Just For Pets: Wellington branch of chain to close
One of two Telford branches of pet chain Just For Pets is to close after being left out of a rescue package for the crisis-hit brand.
Pedigree Wholesale has snapped up Just For Pets' headquarters and 18 of its 25 stores, including the branches at Ketley, in Telford, and Kidderminster.
However, seven will close, including the branch at Wellington. Between them, the Ketley and Wellington branches employed nine people.
Just for Pets' owner, the Llansantffraid and Shrewsbury-based agricultural group Wynnstay, revealed last month it was putting the loss-making business into administration following a 'marked deterioration' in its performance.
It had struggled against greater competition and cost pressures, as well as changes in consumers' spending habits.
The chain, based at Hartlebury near Kidderminster, was formally placed into administration on Tuesday, with Dow Schofield Watts Business Recovery, and immediately bought by Pedigree Wholsale, a Nottingham-based company that supplies pet and aquatic products to the UK independent retail sector.
Pedigree managing director Steve Brown said: "On hearing that the future of Just for Pets was under threat Pedigree Wholesale felt we could play a role in using our pet business expertise to secure a new future for the business.
"We know Just for Pets has a great reputation for offering outstanding customer service and has developed a loyal customer base so we are excited that Pedigree Wholesale can now create a future for the business and the brand.”
He said Pedigree had created a new company, PSR Trading, to run Just for Pets.
"We are confident that the addition of Just for Pets to the Pedigree Wholesale business creates the opportunity to development of our product range and through even greater economy of scale and buying power we can achieve cost savings which we believe will also benefit all wholesale customers.”
Wynnstay said that in the six months to the end of April Just for Pets generated £7million of revenue but an operating loss of £250,000.
But at its half-year results in June, Wynnstay took a £3.9 million hit on writing down part of the value of the ailing pet supplies chain.
That meant that pre-tax profits at the group fell from £4.08 million to just £130,000, despite group sales increasing by 6.3 per cent to £205.3 million in the six-month period.
