Pets at Home aims to reach "the next stage" with IPO plan
Pets at Home has announced its intention to apply for an initial public offering (IPO) as it aims to reach “the next stage” of growth.
The pet food and accessory retailer has announced its intention to apply for admission of its ordinary shares to the London Stock Exchange after 32 years in business.
Pets at Home currently operates 369 stores across the UK, with 246 small animal veterinary surgeries through the Vets4Pets and Companion Care brand names. It also operates 116 in-store Groom Room salons.
Nick Wood, CEO of Pets at Home, stated his target of growing the number of stores to over 500, the number of veterinary practices to over 700 and the number of grooming salons to 300 “in the medium term.”
He explained: "Pets at Home comes to the market with a clear leadership position in the UK pet care market and with a mission to be the best pet shop in the world. We benefit from a highly differentiated customer offer including an authoritative and innovative range of products and a very strong own brand offering, highly engaged colleagues delivering best-in-class customer service and experience, and a unique pet services proposition through our veterinary services and in-store Groom Rooms. The success of our Very Important Pet (VIP) Club programme is strengthening our relationship with our customers and their pets and enabling our customers to give something back to their local pet charities every time they shop with Pets at Home.
“We have delivered consistently strong financial growth and since 2009 we have gained share across all segments of the market. Our performance has been further characterised by an unbroken track record of positive LFL performance over the last decade. Even after the investment made in the business, our operational cash flow has remained consistently strong.”
Pets at Home currently works with Krow Communications on its above-the-line account and last year appointed to Havas EHS as its first CRM agency.