A Cornish pet shop who were awarded the 'UK Pet Retailer of The Year 2021’ at a recent ceremony have explained how they make their store unique during such challenging times.

The Natural Cornish Pet Shop, based in Hayle and owned by Katy Peck and Jordan Coombes, were recently crowned ‘UK Pet Retailer of The Year 2021’ at the PetQuip awards after having to adapt their business over the course of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Katy and Jordan founded the shop in 2014, alongside their other business, Doggy Day Care Cornwall, and explained how their day care business helped grow the pet shop.

Katy said: "We started off looking after dogs in our doggy day care.

"We would look after up to 80 dogs a day and, through the relationships we built, we worked closely with owners to help support their dog’s digestion.

Katy says she saw first-hand that those with natural diets had a better digestive system and wellbeing, which led to her coming across products that they wanted to share with others.

Katy continued: "Being so far down in Cornwall, it’s hard for people to find out about new trends and have access to the latest things.

"Therefore, we started building a portfolio of products that were tried, tested and approved.

"For me, the main thing is that natural shouldn’t mean more expensive.

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"Our ethics are about products being simple, straightforward, and transparent.

"We want to make natural feeding the norm. Daily, we see how much it improves dogs’ lives; therefore, we want to build our community and get the word out.

"It’s a daily occurrence for us that people visit the store from all over the country, letting us know they were visiting Cornwall and wanted to visit the store.

"As a result, we want to be the centre of excellence.”

The support of the local community

"Cornwall wouldn’t function without the tourism: however, back in March 2020, we realised we needed to stay open and were relieved to be able to help so many people in our local community."

Many of Katy’s core following are paramedics, nurses, and teachers, so they played an essential part in looking after their pups whilst they were hard at work.

Katy said: "The shop became busier, so we set up a click and collect service online.

"This saw online sales shoot up, particularly because of the shortages on the high street."

"People should be an active part of their community and support their local retailers.

"Once you support them, you join that community and begin to understand and learn more."

For more information, visit: naturalcornishpet.co.uk