How Laura Lambert has transformed Huddersfield-based Dragonfly Products into a major player in the dog food market

In little over four years the entrepreneur – who first showed business flair and acumen as an eBay ‘wheeler dealer’ in her teens – has grown her Huddersfield-based dog food business, Dragonfly Products, from start-up to an SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) employing 18 staff.

Laura is committed to providing quality-sourced, natural products.

She is determined to create jobs and provide further evidence that Yorkshire is the perfect place to build a dynamic, customer-focused business. She is particularly keen to ensure customers have a clear idea where products have come from.

She says: “You look on eBay and Amazon and see products in white bags with no labelling and you’ve no idea where those products have come from.

“It shocks me when people say they feed their dogs on natural treats, but they buy them from Joe Bloggs on Facebook!”

So where did it all begin? Laura had a strong desire to establish her own business from a very early age.

She explains: “I always wanted to run my own business. In my late teens I was a bit of a ‘Del Boy,’ buying and selling products on eBay.

“In 2008 we moved from Lincolnshire to Huddersfield when my husband got a job as golf professional at Crosland Heath Golf Club. I bought a franchise doing hand and feet castings for children,’’ she recalled.

“After 18 months I realised I was making a lot of money for the franchise company and not much for myself with an awful lot of effort.”

She continues: “So, I knocked that on the head and set up Small & Gifted, a personalised gifts company.

“I grew that turnover to about £70,000 and then in 2015, after some health woes, I sold the business to a customer who ran it for a further five years.

“I then set up a VA business and got one client – a large engineering company who asked if I’d work for them full-time on a freelance basis as their business consultant, and so I did that for four years.

She added: “I could see this ending and so I started to research what sort of businesses I’d like to run.”

But it was after Laura and her husband bought their cavapoo, Dolly, that Laura spotted a niche market which has proved to be so lucrative.

Laura remembers: “We’d just got Dolly, and I was struggling to get natural treats. There weren’t that many and so I set about sourcing some. I had £5,000 that I’d saved, and I sourced this pallet of pigs’ ears and spent the whole £5,000. I put them on Amazon, and they sold within 14 days.

“So, I did it again and they sold again, and I thought ‘right, I’m on to something here!’

“I started buying various products, sourcing, and looking at where they came from.

“There were lots of different things coming from China and other dubious sources which I avoided,’’ she recalled.

“Within months the business just exploded. I was in a 100sq ft unit which I was renting and then a much larger unit became available in the same complex and so I took that.

“Then we started getting people asking if we have a shop. So, I opened a shop and took on another member of staff and it just developed from there.”

And then the pandemic arrived, which had a devastating impact on many companies across a wide range of sectors.

But while many businesses were struggling to maintain their momentum, Dragonfly Products boomed – fuelled by the growth of online retailing, and the increased number of people buying dogs to keep them company during lockdown.

Many people decided to invest in looking after their pets at a time when vast swathes of the economy were forced to close due to Government-imposed restrictions.

Laura says: “The pandemic for us was simply stratospheric. I went from this idea of having my own business to very, very quickly having a huge business and having to employ quite a lot of people.

“We soon outgrew our premises and the premises we’re in now became available. This was a 6,000 sq ft warehouse and office complex, and so we knocked out all the downstairs offices to make the shop and then we’ve got offices upstairs and a large warehouse around the back.

“We’ve also got an 8m by 5m walk-in freezer for the raw food.”

Laura exudes a passion for customer service which has helped her grow the business.

She says: “The part I love is people coming into the shop and we spend all day talking and giving advice and guidance.

“We do nail clipping, teeth cleaning and we’ve got a holistic vet who comes in.

“That’s where my passion lies in helping people with their dogs.

“Sometimes I’ve spent an hour on the phone with someone and whilst they haven’t bought anything, I’m pleased to have been able to help them.

“I’ll recommend they go to a local shop, vet, or nutritionist – this is what it’s all about, not just how much money I can make out of a particular customer.”

She continues: “We have a strict quality control process. We’ve had instances where we’ve had to let suppliers go because we just weren’t happy with the quality.

“It can take a warehouse team up to a week to unload a container, and check everything. Customers spend money on their dogs, they just do.

“People are prepared to pay a little bit more for quality products. Our customers are extremely loyal and will sing our praises, but I think that’s testament to the team I employ.”

So, what does the future hold for Dragonfly Products? If all goes to plan, the business is set for another period of rapid expansion.

Laura concludes: “Over the next five years we aim to double our current turnover to become the UK’s holistic pet retailer of choice.

She added: “I’m so passionate about service and dog health and want to grow that side in the future.

“I can’t say anything more now other than we’ve got an extremely exciting expansion plan to be announced in the future. Watch this space.”