Sustainable success: Lintbells’ paw-some growth journey
From its Hertfordshire roots to a leader in pet supplements, Lintbells’ growth journey was accelerated with Inflexion’s capital and expertise.
Passion and science underpin the success story of Lintbells. It was established in 2006 by two friends, one of whose labrador had slowed down following an operation for a slipped disc. The other, Dr. John Howie, had worked in the human food industry before switching to pet. It was there he discovered that many scientifically-backed ingredients were difficult to incorporate into petfood as the drying process and other manufacturing methods often degraded these ingredients and made them unusable. He and his fellow co-founder, John Davies, combined their experience to create a brand-new formulation, proving its efficacy on the pet labrador, and it went on to become the preferred choice in the UK for pets with joint-related mobility issues.
The business had been going just over 10 years when Inflexion invested. “You can get your money anywhere if I’m frank, but we’d wanted an experienced partner to accelerate growth, largely for US expansion,” John says. He stresses it was more than capital. “It’s about the skills and people for us. We got on well with Inflexion and knew we would be spending a lot of time with them.”
It would ultimately be over six years, a time which “completely changed the business”. Inflexion’s in-house teams supported Lintbells across a range of growth opportunities, including its successful direct-to-consumer channel. Inflexion also supported the expansion of Lintbells into the US both organically and through the acquisition of mobility aid specialist Walkin’ Pets. Earlier this year the firm achieved B Corp accreditation, reflecting its impressive ESG achievements. The investment period also facilitated the planned succession of John with Fiona Hope brought in as Chief Commercial Officer shortly after the Inflexion investment and taking over as CEO in 2022.
Hearts, minds and paws
“I’m a huge pet lover and reached a stage in my career where I really wanted to make a difference,” Fiona says, who’d seen the positive impact of YuMove on her own lab. “The efficacy of the product, integrity of the team, and the ambition of the business – which was validated by Inflexion’s investment – drew me to the opportunity,” she explains.
Fiona’s background in marketing gleaned at big corporates including Coca Cola convinced her the YuMove brand could be delivered to customers in a more meaningful way. “I arrived at a business with a very strong core. The product worked very well, the brand had lots of trust, and a small team of under 70 people in which I saw integrity and a warm, open culture driven by critical thinking. The business is now bigger but same as it ever was – making a difference to pet health,” she says.
The firm’s sale to Vetnique in the US in 2024 generated a 5.5x MoC for Inflexion and was a good fit for Lintbells. Says John, “I had known Vetnique for a decade as a similar vet-founded business to our own with a strong level of science behind the products and sound ethos around how the business runs.”
“Inflexion were an enabler, not just financially but attitudinally enabling us to take it forward and take risks we may have otherwise been nervous about. They helped us to move forward in a well thought-through way to drive a level of scale I’d not have imagined when I founded it,” John enthuses.
Inflexion-backed growth at Lintbells:
International / US expansion: “The US journey fundamentally is a strategic move; less about local knowledge and implementation since you can pull in resources for that; it’s about getting the strategy right to take on that huge market,” John explains.
The onboarding of Fiona Hope as CCO (latterly CEO) shortly after Inflexion’s investment helped shape thinking, with John crediting her for defining the playbook the firm can roll out for other geographies. Lintbells also acquired mobility pets specialist Walkin’ Pets in the US, expanding its offering and geographic footprint. “Inflexion helped us go further and a bit faster in the US,” Fiona says.
Lintbells received the prestigious King’s Awards for Enterprise in 2023 for the International Trade category, reflecting its successful global expansion.
Digital: Inflexion helped Lintbells to work through infrastructure and develop its technology platform, with Digital Associates brought on board to help the business jump ahead, particularly in the area of digital marketing. Lintbells’ D2C offering boosted from 5% to over 50% at exit.
Inflexion’s in-house AI expert also helped Lintbells navigate this new area. “It’s a lot to understand and their advice saved us a huge amount of time and risk versus having done it ourselves,” John says.
Commercial: Fiona explains the Customer LTV is critical as it underpins an important set of commercials, and for Lintbells it is high as people buy for multiple pets, for years to come, and recommend it to other people. “The legacy of how well the product works is that it has a ripple effect,” she says. The Inflexion partnership supported sales growth of about 35% in 2023.
Talent: In addition to appointing a Chair “with an incredible growth mindset” (according to John), Inflexion supported the appointment of Fiona as CCO shortly after investment – who would ultimately go on to become CEO and fulfil John’s plans to step aside. “Inflexion enabled me to attract a very high calibre of experienced people,” John says.
ESG: Lintbells were on a good footing for ESG to start with given the firm’s attention to science and aim to promote health. Inflexion helped to formalise this. “They brought a framework we could operate to, and we benefitted from their annual audits, which helped us identify where we needed to improve,” John recalls. The firm is passionate about reducing its carbon footprint, and secured B Corp accreditation at the start of 2024. “B Corp sets out a firm commitment to operating in a responsible way in a way that is engaging for our stakeholders, internal and external,” Fiona explains.
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