Pet Industry Federation Awards 2020 Finalist

Pet Industry Federation Awards 2020: Kennel Business of the Year finalist

We were proud to be named a finalist for Kennel Business of the Year at the Pet Industry Federation Awards 2020, for our Esher site. It capped off several years of steadily rebuilding our boarding offering into something we were genuinely proud to put in front of an industry panel, rather than just entering for the sake of it.

About the Pet Industry Federation Awards

The Pet Industry Federation is the only membership association for pet industry specialists in the UK, representing groomers, boarding kennels, catteries and pet retailers. Its annual awards celebrate pet businesses across a range of categories, including Kennel Business of the Year, and being shortlisted alongside other established kennels around the country was itself a marker that our standards were being noticed outside our own customer base.

Why this recognition mattered to us

The whole Royvon team worked hard on our boarding offering in the years leading up to this, aiming to give dogs somewhere that truly feels like home, loved, happy, and properly stimulated mentally and physically. Our staff continually take on new training opportunities, including ongoing continuing professional development in force-free handling and behaviour, and the range of activities and training sessions we tailor to each individual dog reflects that investment. We're hugely proud of the team members whose work helped our boarding service thrive, and grateful to every customer whose continued support made this nomination possible.

What judges tend to look for

Awards of this kind typically weigh animal welfare standards, staff qualifications and turnover, customer satisfaction over time, and the physical standard of the facilities themselves, not just a single good review or a nice website. By 2020 Royvon had been caring for dogs since 1959, and our Esher boarding programme had built up a track record with thousands of dogs and their owners, the kind of consistency that a one-off promotional push cannot manufacture.

Where we are now

Royvon has since grown to two UK sites, and our Merthyr Tydfil facility now runs alongside Esher, both built on the same enrichment-led approach that earned us that 2020 nomination. You can read more about how the business got here in Pioneers in Residential Dog Training: Our Story, or see what current customers say for themselves in our success stories. If you're considering boarding for your own dog, our social enrichment hub covers what a stay with us actually looks like day to day.