the manufacturer.
“I saw there was a gap in the market for pets, both dogs and cats, which have allergies and which need non-allergenic, or hypoallergenic, food on a regular basis.
“Once Milo began eating the food he was a different animal. I think of it as ‘posh nosh’ for dogs and cats.” |
| Food Franchise grows out of itchy problem |
Link to an article that was published in the Lancashire Evening Post :-
http://www.lep.co.uk/businessnews/Dog-food-business-breeds-success.5625983.jp
by David Coates
09-09-2009 |
| Milo's rash move set to be business winner... |
When his ten-and-a-half stone French bull mastiff Milo suffered from a skin problem, Stephen Ward spent hundreds of
pounds trying to scratch his itch.
But, after months of costly vets' bills, he discovered it was dog food which was causing the annoyance and then found a manufacturer which produced hypoallergenic food.
Within a fortnight, Milo's rash cleared up and then Stephen
ran into his next problem.
The company which sold him the food went bust, but rather than go back to shelling out more on vets’ bills, Stephen decided to start selling the food himself.
Today he has more than 160 customers for his Heights Farm
Premium Pet Foods range and has opened his first franchise to
cover the Preston, South Ribble and Chorley area with his Aunt, Moira Jordan.
Stephen, 41, of Bolton, said: "I had seen how Milo had gone
from scratching himself down to the bone to running around like a racehorse, so I could not go back to how he was.
I found the manufacturer, a company near Preston, and we
launched it under the Heights Farm brand in May now we have more than 160 repeat customers from Cornwall to Scotland."
Its range includes potato and salmon, chicken and even green
beans and carrots.
Now his Aunt is looking to set up Heights Farm's first franchise from her home in Euxton, near Chorley.
She said: "I saw how the food changed Milo and hopefully I
can use that now to help dog owners with pets in a similar situation in my area."
Stephen is confident the family connection will work in Lancashire and has plans to create other franchises.
He said: "We want to let it grow organically and we are slowly
finding our feet, but if things carry on as we hope they will, I think we can definitely look for more franchises." |
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