Barclays has announced a Leeds subscription-based pet wellness firm as a national winner at the Barclays Entrepreneur Awards.
Itch was named as the UK’s Scale-up Entrepreneur of the Year, which recognises entrepreneurs whose businesses are growing rapidly. The judges were looking for disruptive ventures with strong management teams, which have received external or internal organic investment to help scale their business.
Headquartered in Leeds, the direct-to-consumer business was founded in July 2019 by pet industry entrepreneurs Jonny and Adam Gould and investor and serial entrepreneur James Cox.
Developed in collaboration with world-class veterinary experts, Itch now sends products to over 140,000 pets per month across the UK, offering a 360 degree approach to preventative health and happiness for pets. The platform provides personalised and tailored recommendations for parasite protection, food, treats, supplements, pheromones and more plus pet insurance and free access to 24/7 video vet advice for Itch subscribers. The company also has ambitious plans to launch in the US and Europe.
On receiving the award, co-founder Adam said: “We now look after 140,000+ pets nationwide who all rely on our monthly direct-to-consumer flea and worming treatments to stay healthy and happy. We’ve been laser focused in our mission to energise and inject personality into the pet wellness market and are incredibly proud to have shipped over 3 million packs of our flea and worming treatment to households around the UK since launch.
“Our loyal following of customers have shown their appreciation for the service and we have now accrued over 24,000 5* Trustpilot reviews. To be recognised by the Barclays Entrepreneur Awards is not only a huge honour, but also a testament to the hard work, dedication and passion of our 80 strong ITCH team. With plans to launch in the US and Europe and plenty of product innovation on the horizon the future is incredibly exciting for the brand”.
The Barclays Entrepreneur Awards recognise the importance of the UK’s entrepreneurial spirit, and showcase founders and their businesses from across the country, who amid the pandemic have succeeded in bringing together their creativity, passion and innovation to run successful high growth businesses.
Katherine Morgan, head of high growth & entrepreneurs at Barclays, said: “The national awards are a celebration of the exceptional innovation and leadership entrepreneurs demonstrate, helping to create social change and boost our local economies. This is our opportunity to celebrate some of the UK’s most successful home-grown ventures, many of whom have skilfully utilised international markets, in turn generating new jobs and driving economic growth. These awards allow us to recognise and celebrate the founders behind these businesses, and we would like to congratulate Itch on their success.”
The national judging panel were made up of key industry leaders and influencers, who selected the overall national winners, drawn from over 1,000 applications, across the UK.
The Barclays Entrepreneur Awards consist of ten award categories, ranging from start-up through to international expansion. For the first time, a number of Barclays partners who provide services to help businesses thrive have taken the opportunity to sponsor a category.
