Trophy Franchisee's 'tail-wagging' businesses!
Dale & Justine Gladwell-Hunt Trophy Pet Foods Cornwall
Our ‘career’ with Trophy started in late 2003 when we took
over an existing territory from one of the very first Trophy franchisees. To say it was a steep learning curve was an understatement. We (no doubt like everyone else!) have had our ups and downs along the way but it has been great fun, we’ve made lots of new friends and to top it all we were awarded ‘Trophy Franchisee’s of the Year’ at the end of our first 12 months.
We have always had a great passion for animals and our current menagerie consists of eight (yes, eight!) dogs, two cats, two hamsters and an assortment of chickens and guinea fowl, hopefully to be joined by some rheas later on! Oh, we also have two young children as well!
We both train, judge and compete in dog agility, and usually attend local agility shows with our Trophy stand where we sponsor classes and provide Trophy food as prizes. Every year we attend the 3 day Royal Cornwall Show which is one of the country’s largest agricultural shows. This has proved to be an ideal canvassing opportunity with over 100,000 visitors through the gates each year.
We run our own agility training club and puppy training classes and in late summer 2006 we opened a grooming salon to enable us to truly offer our customer a ‘One Stop Dog Shop’, and we have found this to be an ideal platform from which to promote the skin and coat benefits of feeding Trophy. Justine is a qualified canine behaviourist and has recently graduated from Bishop Burton College with a HNC in Canine Behaviour and Training, with a special interest in aggression and how diet is linked to behaviour. Dale has also just passed his exams to become a PAT dog assessor.
Why did we choose Trophy? Well, it fits in nicely with our other interests and we knew it would give us the flexibility we needed with the children. As for the Trophy product, we could never sell something we didn’t believe in ourselves. We have had dogs for over 15 years and have probably been through most of the brands on the market. Since changing over to Trophy our dogs have never looked so good and it is so rewarding when customers say the same thing after feeding Trophy for only a few weeks.
Ian Webb and Sue Emslie Trophy Invicta (Kent)
Brother and Sister, Ian and Sue form a formidable team in the Kent area. Supported by their respective families they have rapidly grown the business over the last 18 months and won Franchisee of the Year 2006. My sister Sue is from a sales background and was looking to return to work after a career break. I was a computer technician fed up of putting in the effort for someone else’s benefit.
Early in 2005 we went to a franchise exhibition where the benefits of a pet food franchise were clear. Whilst having discussions with the various pet food franchises present, Trophy’s professionalism and product knowledge stood out over their competitors. The next step was to put together a strategy for rapid growth drawing on the strengths of our partners and us. We started in September 2005 and with the full commitment of our team we have grown our business to over 300 loyal customers.
Debbie Lowther Tropy Pet Foods Nottingham
One of our new franchisees and off to a flying start, Debbie is concentrating on premium only sales for long term loyalty and sustainable profit margins. 
Hi! My name is Debbie Lowther and I am the franchisee for the Nottingham area. Previously to this I was a PA working for several companies at a time. The office time this incurred was beginning to infringe on family life and for this reason I decided I would like to work from home. After looking at several franchise options Trophy was the one we decided to look into further. As a family we have a love of animals (having a menagerie at home) and I was a veterinary nurse, so Trophy was not only an interesting business prospect, but also incurred me working with animals and of course their owners.
I have been at Trophy for a few months now and I am thoroughly enjoying it. I can plan out my day on my own terms and enjoy some quality time with my family, which had previously been lacking. The support I get from Head Office is always friendly, never too much trouble and the advice is invaluable. On the whole, this is probably the most enjoyable job I have had as I love to chat with like-minded people on a daily basis.
John & Gill Thurley Trophy Pet Foods Stafford
Trophy Stafford is owned and operated by myself John Thurley with the help of my family. I have lived in Stafford for over 20 years having settled there after serving in the RAF. My wife Gill is also an ex member of the RAF who, when n
ot helping myself, works for the Katherine House hospice.
Along with our daughter Laura and her Fiancé Ben who help out when they can, we think Trophy Pet Foods Stafford is a true Family Business. And we are proud to have been awarded Trophy Franchisee of the Year for 2005. I also carry out part of the initial Trophy Training for new starters to allow new franchisees to gain instant experience, tips and ideas and all the benefits of being trained by an established franchisee.
In May 2007 we also made it to the Top of the Trophy Premium League, having sold the most amounts of Trophy Premium Products in the Trophy Team.
