We Love Pets, the largest and most successful pet care franchise in the UK is celebrating 15 years of being a franchise. Their franchisees care for all pets, from cats, dogs, rabbits and birds, to sheep, chicken, horses and even llamas.
What is a franchise?
Franchising allows a successful business to expand by granting individuals the right to operate their own branch of the brand within a set territory for a fixed period. In return for an initial investment and ongoing monthly fees, franchisees use the brand’s name, systems, and support to grow successful businesses, with the option to renew their agreement.
According to the latest BFA (British Franchise Association) survey, franchised businesses currently contribute £19.1 billion to the UK economy and have a commercial failure rate of less than 1%.
Gap in the market
The original We Love Pets business was founded in 2008 by Jo White. Although a big animal lover, she didn’t set out to own a pet care business. During a law degree she realised the law wasn’t for her but stuck with the course. After graduation and while deciding on her future career path, Jo took a position in a local authority working in project management.
Concurrently, when she couldn’t find anyone to look after her German Shepherd Meghan, she saw a gap in the market and set up her own pet care business, We Love Pets.
Jo recalls: “It all happened so quickly. My boss from my old job built my website and I was getting enquiries before I’d even fully left my job, so I knew I’d identified a need that my business could satisfy.”
Time to franchise
In 2009/10, with growth for the business firmly on her mind, Jo found herself at an EWIF (Encouraging Women in Franchising), meeting in London, where she met other women in franchising who gave her the confidence to move forwards with franchising the business.
In 2011 she sold her first pilot franchise to one of her employees, selling a second to her sister soon after.
New beginnings
Jo ran We Love Pets single-handedly from 2008 until 2015. In 2015, animal expert Ryan White came to give franchisees extra training on how to handle birds and a new chapter in the company began. He joined as managing director in 2016 and the pair subsequently married in 2017. They now have two children, Freya and William who regularly attend meetings and events with their parents.
120+ franchisees
Being a natural salesman and highly experienced working with animals, Ryan helped grow the business from a handful of franchisees in 2015 to over 120 by 2025.
Jo said: “Our growth has been huge, and I must thank Ryan for his help in achieving this. Even Covid couldn’t stop us; we went into the pandemic turning over £200k a year and came out the other side turning over £350k, so I’m super proud of everything we have achieved.”
Achievements
We Love Pets has been successful on the recognition stage too, winning ‘Emerging Franchisor of the Year’ at the BFA awards in June 2018 and being a finalist in the prestigious ‘Established Franchisor of the Year’ category in November 2024, alongside brands such as McDonald’s and Dyno Rod.
In January 2025 We Love Pets came 33rd in the Elite Top 100 guide of franchises in the UK, their highest position to date and they have received multiple Five Star Satisfaction awards from the WorkBuzz Best Franchise Awards over the years.
The company has also been awarded ‘Ethical’ Status by the Good Shopping Guide in recognition of their ethical practices e.g. no pack walking.
Business growth
Jo and Ryan attribute their growth of the business to a few things: “Complete transparency is the single most important thing for us when we are talking to a prospective franchisee” says Ryan. He continues: “We look for people with a desire to build a business who have commitment and ambition and in return, we offer them a business model that, if they follow it, has very little chance of failing.”
The couple invest heavily in staffing and infrastructure, having had four new websites in six years and a large head office team to support their growing franchise network.
Business challenges
As with all businesses, it hasn’t all been plain sailing. Jo said: “The challenges we have had have mostly been with macro factors such as changes in Government and local red tape, but we manage these by planning ahead, engaging with our network and working with external partners such as the PCFA (Pet Care Franchise Association).”
The We Love Pets family
Jo says she is very happy with life in 2025: “I always loved working with people but always wanted to be in control and have the freedom of working for myself – something I see in all our franchisees too.”
“My happiest moments are the “sea of red” at our franchisee events and seeing what a lovely WLP family we have built and how supportive they are of each other. We have big plans for 2025 and can’t wait to see what the next 15 years of our franchise journey brings.”