Dog accessory maker Woofles in Toppesfield barking up the right tree with Enterprise Award
What began as a small hobby has grown into a nationally-recognised dog accessory brand, which is celebrating a top industry accolade following a strong year of growth.
Woofles, which celebrates its third anniversary this month, received the 2021 Enterprise Award for Most Client-Focused Dog Accessories Business.
Currently based at The Street in Toppesfield, near Halstead, the family-run firm confirmed plans to increase its staff and expand into new premises in 2022, having seen its trade grow by around 300 per cent in the last year.
Kat Waterhouse, who founded Woofles in 2018 while on maternity leave from her city career, said the coronavirus lockdown had resulted in a lot of new dog owners, which gave a boost to the business.
She told Suffolk News the company had made good customer service one of its key pillars, and she was delighted to be recognised for their efforts in this area.
“We try to deliver exemplary customer service,” she said. “It’s at the forefront of everything we do at our business.
“We do lots of follow-ups to make sure the customers are happy, so the fact that we have been rewarded for the thing we’ve put so much focus on makes it all the more worthwhile.
“To be recognised for our hard work means the world to us.”
Since its launch, Woofles has been featured on the television programme For the Love of Dogs, hosted by Paul O’Grady, and has also had its products stocked by the RSPCA.
“We started out because we’ve got a couple of dogs, and we’re a really dog-friendly family, but we were never happy with the products we bought for them,” added Kat. “We wanted to improve on what was on the market.
“I closed the business for a few months when Covid hit. When I reopened, there was such a boom in ‘lockdown puppies’, as they’re known.
“Covid gave us the opportunity to provide a lot of advice, because it made a lot of first-time dog owners.”
To find out more on the business, click here.
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