UP CLOSE WITH PETS AT HOME’S NEWLY-HONOURED CHIEF EXECUTIVE
Teddington Town is always keen to celebrate and recognise success, whether on the sports field or in the business community and today we are UP CLOSE with LYSSA MCGOWAN, who lives in Hampton and was awarded an OBE in the recent King’s Birthday Honours for her services to retail. She worked at Sky TV before becoming the Chief Executive Officer of PETS AT HOME which has generated over £2billion in revenue and increased the membership of Pets at Home to over 8 million. Here, Lyssa offers some fascinating insights into her business career and the secret of her success.
Firstly, congratulations on your OBE Lyssa what does it mean to you personally?
It’s a huge honour to be named alongside such incredible people and I am delighted and humbled to have received the recognition, but I’m mostly proud that it reflects the brilliant work our Pets’ colleagues and partners do every day to care for the nation’s pets. Our colleagues are the key to our success, so it is wonderful to receive this honour which reflects our shared efforts to create a better world for pets and the people who love them.
You are clearly very driven in every element of the business, give us a picture of how your average day works?
There isn’t an average day in this role, but the one thing every day has in common is that they are always jam-packed! It’s incredibly varied, but I always prioritise spending time out in our pet care centres and veterinary practices, speaking to colleagues and consumers and of course there’s the added bonus of meeting a lot of pets along the way. I tend to spend a couple of days each week in our Support Office in Cheshire, when we’ll discuss everything from the latest developments in pet food and driving improvements on our digital platform, to reviewing new marketing campaigns and sharing insights about improvements in pet welfare. Leading a nationwide business means I am on the road a lot, but I love all the incredible people I get to meet and the opportunity it brings to hear first-hand from our customers and colleagues so I wouldn’t have it any other way.
What were the biggest challenges within the business when you became the boss and what do you think have been your most significant changes in terms of culture and business practice?
Pets at home is a brilliant business, run by a passionate, talented and caring team. When I joined the business, it was at a time when we were still going through the ‘pet boom’ which saw a big increase in the total number of new pets following the pandemic. The team were doing a brilliant job, but we knew that the pet population would normalise and that pet owners’ requirements would change over time as their pets matured. We also needed to invest in our core foundations to set us up for future success and ensure Pets was well-placed to compete in a digital world, as well as in our pet care centres, by building an omnichannel platform that could deliver everything pet owners needed to care for their pets throughout their lives.
Just over three years later, we have been through a period of profound transformation – we’ve brought together our family of brands under one ‘Pets’ brand, fully re-platformed our digital and data capability, transitioned to one single-site state-of-the-art-distribution centre, and rapidly grown our vets business to be the second biggest nationwide (but still retaining that local ownership and care). It has been challenging and very busy, but I’m pleased that we’re now through that period of change and are looking ahead knowing we’re in a really fantastic place to serve our customers better than ever before.
Working patterns have changed very dramatically since the pandemic in terms of better emphasis on work, life, balance and the opportunity to work from home, what kind of culture do you have at Pets At Home?
We have a really special culture at pets and that is down to the fact that the vast majority of people who join the business do so because they want to take care of pets, to help customers be the best owners they can be and to play their part in improving welfare standards for pets in the UK. We work hard to ensure we provide a welcoming and supportive environment where colleagues can carve out rewarding careers in pet care and grow their skills over time.
We’re happy for people to work wherever the job best gets done – and for the majority of our 17,000 retail colleagues, vets, nurses, warehouse workers, drivers and groomers that means being hands on in our pet care centres, practices or distribution facility. For our Support Office teams that could be at home, in the support office, at partner or supplier premises – or really importantly out spending time in pet care centres and practices. I think we have managed to attract and retain a lot of talented people through a combination of a brilliant culture and great flexibility.
You have been quoted historically as saying that you have had to work had to get to the top as a woman, do you feel now that those issues have changed and that it is much easier?
I certainly feel as a woman at the top that I have a huge responsibility to pay it forward and bring through talent and nurture diversity through the business – not just on the basis of sex but all types of diversity. I truly believe that it makes businesses better and the vast majority of CEOs I talk to agree so I feel there has been a big shift – but still plenty of work to do so we need to stay on it and stay balanced.
You live in Hampton near the river, Hampton Court and the Royal Parks, how did you end up living in the area?
Like many great decisions in life it was serendipity as we just picked somewhere on the map roughly halfway between mine and my (now) husband’s first jobs. Our first house in the area was in St Margarets in a house described in the survey as “a tiny Victorian worker’s cottage, situation on a main trunk route into London, directly under the Heathrow flight path, and within smelling distance of Mogden sewage works! We loved that house, but as the succession of kids and dogs came along we made the standard journey outwards in search of space to Twickenham then beautiful Hampton.
What do you like about living in the area, do you have favourite pubs or restaurants in the area?
