BBA alumna success despite battering Boxing Day floods

14 February 2017

Leeds-based pet supplier, Monster Pet Supplies, co-founded by BBA alumna Sarah Gould, exceeds £6 million turnover despite being victim to the damaging floods that took place in 2015.

Monster Pet Supplies was established in 2010 by Sarah Gould, BBA Management alumna (2000), and Leeds-born husband Jonny Gould. The company was one of the many businesses in Kirkstall, Leeds, which was hit by the Boxing Day storms, resulting in significant damage to stock and a monumental clear-up.

Following the floods and to support the future growth ambitions of the business, Sarah applied on behalf of Monster Pet Supplies to the Business Growth Programme and was awarded a grant from the Leeds City Region Local Enterprise Partnership (The LEP) to fund the necessary move into new, larger premises. This was to facilitate the exponential growth of the company and to safe-guard 28 jobs in the region. The new 18,500 sq. ft. premises include a state-of-the-art warehouse for stock and distribution and enough office space for the company to expand.

Recent reports from Euromonitor reveal that the pet care market is worth over £4.6bn in the UK and is showing no signs of slowing down. Since its inception in 2010, Monster Pet Supplies has shipped over 4.3 million tonnes of pet food to nearly half a million customers nationwide.

In addition to its core customer base, in 2014, Monster Pet Supplies struck a deal to partner with national supermarket chain Waitrose, to launch WaitrosePet.com which is an online specialist pet store offering over 9,000 products. Since then, Monster Pet Supplies has facilitated the demand for Waitrose shoppers who now buy online through WaitrosePet.com for specialist advice, convenience and choice.

Sarah Gould, Co-Founder of Monster Pet Supplies said, “Boxing Day last year was a testing time for the business. As a retailer, Christmas is the busiest time of the year and on top of Monster Pet Supplies’ national customer base; we also had the orders from WaitrosePet.com and other partners to fulfil. We’re incredibly grateful for the help received from staff, friends, volunteers - it may have been a very different story without them.”

“Moving into new premises will help us to achieve our ambitious growth plans and it will also open the door to recruitment opportunities here in Leeds over the next 12 months.”