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UK-licensed dog breeders, Furnish Kennels, have secured a new opportunity selling dogs into France with the help of UK Trade & Investment.

Furnish Kennels has been a family run business for three generations. The company, which is based in Northern Ireland, is run by brothers David and Jonathan Hamilton. Breeding and selling in excess of 1500 dogs a year, ranging from Chihuahuas to Newfoundlands, Furnish Kennels is widely recognised as one of the largest dog breeding establishments in the UK.

During the early 2000s, Furnish Kennels knew that it was reaching saturation point in Northern Ireland, so in early 2003 the company starting exporting dogs to mainland UK. By late 2007, it was looking for further expansion and it was during a family holiday in France, when Jonathan, David’s brother was talking with some local Frenchmen about his business, that he discovered that the French dog breeding market was quite different to the one back home.

It turned out that French pet shops were being supplied with dogs from small independent breeders, but there was no commercial dog breeding kennels in France. It was apparent that Furnish Kennels could either set up a dog breeding base in France, or export its dogs from Northern Ireland.

Furnish Kennels commissioned an Overseas Market Introduction Service (OMIS) report in February 2009 to identify the possibilities for selling dogs in France. As a result of the OMIS report, in December 2009, Furnish Kennels signed a contract with a holding kennel in the north of France and exports dogs there every month. In April this year, the company commissioned a further OMIS, looking for more holding centres across Northern France.

“Our business in France is going well so far, and we have high hopes for the future,” says David. “We hope to achieve our goals with UK Trade & Investment’s help. They definitely give our business credibility and open doors for us. I would highly recommend them to anyone looking to take their business abroad.