Inspired Pet Nutrition: Yorkshire-based pet food firm invests over £30m in factories

The company, which owns brands including Harringtons and Wagg, said it is “embracing the latest technologies and state-of-the-art equipment” as it invests to ensure its portfolio of brands and products are “consistently offering the highest possible quality, taste, and healthy nutrition.”

Chief operating officer, Anthony Stones, said: “This valuable investment represents Inspired Pet Nutrition’s core values in providing accessible, affordable nutrition.

“We’ve been developing our recipes and portfolio of brands for a century now and are constantly looking for ways to improve our offering for pet parents.

"By investing in our technical capabilities and upstreaming our supply chain, we have better control over the quality of our recipes and greater traceability of our ingredients.

“Alongside this, we’re increasing the size of our technical team and will have a new laboratory. We’re also investing in real-time testing equipment – and all this means that there’s continuous improvements both to our products and manufacturing processes.”

Our business newsletter will give you the inside track

The firm said that “premiumisation and humanisation” have recently begun driving the need for investment in the pet food industry.

It said that people now want high-quality nutrition for their pets, but also want to feed them “recognisable ingredients”.

Along with improving existing manufacturing processes, the investment will see the company upstreaming its supply chain.

The investment comes just months after Inspired Pet Nutrition celebrated 100 years in business, evolving from a family-founded animal feeds company in 1923, with great grandson of founder James R Page, Richard Page, at the helm as Chairman.

Over 75 per cent of Inspired Pet Nutrition’s workforce is based in Yorkshire. 334 of the firm’s 430 employees work at its Thirsk site, with 81 per cent of those living in the local area.

The firm previously announced that it plans to become one of the top three pet food companies in the UK over the next five years, with acquisitions as part of its ongoing growth strategy.

In 2020, the firm acquired Pet Foot UK, expanding its portfolio to include Barking Heads, Meowing Heads and adult dry dog food brand AATU.

The company, which holds Peter Wright from Channel 5’s The Yorkshire Vet as its resident vet, also said that it hopes to exceed £500m of sales within the next five years.

Mr Stones added: “Our mission has always been to offer the best quality product possible for any given price point to consumers, and this investment represents our desire to constantly improve on this proposition with a sole intention – to keep pets healthy and owners happy.”

99 per cent of Inspired Pet Nutrition’s ingredients come from suppliers in the UK, with 67 per cent of these coming from within 200 miles of its factories.