Welcome to Petpals Sefton!

11th December 2018

We are delighted to say a big ‘Petpals Welcome’ to our latest franchisee, Sharren Redmond.  Sharren (44) has purchased the Sefton territory, on the beautiful Liverpool coastline.

Based in the village of Crosby, mum of two Sharren Redmond (44), has logged out of a 22yr career in digital forensics and cyber security, to start up her own pet care business with Petpals. From the beginning of December, Sharren will be walking and boarding dogs, and visiting cats and all other small caged pets while their owners are at work or on holiday.

Sharren will be swapping her former job of protecting a company’s’ digital information, for walking and boarding dogs and visiting and caring for cats and other small animals  across her territory which includes Crosby, Blundellsands, Brighton Le Sands, Waterloo, Litherland, Little Crosby, Bootle, Seaforth, Thornton, Lunt, Sefton, Ince Blundell, Hightown and Formby.

When Sharren was made redundant in October 2018, having worked from home for the last 12 years, she knew she couldn’t leave her beloved Cockerchon dog Lucy or rescue rabbits Flopsy and Mopsy at home on their own all day, so she looked for a new career that would allow her to still be on hand for her pets and partner Dave and children Fletcher (11) and Tate (8). Luckily for us she found Petpals!

Sharren says,

‘I have always been a pet mad person, so starting up Petpals Sefton after I was made redundant was a bit of a no brainer. I really couldn’t face putting a suit on and commuting into Manchester after the last 12 years of working from home.  Apparently as a child I announced that I would ‘live with 10 dogs’ so it appears I am simply fulfilling my childhood fantasy. I have a wonderful Cockerchon (a cross between a Cocker Spaniel and a Bichon Frise) who I adore and two rabbits and I also rescue and rehome gerbils. At one point I had 13 but all have now been happily rehomed. I love being outside walking Lucy every day, we have some great footpaths and parks along the Sefton coastline and I’m really looking forward to starting my new life as a professional pet carer helping out other pet owners across the area.

‘I hope my clients will feel reassured that I am fully trained in Pet Handling and Restraint, First Aid, Care of Older Pets and Pet Sanitation. I am security checked, insured and uniformed and I have a fully branded van with professionally fitted cages.  If you see me driving around town do wave!

She continued,

‘Petpals Sefton will be offering dog walking and dog boarding, pet sitting, cat sitting, puppy visits, elderly pet visits and a pet to vet taxi service.  As a very experienced gerbil owner I also have many large tanks and plenty of indoor and outdoor cages for visiting rabbits and guinea pigs. If anyone needs a service that isn’t listed, all they need to do is ask, I’ll always do my best to accommodate my clients and their pets.’

‘Redundancy can be an unsettling time for many people but I am super confident that I have a great future ahead of me, delivering a highly professional pet care service to owners across the area and I look forward to meeting them in the coming days and weeks as I build up my business.’

Sharren has now completed her comprehensive training at head office and on location and reports that it was invaluable.

‘I found the time at Head Office extremely informative. Being from a corporate background I was quite comfortable about the administrative side of running a business, invoicing, tax etc but learning how to market and run a pet care business on a day to day basis was an entirely different thing and I found that extremely useful’

On her experience of buying a Petpals franchise Sharren says,

‘I have felt supported since day one; the team at head office have been great. The Discovery Day was key to my decision to join the business; meeting another franchisee and seeing how the business runs in practice was invaluable. Since I’ve joined, other franchisees have been getting in touch, welcoming me and offering advice which you simply wouldn’t get in any other line of work. I’ve been so impressed and am really grateful for the warm welcome I’ve received and I know it’s not over yet. I’m looking forward to putting names to faces at the annual conference in January when I know I’m going to spend two whole days on permanent ‘receive’ as I learn from some extremely experienced franchisees. Its early days but I can honestly say, I’m very impressed.’

We are thrilled to have Sharren, Lucy, Flopsy AND Mopsy on the Petpals team and look forward to supporting her as she builds her new business.  If you would like Petpals Sefton to look after any of your pets on a regular or ad hoc basis, please contact them on: [email protected], call 0151 293 4185 / 07398 645390 or visit our website www.petpals.com/sefton