We absolutely adore the area. We love walking the dogs for miles along the river and through the Royal Parks. We love to cook and are at Robson’s Butchers, Sandy’s Fishmongers and Cousins Greengrocers most weekends sourcing seasonal ingredients. I had my 30th birthday at Osteria Pulcinella in Twickenham and it still does great Italian food. In Hampton Monaf’s is ace for a take out and Mezzet does beautiful Lebanese in Hampton Court. The Bell and the Anglers are both lovely by the river for a drink but for elevated pub grub I’d head to the Kings Head in Teddington every time.
You obviously lead a very busy life, how do you spend any free time you have. Do you have any hobbies or how do you like to spend any free time?
I love cycling and walking, doing yoga (practising my headstand), and cooking for friends and family. We also love to travel and explore new places as a family and my ultimate total relaxation is scuba diving – no hourly sales reports 30m under the sea!
What are the current challenges facing Pets at Home? It seems that there are more dog owners than ever which must good for business but the economic climate doesn’t necessarily mean people can afford the increasing cost of the upkeep of pets?
The challenges facing Pets are mostly the same as those facing the majority of business in the UK today. We’re operating in a tough economic environment with a lot of cost inflation and consumer sentiment remains subdued, but throughout this we have continued to achieve major milestones in the delivery of our strategy by completing major transformation projects and we are beginning to see early results from these investments.
Our focus has always been on keeping pet care as affordable as possible to ensure everyone can experience the joy of pet ownership, whether it’s by delivering great deals through our Pets Club, helping to keep the cost of veterinary care affordable through preventative care plans, or supporting those who might need a little bit of extra help through our pet foodbank partnership with Blue Cross: we know that owners want to keep pets in loving homes and we do everything we can to ensure cost is never a barrier.
You have a couple of Labradors I believe. What are their names and tell us a bit about them – do they have different personalities? Do you have time to take them for a daily walk? Do you have any other pets? Did you have pets as a child?
My first pet was a beautiful border collie called Ben who we got when I was 10 – he was so smart and a joy to train (I used a lot of pet friendly chocolate drops…). Fred is our 12 year old black labrador and he was born as a therapy dog – he is so kind, calm, gentle and obedient.
He had a litter a couple of years ago with Lily, a local labrador, and we took Barney, a little yellow puppy home….and he is bonkers! Literally could not be more different! We were so smug about how well-trained Fred was…. well it turns out it was him not us. Barney is two now and an adorable bundle of energy and fun… but so, so naughty. We have taught him to walk off the lead and stay well away from the deer in Bushy Park which is important – but beyond that we’ve sort of given up and just enjoy his loving boisterousness. I can’t take him to the office though again after he stole all the new food product development and was extremely sick in the car park….
What do think pets bring and add to your life?
Pets are so good for companionship and bringing such joy to your life. Our “We’re all for pets” ad campaign captures the deep bond between pet and owner from picking up poo in all weathers to creating special birthday dinners (Barney and I actually share a birthday).
Which other business leaders do you admire and respect and can you give any specific reasons?
Lord Wolfson at Next is an incredible retailer and has built an impressive platform of brands that just keeps driving growth and delivering for customers. I have huge admiration for Dame Emma Walmsley and the fantastic job she is doing positioning GSK at the forefront of science and technology. Sir Jeremy Darroch who really invested in leadership and talent to build an amazing team and who I was lucky enough to work with for 12 years growing Sky from a satellite broadcaster to a telecoms and media behemoth. Sir David Lewis for a brilliant turnaround at Tesco by getting back to customer centricity and their core mission of “every little helps”.
And of course, knowing how tough retail and hospitality are right now, I have huge admiration for the hundreds of local business leaders that keep our High Streets so vibrant, making places like this such a great place to live.
It may be a slightly unfair question but can you envisage where you would like the business to be in five year and ten year’s time?
We’re building the world’s best pet care platform, bringing everything together that customers need to care for their pets – healthcare, nutrition, accessories, grooming, advice and support – and using technology and data to make it easy, seamless and enjoyable to use face to face or virtually. We are launching insurance in the next year or two as well as that’s a big part of the pet market we aren’t in and I think we can do something really high quality and affordable for consumers. There is so much opportunity ahead for the business – the loveliest and hardest thing about my job is picking what to do next!
If you are looking to recruit someone in a senior position what are the three qualities you are looking for?
A balanced combo of book smarts, street smarts, and empathy – you’ve got to be able to think deeply to solve complex problems, figure out how things will actually play out in the real world, and understand how to bring people along with you.
A strong set of values and a good moral compass – senior roles are often about making difficult decisions and priority calls to shape the business for the future – so you need to know that someone will have good judgement and do the right thing, not the easy thing.
Resilience – senior roles are often tough and unpredictable, success takes time to build and setbacks are inevitable, so you need someone with the courage of their convictions and the drive to regroup, reset and go again…and again.