Pet wellness startup Pickles unveils first-ever members-only vet practice in West London to boost pet healthcare experience
Pickles proprietary technology enables personalised and preventative care for every pet
Pickles, the animal wellness startup modernising pet healthcare by connecting the best vets to pet owners both online and in-person, has announced today the first-ever members-only veterinary practice in West London.
Founded in 2022, Pickles is a UK-based animal health and wellness startup including an app and physical vet practices.
Backed by an angel investment from companies like Butternut Box, this 3000 sq ft animal clinic will offer the millions of pet owners in the nation’s capital on-demand access to high-quality and holistic pet care with a membership model that promises to change the sector forever fundamentally.
The company has developed its proprietary technology platform to create a new experience for owners and personalised care for pets; based on the team’s experience in innovative human health companies.
The company stems from a personal experience when Richard White’s dog Pickles ended up passing away and Richard experienced first-hand the dis-jointed and confusing service that most pet owners have become accustomed to.
Not wanting to wait for change, Richard co-founded a company with a mission to provide the best vet and healthcare experience for animals and their human companions by combining tech with optimal clinical care to better serve both pet owners and veterinary professionals, removing any friction in the process and enabling personalisation of the experience all around for both parties.
Pickles offer pet owners personalised care for their pets through a truly unique membership scheme and a companion app, making their vets and nurses available for their members and protecting the vet and pet owner relationship.
For a fixed annual membership fee of £120.00, pets can receive yearly vaccinations and unlimited in-person consultations at a set price with no waiting, video consults, dietary plans and other pet care services directly through their app. The technology supporting the experience also enables personalised and breed-specific treatment advice, which is data-driven and will continuously evolve.
After several months of operating online only, we are thrilled to launch Pickles’ first-ever physical practice, as this is a core component of our offering.
said Richard White, Pickles Co-founder & CEO
We chose West London for our first space in response to the high concentration of pets and the high demand for vet support in the area. We’re using tech to fix a tangible pain point for vets and pet owners.
The platform allows us to ensure medical professionals aren’t overstretched and can provide better care for all the patients they see. The goal is to massively reduce the friction at both ends and offer an enhanced experience and greater transparency in the end costs for pet owners.
Pickles’ brand new practice, located at 899-901 Fulham Rd, London SW6 5HU, in West London, is the next step in this pet-care revolution and is being designed from the floor up to reimagine a more health-conscious way of delivering value to pets of all shapes and sizes. Being more than double the average vets in London allows for much larger consultation rooms and operating theatres and the inclusion of dedicated spaces for more emotional conversations. To alleviate the stress of the pets and owners, Pickles are pioneering a special focus on using scents, lights and colours to create a more calming atmosphere.
Pickles plans to open up another 5-7 sites in London over the next 12 months before expanding to 80+ locations nationwide. Crucial to the company’s long-term plans is introducing a “360 experience” where Pickles’ physical locations become one-stop-shops for all pets’ needs. Down the line, Pickles will facilitate Pet Care Consultants, who act as an advocate for pet owners and ensure personalised and focussed care for every Pet and their owner.
Leveraging the expertise and investor support from Butternut Box, Pickles will broaden its services beyond veterinarian support and into pet insurance, food, toys and other products, ultimately becoming the number one brand in the pet industry.
So far, we’ve seen that vets love working with us, and pets love coming in, so it’s firmly within our sights to create a brand and platform that is number one in a variety of verticals and create a home-grown UK company worth billions of pounds.
continues Richard
There has been little to no innovation in the pet sector over the past few years, especially when it comes to improving the physical aspects of pet care. In animal care, physicality can’t be ignored and is vitally important. I’m excited to bring my 20 years + of experience in caring for animals to Pickles’s strong digital DNA.
said Pickles co-Founder Andrew Francis
The UK pet care market is valued at over £6bn, and as the trend for pet ownership continues to grow post-lockdown, this figure looks to increase. Despite the unprecedented demand for pet health services, big issues are holding back the industry.
Vets and nurses are leaving the industry in record numbers amidst high-pressure working environments, while pet owners face higher prices and longer waiting times. Pickles offer an alternative that has been greatly supported by vets and pet owners alike.
At Butternut, we are all about delivering health and happiness to dogs and their humans, but we are totally focused on what we know best; food and nutrition.
When we heard about Pickles and what Richard at the team is building in the vet space, we just wanted to back another group of people working hard to improve the lives and care of our pets.
We see the customer need here, and our investment indicates our commitment to help and support the Pickles team on their journey.
said David Nolan from Butternut Box
Pickles was founded by repeat entrepreneur Richard White (who founded Local Globes backed Goodlord, and grew it from 2 to 150 employees within 3 years), Paul Jakimciw, Andrew Francis and Nick Player (who scaled and sold Medivet).
Richard is an experienced multi-startup entrepreneur with a track record of founding multi-million-pound startups. Co-Founder and CEO of Pickles. President and founder of Goodlord. TEDx speaker and obsessed with dogs. His grandmother was a world-renowned dog breeder and introduced a new breed of dogs to the UK.
Andrew Francis
Andrew has 20 years of experience within the veterinary industry with in-depth expertise spanning general practice, specialist referral practice and commercial roles within the pharmaceutical industry. He was Chief Veterinary Officer as part of the founding team at Pawsquad, the first to market a veterinary video consulting platform recently acquired by IVC. More recently, he has developed a specialist peripatetic cardiology business while a shareholder in and part of the development team at Hamilton’s Specialist Referrals, which sold to IVC within 18 months of opening.
Nick Player
Nick held senior operational roles at one of the UK’s largest veterinary groups, Medivet, before joining Pickles. Over eight and half years, he scaled the business from 100 practices to over 400 before its sale to CVC Capital Partners last year for over £1Billion.
Paul Jakimciw
Paul was the CEO & Partner at Albion, a product and brand partner to start-ups including Skype, Zoopla and King.com before moving to focus on Digital Health; with the launch of PushDr as the first U.K. private telehealth provider, then as CBO and CPO of Ada Health, the worlds most accurate and clinically validated AI diagnostic engine with over 11m users. From there, Paul has built significant experience across Healthcare and Life Sciences with C-Suite roles at Numan, CLM and on the board of Veta Health and the Cardinal Clinic he chairs.
Between them, they boast successful experience in online consumer platforms (Skype, GiffGaff), healthtech (Push Doctor and Ada) and pet care (Paw Squad) which makes them perfectly placed to disrupt this industry. Their investors to date include Tom Singh (New Look founder), Jon Oringer (Shutterstock founder) & Edward Lando (serial early backer of Unicorn businesses) & Butternut box.