4. tails.com

Founders: James Davidson, Graham Bosher, Karen Freeman, Steve Webster, Joe Inglis, Mark Holland, Paul Cooke, and Kat Linger
Founded: October 2013 (launched July 2014)
Website: www.tails.com

Touted as the UK’s “fastest growing pet food brand”, tails.com is on a mission to “change the world of pet food for good” by providing dogs across the country with food individually tailored to their unique nutritional needs.

This innovative start-up was founded by a team of dog lovers who had never been certain they were feeding their pets the food they truly needed. They realised that a single generic option couldn’t possibly give each and every size, age, gender and breed of dog the best combination of nutrients for healthy development.

So, in 2014, tails.com launched with a tailor-made dog food subscription service – though getting established as a reliable brand while disrupting tradition and carving out a new section of the market was no mean feat.

However, within just one year the business appeared to be making a tangibly positive impact on dogs and their owners. The founders received hundreds of happy testimonials and photographs from customers who were thrilled with the positive changes they’d seen in their dogs.

It’s not too surprising, then, that tails.com now sends monthly packages to over 65,000 regular customers, has been able to expand to offer a range of products including wet food and treats, and took home the title of Product Business of the Year at the Startups Awards 2016.

Keeping customers at the heart of what they do, tails.com uses photographs of customers’ dogs in its marketing and communications – which has proved a winning idea, increasing sales and fostering a happy, interactive consumer base, over 90% of which give tails.com a five-star rating.

tails.com has big aspirations for 2017, with a goal of becoming a £20m-turnover company by the end of the year, and plans to expand internationally and launch a new range of treats and accessories. We predict that tails.com will be making man’s best friend happier for many years to come.