The owner of a much-loved Croydon pet shop that has been on the market since last year has cut its asking price by more than a third to secure a quick sale and enable him to retire.

Ken Burgess, who first put Burgess Boys Pet Centre in New Addington up for sale last spring, has instructed his agent, Blacks Business Brokers, to reduce the price to take over the lease from £95,000 to £59,950.

Ken acquired the business in 1979 following a successful career working for multinational corporations. The premises had already been trading as a pet and garden supplies shop for 20 years when he purchased it.

After 40 years of trading Ken has built Burgess Boys, which was named in honour of his three sons, into a £250,000-turnover business. The shop employs two full-time and three part-time members of staff, and incurs a rent of £22,100 per year.

Burgess Boys Pet Care Centre is fully licensed to sell small animals, birds, reptiles and fish. Over the years it has become a fixture of the local community, hosting a popular children’s painting competition and regularly providing work experience placements to students and the wider community.

Burgess Boys Pet Care Centre has been recognised for its commitment to the community and recently attained a prestigious Croydon Business Excellence Award. It is rated the top pet shop in Croydon by Google.

The business, which operates a loyalty card programme, is used by its many regular customers as their first port of call for animal health advice. It has featured in an episode of the BBC children’s TV programme My Pet and Me, which is regularly repeated on the CBeebies channel.

The business provides nail clipping, delivery and holiday boarding services, all of which could be expanded further. It recently upgraded its computer system and website, providing scope for a new owner to develop the shop’s existing online sales into a full-scale ecommerce operation.

According to Ken Burgess, who is a City and Guilds examiner in Pet Store Management and a former board member of the Pet Care Trust (now known as the Pet Industry Federation), the shop’s staff are very highly trained and will be able to provide a seamless transition when a new owner takes over.

The premises include a large covered storage area and rear driveway. Mr Burgess says that, were he not planning to retire, he would consider converting these to provide additional services such as grooming and hydrotherapy.

Ken himself has a high profile in the local business community, and is a founder member, chair and director of the Central Parade Business Partnership, which has pulled together local businesses into the smallest recognised Business Improvement District (BID) in the country. The BID has enabled investment of more than £80 million into the shopping area, improving traffic flow and access to shops, introducing free parking facilities and creating a new market square and community facilities.

Callum Pollard, customer services executive at Blacks Business Brokers, said, “This is a fantastic opportunity for an animal lover in the South London or Surrey area to take over a well-established, turnkey operation with highly skilled, supportive staff. There is no competition in the immediate area and the new asking price represents exceptional value for such a long-established, respected and well-located business.”

All enquiries should be made to Blacks Business Brokers on 0333 370 0000, quoting reference 6047.

A gallery of Burgess Boys Pet Care Centre pictures from the agents' online dale details can be viewed below...