Award-winning therapy dog specialist on recruitment drive after funded Boost support

A Skelmersdale-based therapy dog specialist who received fully funded support from Boost; Lancashire’s Business Growth Hub is now embarking on a significant drive for new staff.

Hope’s Therapy Dogs, a family business founded by Alison Colley, is based in Skelmersdale, Lancashire. It provides animal-assisted emotional and mental health support for traumatised children using specially trained dogs. 

Established in April 2021, the inspiration behind Hope’s Therapy Dogs came from Alison’s daughter Hope, who, when aged seven, benefitted from the support of a therapy dog while receiving treatment for a brain tumour. Sadly, Hope passed away from the illness, but in honour of her enduring spirit, Alison’s vision is to support as many children, young people and adults as possible, with the assistance of her therapy dogs.

The company recently won The Animal Award at BBC’s Radio Merseyside’s Make A Difference Award 2024 in recognition of its services to people during challenging times.

Hope’s Therapy Dogs currently employs two people, Alison provides the therapy work, supported by Catherine Wittow who manages administration. Alison currently has three therapy dogs and the core of her work has come from attending teachers’ conferences in the region as a guest speaker. 

Despite business coming her way only by word of mouth, Alison is fully booked for the near future and the business’s income has quadrupled in the two years since she set up the business. Having received helpful support through Boost, she is now embarking on a recruitment drive across the North West and aims to add five to six additional therapists to her team by the start of 2025.

Armed with a growing team, Alison also aims to expand the number of schools that use her therapy dog services and is working towards providing support to the NHS for services that require emotional and mental health support teams.

Alison said: “Therapy dogs is a very niche market, I am in my third year now running my own business, I need more staff to fulfil the growth demands. The roles require people ideally with experience in children’s therapy who own a dog suitable for training.” 

Alison originally contacted Boost in 2022 when completing her Animal Assisted Intervention Specialist (CAAI - S) qualification and ready to set up her own business. She received mentoring support to review her business plan, cashflow and income projections.

Boost is Lancashire’s Business Growth Hub and is led by Lancashire County Council. It has received £2.6m from the UK Government for its current programme of business support through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund contributions of ten local authorities in Lancashire, in addition to funds from Lancashire County Council and the Department for Business and Trade.

Boost’s mission is to help Lancashire businesses thrive and since 2013, it has supported over 14,000 businesses, helping create 3,500 jobs while adding £100m to the local economy. It offers a range of funded business support services, and a team of business advisers Lancashire businesses can talk to.

Not long after Alison established her business, she recognised a gap in the therapy market for specialists in animal-assisted emotional and mental health support. She expanded her vision for the business to also to create a training school, develop her value proposition and training programmes specialising in dog therapy. 

Alison knew she lacked the business knowledge to make her business sustainable. She contacted Boost again in March 2024. Alison spoke to Boost business adviser Sue Denver from Boost’s Business Advice Service who introduced Alison to the Boost Growth Catalyst service.

The Boost Growth Catalyst service is for businesses that want to grow turnover, transform profitability and create new jobs. The service puts business leaders in touch with specialist growth advisers and provides a host of online masterclasses and face to face workshops. 

Alison received several one-to-one sessions with Boost Growth Catalyst business adviser Matthew Sheppard who helped her to create a Vision Orbit plan, a financial tool demonstrating the journey towards reaching her three-year growth targets. Matthew then helped Alison to work on the next steps as part of her growth plan. This included creating a register of training dates, to ensure all training requirements are met. 

With the help and guidance from Boost’s Growth Catalyst service Alison now has a clear and structured growth plan which includes expanding her service across the North West, establishing central training schools, and appointing local area managers to oversee the programme. With turnover set to more than double in the next three years, the focus now is on recruitment and ensuring the business model's sustainability.

Through an introduction by Boost, Alison has also now joined the strategic management programme at Edge Hill University to build on her plans to develop dog therapy training programmes.

Alison added: “The support from Boost has been brilliant, and I think it’s phenomenal that is it free to the user. What struck me is the friendly, keen, enthusiastic people, that I have met through the Growth Catalyst service. Giving me confidence, in my own ability and insight on what to do next to fulfil my vision for the business.

“I know my job inside out, but working on the business is different. I gained encouragement from the Boost service, talking about business with other people on the Growth Catalyst programme who are in the same situation. This has been invaluable.”

County Councillor Aidy Riggott, cabinet member for economic development and growth, Lancashire County Council, said: “Alison’s business is unique and its growth shows she has found an important niche service to fulfil. Lancashire County Council has provided £1.25m funding to Boost as part of this current programme of support alongside funding from our partner district authorities. Hope’s Therapy Dogs is an excellent example of how funded business support given to just one growing business often goes on to have a much greater impact across the county.

“The help Alison has received from Boost has not only helped her to expand her business and provide new jobs, it is also helping her to expand the valuable support she provides so that more people in Lancashire can benefit. I’m looking forward to continuing to follow the business’s journey as it grows over the coming years.”

Councillor Melissa Parlour, West Lancashire Borough Council, and lead member for economic regeneration and green growth, said: “We are delighted that Hope Therapy Dogs, Skelmersdale has taken part in Boost’s Growth Catalyst Programme, (which is part funded by West Lancashire Borough Council’s UK Shared Prosperity Fund), to help drive forward business growth, achieve new goals and take on new employees to the business.

“It's a fantastic success story. The council is fully committed to supporting our local businesses across the borough, with a wide range of business support programmes on offer, and we congratulate and wish Alison every success on her business growth journey.”   

If you’re looking to grow, scale or start your business, use Boost; Lancashire’s Business Growth Hub. We offer a range of funded business support services. Call our Business Support Helpdesk on 0800 488 0057 to find out more.