Entrepreneurs: Start-up Tails.com dishes up dogs’ dinners with a difference

"There have been incidents of humping and weeing,” admits James Davidson.

Thankfully the Tails.com boss is referring to his Richmond office’s canine contingent, and is fairly sanguine about their misdemeanours. “At the end of the day, dogs are welcome and are the reason we are making money, so we can’t complain at the odd bit of havoc they may cause,” says Davidson.

Fortunately, when I meet him, there is no canine mayhem to distract us. The 39-year-old dog-food entrepreneur turns up for a coffee in Kensington High Street casually dressed in a black shirt with sleeves rolled up.

He excitedly sets out his ambitious growth targets for his burgeoning business. Tapping into Britain’s status as a nation of dog lovers, he has grown Tails using savvy marketing and unique products, and last year notched up sales of £2 million.

He aims to turbocharge revenues fivefold this year to £10 million, and double that the year after. They’re the kind of figures blithely pulled out of the air by millionaire wannabes on Dragons’ Den but, Davidson explains, the sums are based on strong sales and a huge opportunity. The UK dog-food market is worth £1.7 billion, according to researcher Euromonitor International.

Tails sets itself apart by creating bespoke meals for pooches from its huge warehouse in Heathrow, blending ingredients to order and working out the best mix for individual dogs based on their breed, age, size and medical condition. The products are then delivered direct to its 40,000 customers’ homes.

“We are trying to help people’s dogs live longer. We mix three types of kibble [dry feed] for our customers to personalise the best vitamins and nutrients for an individual pet. We have enough kibbles to make over one million different combinations,” says Davidson.

The portions make sure an animal is “perfectly full”, but will also help to tackle the problem of over-indulging, he explains. “We ensure they have the right amount at a time when some dog owners indulge the pooches a little too much, causing them to be obese.”

Potential customers get a free two-week trial, and then prices range from £10 to £60 a month. Every breed and age is catered for — fans include Lizzie, a seven-year-old Labrador, and Tigger, a 17-year-old Jack Russell terrier.

Davidson was brought in on the ground floor by Graham Bosher, co-founder of healthy snacks firm Graze, who floated the idea in 2013 and tasked him with launching the business a year later.

Other co-founders include TV vet Joe Inglis, former Amazon web architect Steve Webster and ex-Zoopla software developer Mark Holland. Family and friends are among backers of the venture, which has also obtained capital from Octopus Investments and Draper Esprit. Its second round of fundraising, late last year, raised “several million pounds”.