‘We make eco-friendly products for dogs’

Nicola Wordsworth, 55, and Emily Marks, 28, are the mother-anddaughter duo behind Pup Suds, a luxury range of eco products for dogs. Nicola lives in Kent with her Tibetan terrier, Bertie, and Emily lives in Hertfordshire with her husband and their Labradoodle, Sandy.

THE IDEA

Nicola says Bertie loves rolling in anything stinky, so I was forever buying doggy shampoos, but nothing really worked. Also, there wasn’t anything eco, natural or vegan, which was also important to me. When lockdown hit, my work as a graphic designer dried up. I don’t do thumbtwiddling very well so I started having a go at making my own dog shampoos. Emily says I went to stay with Mum for the first lockdown. Mum talked a lot about the Holy Grail of fox-poo-smellremoving dog shampoo, and how she’d like to find one that really worked. And ta-da – that thought became Pup Suds.

WHAT HAPPENED NEXT

Nicola says I researched ingredients and tried different recipes. Then in

May 2020, someone stroked Bertie and wanted to know which shampoo I used and where they could buy it. So I thought I’d better get a website! I knew I couldn’t launch with just one shampoo bar, so I developed another four, and also made some recycled tug toys to give the website more interest. We launched in November 2020, keeping costs down by doing the branding, website and photography ourselves.

Emily says We tested everything on ourselves before it went anywhere near the dogs – we laughed so much!

BREAKTHROUGH MOMENT

Emily says The time someone we didn’t know purchased a bar, then came back to purchase six more. When a stranger tells you your product is fantastic, that’s the breakthrough.

STEEPEST LEARNING CURVE

Nicola says Doing everything required to sell into big retail. We’ve had to bulk-buy ingredients to reduce costs, and work out how to make the quantities required, plus figure out VAT.

WHERE WE ARE NOW

Nicola says We sell all over the UK and are about to start exporting to Europe. We also attend shows and meet the public and their dogs – that’s the best bit!