Inside the dog-filled offices of luxury pet company Pets Pyjamas
When you first arrive at the Pets Pyjamas offices in Shoreditch, you're greeted by this adorable husky at the door. The group is online only but its HQ is very reflective of the products and services it provides – chic, modern and that little bit luxurious.
Turns out the door dog is called Kobi and roams around the ground floor of the four storey building, which is entirely staffed by Pets Pyjamas. Staff are allowed to bring their dogs to work.
Even the CEO of Pets Pyjamas, Gracia Amico, has a lurcher dog called Piper and regularly poses with her in corporate shots.
When you go into the building, it's like an art gallery, with an open plan space that leads to a basement floor for staff. There's a pop art picture of Princess Diana ...
... and the ground floor is largely adorned with doggy portraits and works of art.
The works of art also include a very proud-looking pug statue.
It also has a lot of dog-related products that it sells lining the room. Although the company does sell cat accessories and services, it is very dog-orientated. It's hardly surprising considering dog-friendly holidays accounts for 70% of the group's revenue. Accessories and holidays have also seen triple digit growth over the year.
While the ground floor is a reception, it's large enough to host dog and puppy training sessions. Amico told us that they offer its 25 staff the service on Sundays if they want it.
Going up a floor is where the tech team lives and opposite is a sumptuous meeting room that displays some of its pet accessories and products. Pets Pyjamas "attracts you in one way and keeps you coming back for more. It's a very holistic business," said Amico.
Here is a selection of some Christmas toys.
The firm curates around 10,000 high-end products online. It just recently launched its own line of dog coats in which popular chain Accessorize is going to stock as well.
My pug dog Mei Mei was keen to try out one of the camouflage jackets that's now on sale as part of Pets Pyjamas' new line.
The popularity of the company has massively grown and the meeting room is lined with coverage it has received. It also features some famous clients' thank you letters ...
... including a hand written letter from UK Chancellor George Osborne. His Bichon Frise dog called "Lola Osborne" also sent a typed letter to the group, although we suspect Osborne himself wrote it.
Osborne's wife sent another letter to thank the group again for their doggy products, which the family all love.
Another way in which the company differs to other websites selling pet-related products or services is because of the complementary lifestyle and content element. "What's interesting is that our customers, if they buy a holiday, they come back to the site for accessories and vice versa. We also put a lot of time into making sure the website is tailor-made to breeds. For example, what you want to buy for your pug versus my lurcher is very different. We also make sure we are content rich and have articles, lists and advice from celebrity pet owners, trainers, vets and others," said Amico.
The sales and services team dominates the top floor. These are the people that help provide tailor-made holidays for dog owners that can cost up to £10,000. "We now have over 200 hotels and 100 cottages who are on board and everyone is starting to understand the importance of the 'hound pound,' (which is sales made from pet-related? products and services)," said Amico.
"Dogs are an essential part of the family for many people and some wouldn't be able to travel at all if they can't take their dogs, so we decided to apply the Pets Pyjamas brand to holidays," said Amico. Here's a picture of Elphie, a French bulldog puppy, whose owner brings her everywhere.
"No where else does what we do. All our hotels and cottages are beautiful, but [we] also make sure that dogs go free and that it fully accommodates your pet, for example, allowing you to leave them in the room and also being able to accompany you for dinner in some cases. We also provide a wonderful box of goodies for you on arrival, personalised for your dog, and can design holiday packages," said Amico.
!["No where else does what we do. All our hotels and cottages are beautiful, but [we] also make sure that dogs go free and that it fully accommodates your pet, for example, allowing you to leave them in the room and also being able to accompany you for dinner in some cases. We also provide a wonderful box of goodies for you on arrival, personalised for your dog, and can design holiday packages," said Amico.](https://staticbiassets.in/thumb/msid-49934890,width-700,height-525,imgsize-2628730/no-where-else-does-what-we-do-all-our-hotels-and-cottages-are-beautiful-but-we-also-make-sure-that-dogs-go-free-and-that-it-fully-accommodates-your-pet-for-example-allowing-you-to-leave-them-in-the-room-and-also-being-able-to-accompany-you-for-dinner-in-some-cases-we-also-provide-a-wonderful-box-of-goodies-for-you-on-arrival-personalised-for-your-dog-and-can-design-holiday-packages-said-amico-.jpg)
Dog friendly holidays are so successful that Amico is aiming to expand the services into Europe. "We have only scratched the surface in Britain and we're getting more and more hotels and holiday destinations on board here, but continental Europe is an easy [expansion option] for us," said Amico. Apparently there's even one luxury French hotel by the sea where a Michelin star restaurant will cook your dog a meal.
Pets Pyjamas is looking to take even more staff on board over the next year and Amico says "we're very lucky here, we have a great tech team, great staff with a good pedigree." She added that while the group is now dominating the sector, she said the key to the group's success is more down to common sense. "I wouldn't say we are disrupting. We are just moving everything on into the 21st century and ahead with the times."
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