VetUK Ltd. is an

online retailer Online shopping is a form of electronic commerce which allows consumers to directly buy goods or services from a seller over the Internet using a web browser or a mobile app. Consumers find a product of interest by visiting the website of the r ...

supplying pet care products including toys, accessories, pet food, over-the-counter pet treatments, and veterinary prescription medicines. The company was founded in 2005, reached their millionth order in 2012, and their two millionth order in 2014.

Overview

The VetUK headquarters are located in

Thirsk Thirsk is a market town and civil parish in the Hambleton district of North Yorkshire, England known for its racecourse; quirky yarnbomber displays, and depiction as local author James Herriot's fictional Darrowby. History Archeological ...

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by National parks of the United Kingdom, national parks, including most of ...

, with an IT office based at York Science Park, University of York. The company had a £10M turnover in 2010. As of 2012, VetUK employed 32 people and sold about 10,000 different products. It was averaging 30% growth year-over-year. VetUK sells products under the Max and Molly, Nutrecare, and PetUK brand names in the UK and continental

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

. It is headed by Iain Booth. It markets itself primarily through word of mouth. The company is partnered with the Yorkshire Air Ambulance and Yorkshire Wildlife Trust charities.

History

VetUK was established in 2005 by veterinary surgeon Iain Booth and scientist Lyane Haywood to sell over-the-counter veterinary medicines. According to Booth "I had clients telling me there wasn't enough choice and products were too expensive, so I had thought about selling pet medicines over the internet. I tested my idea first selling via eBay, and when I realised people liked it, I launched the site." The company was entirely self-funded, and initially it operated out of Booth's living room. In 2010, VetUK launched an app called "V-E-T" to locate the nearest emergency vet. By 2011, when VetUK was nominated for "Large Business and Retailer of the Year" at ''The Press'' Business Awards, the company employed 22 people and had annual sales of £10 million. In August 2011, it launched PetUK, its own brand of pet food and accessories. In August 2012, VetUK bought Nutrecare, retaining the brand name of its products. None of Nutrecare's five employees chose to make the move as operations were transferred from

Kidderminster Kidderminster is a large market and historic minster town and civil parish in Worcestershire, England, south-west of Birmingham and north of Worcester. Located north of the River Stour and east of the River Severn, in the 2011 census, it ha ...

to Thirsk. About a month later, VetUK processed its millionth order.

References

External links

* {{Pet stores Pet stores Online retailers of the United Kingdom Pets in the United Kingdom Companies based in North Yorkshire British companies established in 2005 Retail companies established in 2005