Pets at Home (UK) stays open

Pets at Home CEO Peter Pritchard insisted his company is working hard to ensure pets across Britain continue to receive the food and services they need during the coronavirus pandemic. Mr Pritchard said customers reached out in fear of not being able to access pet food and healthcare should they be forced to self-isolate for a long period of time. But the Pets at Home boss told the BBC Radio 4’s Today programme they have pledged to feed the nation’s pets through the pandemic. He said: “We’ve had communications with customers who are really worried about taking care of their companions, keeping them fed.

“All the focus is on the supermarkets, and rightfully so because the supermarkets are doing an amazing job of trying to feed the nation.

“We’re trying to do the same by trying to feed the nation’s pets.”

Mr Pritchard said the company wrote to their six million customers to urge them to play their part and comply with the social distancing rules the Government advised every Briton to adopt.

He continued: “We’ve implemented social distancing measures in our stores, we’ve stopped all non-essential services to make sure we can focus on food, essential items and healthcare.

“We also wrote to six million customers asking them to play their part.

“If you go to our shops, shop by yourself, recognise we’re only going to allow a certain number of people in our stores and we’ve implemented a two-metre rule.”

The Pets at Home CEO also confirmed staff will continue to be paid should stores be forced to shut down in the coming weeks.

He added: “Our colleagues in the retail business have been nothing short of heroic.