The rise in pet ownership which occurred during lockdown restrictions has resulted in record sales and profits for the Tangerine Group, manufacturer of animal health and nutritional products under the VetPlus, Agri-Lloyd and Farmsense brands.

The Lytham-based company has now reported a 27% increase in turnover, from £28.1m to £35.7m, and 58 % increase in pre-tax operating profits, from £6m to £9.5m, for its financial year ending June 2021.

Tangerine owner David Haythornthwaite said: "Covid-19 presented many challenges and some companies were fortunate to benefit and others not so. In our case, the increased love of pets during lockdown led to a huge increase in pet ownership which obviously had a knock-on effect. This past year has, once again, highlighted the importance of controlling your manufacturing process from start to finish.

"I’m incredibly proud of the team across the Tangerine Group for this achievement. We continued to operate throughout the Covid-19 pandemic without losing a single day’s production, and these results are testament to everyone who works within the business both here in the UK and across the world.”