April -2026 - The Shop Saga

From One Table to Taking the Keys: The PNN Shop Saga (AKA “How Hard Can It Be?”)

Every big business has a humble beginning…

Ours?

One table

15 dog treats

And a dream (plus a slightly optimistic attitude)

Fast forward three years and we’ve got:

200+ products

A full large gazebo setup

An event trailer (hello Flappy )

A proper website

A full rebrand

A garage extension

And pallets… yes, actual pallets of dog treats

At this point, it was clear…

We didn’t just need more space… we needed A LOT more space.

The Idea (Danger Zone)

Now, if you’ve followed PNN for a while, you’ll know how this goes:

Someone has a “great idea”

Someone else has to actually make it happen

This time?

“Let’s get a shop.”

Simple.

(We laugh now.)

The Plot Thickens

By pure chance (and a bit of clever thinking), a family connection opened the door:

A property investment…

A chat with a friend who’s a mobile dog groomer…

And suddenly…

BOOM

Pet shop + dog grooming salon combo

All under one roof.

Owned by the PNN extended empire.

What could possibly go wrong?

The “Easy” Bit… Finding the Shop

After a few viewings and near bidding wars, we stumbled across the one…

Before it even hit the market.

Deal agreed.

Everyone smiling.

Things moving.

We thought:

“This is going suspiciously well…”

We should’ve known.

Enter: The 200-Day Nightmare

Four months later…

We were still not in the shop.

Instead, we were deep in the magical world of:

Mortgage lenders

Legal paperwork

Planning authorities

And people who charge by the hour… slowly

The Survey Situation (Brace Yourself)

First up… the survey.

We expected: 

A detailed, expert analysis

Insight

Value

What we got:

A 30-page document

80% copy and paste

Some parts not even relevant

Cost?

£3,600

The highlight?

The rental valuation calculation:

Purchase price × 8%

That’s it.

No magic. No data. No wizardry.

Just… Year 5 maths.

Plot Twist: Mortgage Pulled

Because we’d negotiated a good purchase price…

The rental value came out too low.

Which meant:

Mortgage = withdrawn

Progress = back to zero

Mood = questionable

Round Two: The Sequel Nobody Wanted

New lender. New hope.

“Can we reuse the £3,600 survey?”

No.

New survey required.

Cost?

£2,500

This time they promised:

“We’ll compare local properties”

Great!

Except…

There were no local properties

None rented in the last 3 years

So instead…

They used:

Random properties

Different sizes

Dozens of miles away

And basically guessed.

Result?

Even worse valuation.

The Outcome

Good news:

We got a mortgage

Bad news:

Smaller loan

Bigger deposit

£6,000+ in surveys… basically for vibes

The Final Boss: Paperwork

Then came:

Searches

Queries

Delays

More delays

Even more delays

January completion became: 

February

March

April

Two final issues held everything up:

Planning permission… for a wall removed 70+ years ago

A loan from 60+ years ago that had already been repaid

Solution?

£88 insurance

That’s it.

After 10 weeks of stress, poor communication and people creating work for themselves. 

The “Are We There Yet?” Stage

Just when we thought we were done…

“Nope, those documents are now out of date.”

Of course they are.

Cue:

Resigning paperwork

Snotty emails

Irritated phone calls

Questioning all life choices

The Moment

After nearly 200 days…

The keys were finally handed over.

No confetti.

No dramatic music.

Just pure relief.

And Now… The Real Work Begins

Because of course…

Buying the shop was just the warm-up.

Now we’ve got:

Renovation

Setup

Stocking

Branding

Building something incredible

The Bigger Picture

From: 

One table

15 treats

To: 

A full shop

A grooming space

A growing empire

It’s been chaotic, stressful, expensive, and at times… completely unbelievable.

But one thing’s certain:

PNN is only just getting started.

Next chapter: Turning an empty shop into something amazing (and probably covered in dog hair).