Gentle Dog Food

Introduction

Beate wasn’t getting the support she needed from the big banks for her natural dog food company, Gentle Dog Food.

So, on the advice of her accountant, she moved her bank account to Allica. Alongside the personal support of her relationship manager, Matt, Beate’s also earning a great rate on her savings that she can invest back into growing her business.

Who are Gentle?

Gentle Dog Food is a family-run natural, cold-pressed dog food brand founded by Beate Rothon, and the first company to introduce cold pressed dog food to the UK.

The product is manufactured in Germany before being imported, packaged and distributed from the company premises in Devon. With the support of her husband, children and Nala the dog, Beate has grown the business over 12 years and now employs six people. Gentle is one of the top-rated products on AllAboutDogFood.co.uk and attends Crufts every year.

The story

Originally from Germany, Beate decided to set up Gentle Dog Foods when she identified the lack of healthy, nutritious dog food options there were in the UK. The brand launched in 2012 and became the first company to introduce cold pressed dog food to the UK, pioneering a revolution in pet nutrition when nobody knew what cold pressed dog food actually was.

“The difference between cold pressed dog food and other foods on the market is a process called extrusion,” Beate said. “If you've got an extruded food it can't absorb water and that's not very good for a dog’s digestion. Cold pressed food is as close to raw feeding as you can get and we are working with ingredients that are as national as possible.”

As its popularity grew, Gentle took on extra staff to manage the demand, with six people now employed by Beate. With this growth, it became clear that the high-street bank Beate banked with just wasn’t up to the job. The business had generated a healthy sum of cash reserves that was earning very little in interest. While she got very little in the way of customer support from the bank.

How Allica Bank helped

Beate spoke to her accountant, Simon Lewis at Thompson Jenner, who she’d been working with for many years. Simon pointed her towards Matt West, one of Allica Bank’s relationship managers. “It was the best advice I ever got,” Beate confirmed.

Explaining his advice, Simon said, “The main driver for change was wanting to get a bank on board for Beate that would understand her business and actually want to work with her, rather than just being there in the background.”

Beate sent Matt an email. “I got a response within half an hour, which was fantastic. That's how I run my business and it's the first impression that counts.”

With Matt’s support, Beate opened a Business Rewards Account with Allica. Using its attached Savings Pot, Beate would be able to generate a great return on Gentle’s excess cash, which she could then invest back into her business.

What’s next for Gentle?

Gentle have now been banking with Allica for several months. Asked about how it’s been going, Beate said: “it's life-changing. I know I’ve got a bank that I can trust. And I know that if I have a problem or a question I can write Matt an email or call him and he will answer straight away. That’s very important for me.”

Simon agreed, saying, “Allica has been great for Gentle because they're always there they're always at the end of the telephone – it’s Matt and it's not a call centre. Access to that kind of support and nurture is lacking an awful lot now for small businesses.”

Talking about saving with Allica, Beate said, “Having a savings account with Allica is great. I know that the money which I am investing in Allica will be giving me some interest which I can re-invest into the business so it helps my business grow. I want Gentle to get bigger and bigger and, ultimately, for more people have to opportunity to feed their dog a healthy dog food.”