Dog daycare firm splashes out on new facilities

A dog daycare and hotel business has unveiled a £150,000 investment programme to expand its facilities and enhance animal wellbeing across its Shropshire and Staffordshire sites.

K9 Anytime, founded in 2015 by university friends Tom Haynes and Luke Bird, has secured an additional five acres at its original Higford site and introduced its first swimming facilities at Weston Park.

The new pool offers dogs opportunities to build confidence in water while benefiting from controlled, low-impact exercise, with sessions available to existing daycare customers and the wider public.

The investment comes as K9 Anytime continues to welcome hundreds of dogs each month across its two locations, with its services now extending beyond traditional daycare.

Tom said: “The latest investment is really part of a much bigger evolution of K9 Anytime.

“We started with daycare in 2015.

“As the business developed, we increasingly realised that looking after a dog properly means looking after far more than its day.

“This led us to introducing training, grooming, nutrition, retail and, thanks to the pool at Weston Park, swimming.”

The expansion has also supported recruitment, with the business growing its workforce to 20 employees across both locations.

Luke added: “Investment hasn’t just been in bricks and mortar and products – there has been considerable funding directed towards growing our team.

“We’re now up to twenty people across both locations and are still looking for the right individuals to join us, especially if they get our approach, our culture and our commitment to our growing family of dogs.”

Further swimming facilities are planned for Higford by the end of the year, while proposals are progressing for a veterinary service focused on preventative care and long-term wellbeing.

The business, previously named Best Small Business at the Newport Show, also supports Scruffy Dog Rescue through behavioural assessments, training, grooming and practical assistance.

Its community activities include educational visits to schools and nurseries, helping children understand how to interact safely with dogs.

Isobel Allen, who leads K9 Anytime’s educational visits to schools and nurseries, said: “Responsible dog ownership, in our view, begins long before somebody actually owns a dog.

“We think there is an enormous amount that can be achieved simply by helping children understand dogs from an early age…when to approach them, when to leave them alone, how dogs communicate and how to behave safely and respectfully around them.

“One of our ambitions for 2027 is to begin developing a series of children’s books around dogs, safety and responsible interaction.”

Looking ahead, K9 Anytime is considering a third location, with Newport and Shrewsbury identified as potential destinations.

However, its immediate priority remains completing its expanded care offering before pursuing further growth.

Tom added: “The ambition isn’t simply to become bigger.

“It is to keep asking what an extraordinary life for a dog looks like and then build the people, places and services that help provide it.

“Only then will we take that philosophy somewhere new.”

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