Dog food company invests £10m in new facilities

A couple who set up a fresh dog food business after they started cooking for their own dog is investing £10m in new facilities.

Different Dog, based in Shrewsbury, has provided freshly cooked dog food to more than 18,000 dogs since it was set up in 2017.

The firm are using the funds, which it raised from investors, to move to a new state-of-the-art facility in Pioneer Park in Telford.

"It's 40,000 sq ft, it's a lot bigger than we had before back over in Shrewsbury, so yeah it's very exciting," said co-founder Charlie Thurstan.

The firm offers a personalised dog food subscription service, creating tailored meal plans by using raw vegetables.

Mr Thurstan said they were building a new cold store alongside warehouse space at the new location and were looking to expand further.

"We're definitely growing, we've been lucky enough to raise a bit of investment," he told BBC Radio Shropshire.

"We have been hiring people and we will continue to hire people."

The pair were inspired to set up the business after they began cooking for their puppy Crumble, a working cocker spaniel.

"We started cooking for her and her friends," co-founder Alex Thurstan said, "fast forward seven or eight years and we're now cooking for over 18,000 dogs."

"Over 60% of dogs are overweight, it's really important to have good nutrition that doesn't harm the dogs," she said.

Mr Thurstan said Crumble had been at "heart of the journey" since they started their company.

"It was that desire to make a little bit of a difference which sort of led us to doing all this," he said.

"It's been an amazing journey."

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