72 KENNEL DESIGN: ThE ESSENTIaL GuIDE To CrEaTING Your PErfECT KENNELS 732 : PurChaSE aND PLaNNING

organisation: West Lodge Boarding KennelsLocation: uK, CambridgeKennels Type: Semi-outdoorKennels function: BoardingNumber of Kennels: 64Kennel Size Sleep: 4ft x 4ft/1.2m x 1.2mKennel Size Exercise: 4ft x 6ft/1.2m x 1.8mYear Built: 1998

www.westlodgekennels.co.uk

This exisTing business is in a sTunning seTTing wiTh beauTiful maTure gardens locaTed jusT ouTside an affluenT ciTy. There is enormous poTenTial To upgrade To a dog hoTel wiTh The care, commiTmenT & vision of new owners

case sTudy: locaTion, locaTion, locaTion Marc and Iris Wheeldon have taken their first step back

after a whirlwind first year of taking on an existing kennels and cattery. With strong business backgrounds and experience of working with and showing dogs, and after a great deal of searching, they finally took the plunge when they came across this undeniably beautiful property.

“We visited many kennels for sale and were horrified with some of them” says Marc. “We decided we would only buy kennels we would be happy for our own dogs to stay in. When we finally discovered this one with its beautiful setting, we just knew it was the one for us. Although we knew we wanted to upgrade the kennels eventually, the existing infrastructure would give us a good chance to think about our future plans while we learned how to run the business.” The year they took to think about what they wanted to do has paid off, having learnt what their clients want and the problems with the existing site, they know exactly where they would like to make improvements.

The clienTsThe client base was kept on paper cards, so there was no easy way to contact clients and introduce themselves as new owners. They are gradually adding customers to the Petadmin system which they love, keeping the cards in case old clients pop in. One of the very first tasks was to update the reception area by repainting and adding new furniture.

This was a very low-cost, high-impact way of showing clients what they wanted to do with the business, and they’ve had great support doing it. as shown in the photo below left, there is a window that looks through reception to the animal kitchen in the adjoining room. Their plan is to knock down the wall between the reception and kitchen to make it one very

large and welcoming reception, to be able to sell more items such as food and toys. Currently the kitchen serves the three kennel buildings and cattery, and as the nearest building is 100ft/30m away this means a great deal of trekking across the grounds for staff, taking up a great deal of time, and in bad weather it is not at all pleasant.

where To sTarT?Marc and Iris wanted to focus on the older of the three kennel buildings and meet the criteria for being a dog hotel. This would increase their income to help them raise funds for refurbishing the remaining kennels. “We knew we wanted to upgrade the kennels and that the location and setting was perfect for turning into a pet hotel - but we just weren’t sure where to start.” says Marc. “Already having the cattery and

kennel design books, we had done our research thoroughly and wanted the best for our future development of the business, and to fully realise its enormous potential.”

They decided on an addition to the cattery using ‘Pedigree Pens’ and upgrading the first kennel building, as the logical and easiest way to start the upgrade to their new pet hotel.

west lodge boarding Kennels

“Our customers

are as excited about our plans as

we are!”

Photographs by Marc Wheeldon

74 KENNEL DESIGN: ThE ESSENTIaL GuIDE To CrEaTING Your PErfECT KENNELS 752 : PurChaSE aND PLaNNING

as there was one kitchen shared between all three kennel buildings and the cattery, and at some distance away - creating functional areas for preparing food, water, cleaning and more storage was paramount. With new kitchens in place, it would be possible to turn the existing kitchen and reception into a much larger reception and retail area, naturally leading into the grooming room behind them.Left: existing kennels first blockBelow: kitchen left, reception right

armed with all these ideas, Marc and Iris met their bank manager to discuss their plans for development. Before the meeting, Marc had bounced his ideas around with existing clients - who all gave him exceptionally positive feedback. Many were excited about their plans for the future, and wholeheartedly supported Marc and Iris’ commitment to the care of their pets, now and in the future.

The bank manager gave them the go-ahead, starting with the cattery first. A design and 3Ds were drawn up by renowned manufacturer Pedigree Pens. uPVC units would allow fast installation (typically a week) rather than a longer construction period of a few months for a solid building. This would achieve many things: keep downtime to a minimum, provide light, bright and easy-to-clean pens, increase the cattery income, give dog owners an idea of the plans for the kennels, and be a good starting point for Marc and Iris to see how much more efficiently the pens could be cleaned and managed with the modern materials and integral kitchen. It will take time to complete the project, but the benefits in satisfaction, efficiency and income will make all the work worthwhile, to realise the full potential of this beautiful site.

The fuTure

76 KENNEL DESIGN: ThE ESSENTIaL GuIDE To CrEaTING Your PErfECT KENNELS 77