The award-winning pet retailer Jollyes has opened its first York store.

The event on Friday was greeted by hundreds of customers and their pets, including a therapy bunny.

The store, at Monks Cross Shopping Park in Huntington, York, was officially opened by three special guests.

Performing the red ribbon cutting was Rt Hon Lord Mayor of York, Cllr Margaret Wells.

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Alongside The Lord Mayor was detector dog Pablo and his handler Beverley Boynton who bit through a string of sausages to declare the store open.

Pablo, aged 7, served in the border force on the Yorkshire coast for a number of years but ruptured a disc in his back requiring surgery while running, leading to his early retirement last Christmas.

The NFRSA helps support the care, well-being, and welfare of retired service animals from across the emergency service family - the police, fire, border force, National Crime Agency, NHS and prison services.

Over the next 12 months, all Jollyes’ stores will be raising money for NFRSA with collections matched by Jollyes up to £20,000 that will help NFRSA support retired service animals and their owners.

The store has created 12 new jobs for the area and Jollyes says the York store is a great example of the career development opportunities for colleagues as the pet superstore continues to open new stores at pace.

Joining the York team are Aquilla Fisher who’s been promoted from Supervisor to Deputy Manager after working for Jollyes for four years and Tom Hurley will transfer from Doncaster store after eight years with the business.

Jollyes new store will provide pet parents in York access to Jollyes’ raw food frozen ‘shop-in-shop’.

Deputy manager Aquilla Fisher said: “We’re delighted to have brought Jollyes to York.  The team here at the store can’t wait to bring their pet expertise to the city alongside the kind of value that’s been making a real difference to pet parents right across the UK.”

Jollyes, which began in Enfield in 1971 has increased grown its store estate by 50 per cent in three years to give it more than 100 stores, plus a major online presence.

The company claims a remarkable start to 2024 winning new investment to supercharge its growth, being named as the best retailer in Britain at the prestigious Retail Week awards for retailers under £250m turnover and making the Sunday Times’ list for the first time as one of Britain’s best big companies to work for.