It still feels so surreal writing this post and talking about all of this but although I am not one to enjoy bragging in the slightest, I am so proud of this business and all we have achieved in the last year that I simply cannot shout about it with every opportunity I have!
Holistic Hounds has won an award!
Back in October, we received an exciting email from a member of team at the Thames Valley Business and Community Awards informing us that Holistic Hounds had been nominated as New Start up of the Year!
We were beyond thrilled to have been nominated without us even knowing but even more so to have had our nomination put forward into the shortlist for the awards ceremony! We were invited to attend the awards ceremony so we got all dressed up, removed the dog hair from our clothing and went to this prestigious event to support our small business.
It was such an incredible night! We had lovely food, met some incredible people and businesses and had a wonderful time raising money for their chosen charity, Cherishers, who provide domestic and commercial cleaning. They were created to provide employment opportunities for people who are currently unemployed and have barriers to normal employment opportunities and within their team have members who have various disabilities and restrictions / barriers to normal employment. We are so thrilled to have been a part of the fundraising efforts, including their various games and raffles throughout the night!
Now, down to the exciting part of the evening when our category was announced and in front of hundreds of people, Holistic Hounds became one of three small businesses chosen by a panel of highly respected judges as a finalist in the New Start up of the Year category! We honestly couldn't believe it and before we even had time to process that step, there we were on the big screen announced as winners!
With a panel of judges including Jackie Chappell (first women CEO of British Rail), Greg Robinson (editor of SME Today), Paul Waite (CEO of Aspen Waite), Jacynth Ivey (Founder and CEO of Jacynth Ivey Global and Inspiring Hope) and Cristina Briggs (CEO of New Wold insights), we were simply in shock that our small business had been chosen by a panel of such incredible people. From a dream that Nathan and I dreamt up many years ago to taking the plunge and creating Holistic Hounds and running it as a full time business, this whole process has been such a dream come true for us and it was so humbling to see such incredibly successful people look at our business and see just how special it is.
The judges comments were:
Your growth has been outstanding!
From launching the UK's first dog training camp to employing 6 employees and raising £1000's for Charity - Well done!
We are so proud of the business we have created and we want to thank every single person who has supported us during the last nearly 2 years. To every client, ever family member and friend, every like, follow, comment and share - THANK YOU! We cannot wait for the future of Holistic Hounds and will continue to work hard to offer you and your dogs the very best we possibly can!