Animal Focused, an educational consultancy specialising in animal related training and canine assisted education, has been awarded the NNBN Start-Up Business of the Year Award. 

The award recognises the company’s achievements since setting up in April 2023, in particular the launch of two unique training courses, one to support schools using therapy dogs and one to train Local Authority animal licensing inspectors. 

“Winning this award is a validation of everything we have been working towards and of our belief that, where animals are part of a working environment their needs must be a priority. We are delighted the judges were able to see the impact of our work,” said Vicky Skinner, Founder of Animal Focused. 

“We’re passionate about promoting the welfare of all animals, but through  delivering our own canine assisted education sessions we realised that many schools have a dog on site without having first considered all the factors. It’s amazing to be able to share our  knowledge on working with dogs with others and know we are setting new standards for how schools and safely use dogs to help learners thrive."

The NNBN awards celebrates the achievements of Northamptonshires businesses, with this year's The Start Up Business of the Year award was sponsored by Northampton Business Doctor, Alastair McLeod. 

Alastair stated: “I’m very excited about what Animal Focused offers – it’s a great example of spotting a need in the market, focusing on specific customers and offering a great service with passion and authenticity."

The Animal Focused team have over 20 years of expertise in both education and animal welfare resulting in the development of a unique courses which helps to create a safe and welfare focused approach to having dogs in schools which maximises the benefits to learners.

For more information about the online course and to learn how your school can introduce a therapy dog, visitwww.animalfocused.co.uk/dogsinschools.