The Pet Industry Forum, packed with a heavyweight line-up of speakers and topics, has been given the thumbs-up by delegates who attended the inaugural event.

Subjects ranged from an overview of the US pet industry and an insightful overview of how a UK high street retailer could keep their prices at the same level for 23 years; to working collaboratively with the RSPCA, tips and ideas for understanding your customers better and a look at the future of wholesaling in the pet industry.

The Pet Industry Federation’s newly revamped charity, The Pet Charity, and logo were officially unveiled by its Chairman, Paul Miley. The Pet Charity will be the pet industry’s own charity – its public facing voice,  encouraging pet ownership, promoting the joy and benefit of pets, conducting research and collaborating with other stakeholders.

Forum chairman Steve Fowler of PamPurred Pets said: ‘The feedback from this year’s event has been overwhelmingly positive, with ‘collaboration’ a dominant theme throughout the two days.

"The aim of the Forum & Awards was to inspire the pet industry and thanks to the generous support of all our sponsors, the quality of the topics and speakers, and the participation of stakeholders from all corners of the pet industry, this has undoubtedly been achieved.  

"Thoughts are already turning to how we can build on this success next year."

PIF chief executive Nigel Baker said: "We delivered an extremely enjoyable and memorable event. We are delighted by the very positive feedback, with many calling for the event to be repeated next year. Having delivered one of the best industry events yet, this will be a hard act to follow."