Sort by
Sort by

Nestlé Purina launches Pets at Work (PaW) Alliance to help more businesses become dog-friendly

Back to Press releases

Labrador and office worker

Nestlé Purina has launched the Pets at Work (PaW) Alliance to support other companies in becoming dog-friendly. The goal is to help 200 organisations across Europe open their doors to pets by 2020, as part of their Purina in Society commitments.

The perceived complexity of implementing a PaW policy can be a barrier for organisations therefore, as part of the PaW Alliance, an interactive toolkit has been developed. The toolkit offers a six step approach for businesses of any size to successfully introduce their own scheme, containing health and safety advice, responsible pet ownership guidelines and education, advice on work space requirements and ready to use resources, making the policy easier to adopt and cost-effective. It is based on Purina’s own experiences, as well as research with multiple businesses.

Paul Steadman, Human Resources Director, Nestlé Purina commented:

“At Purina we believe that people and pets are better together – especially at work. From our own experience, we know that pet-friendly workplaces lead to a whole range of positive benefits such as higher employee engagement, talent retention, greater wellbeing, higher performance and productivity, increased inspiration and decreased stress. Moreover, dogs are by nature sociable and affectionate. Coming to work offers them the opportunity to spend more time with their owners and to socialize with other dogs and colleagues.

“We want to help other UK businesses to adopt pet-friendly policies and reap the benefits by providing a toolkit that helps to simplify the process. Implementing a dog-friendly policy can be perceived as a complex and lengthy process therefore how to help organisations of any size to introduce their own scheme has been one of the key factors in developing our Pets at Work toolkit.”

A new research* commissioned by Nestlé Purina shows that 42% of those aged 18-34 across the UK would like a dog-friendly workplace; 11% more than the national average. Two-fifths (39%) feel it would boost workplace morale while 15% say dogs in the office would make them feel that their company cares about their happiness.

There has been a PaW practice in place at Nestlé Purina since 2003 which was made into an official policy in 2010. In 2014, the PaW scheme was rolled out across all Nestlé businesses at Nestlé’s Gatwick Head Office, allowing all employees to bring their dogs to work. Nestlé Gatwick became the first dog friendly Nestlé HQ in the world and now have over 120 canine colleagues in the PaW programme.

Nestlé Purina is inviting organisations to join the Pets at Work Alliance. To find our more, join the Alliance or access the toolkit visit https://www.purina.co.uk/pins/pets-at-work or contact [email protected]

 

ENDS

For more information, contact the Nestlé UK press office on 020 8667 6005 or alternatively email [email protected]

Notes to Editors:

About Nestlé Purina
Nestlé Purina is committed to helping pets live longer, happier and healthier lives through proper nutrition and care. For over 85 years, Purina has been one of the pioneers in providing safe, palatable and nutritious products made to the highest standards of quality and safety. The Purina brand portfolio includes many of the UK’s best known and best-loved pet foods including Felix, Bakers, Purina ONE, Bonio, Gourmet, Go-Cat, Pro Plan, Beta and Winalot. For more information visit www.purina.co.uk  

About Pets At Work (PAW)
At Purina we believe that when pets and people come together, life is better.

PAW consists of a three-phase programme which employees need to go through in order for their dog to get their Passpawt and become an official resident at Nestlé Gatwick:

1. Embarkment: Review of a detailed questionnaire to ensure your dog is a pawesome candidate for the Pets at Work scheme.
2. Pawthorisation: An independent specialist will guide your dog through 12 simple exercises during a brief assessment. Your dog will also need to undergo a full health check.
3. Tail-End: Following a three month probation in the office in which your dog is assigned a Dog Friendly Buddy to ensure your dog feels comfortable in an office environment with you, your colleagues and other dogs, an independent specialist will oversee a second assessment of 10 simple exercises. If your dog passes, a Passpawt will be granted!

For more information on the Pets At Work programme at Nestlé, please visit:  https://www.purina.co.uk/meet-purina/pets-at-purina-offices

Purina Research
The research for Nestlé Purina was conducted by Opinium between 2nd and 9th June 2017 across 1,122 UK workers (over 18) and 252 UK employers (decision makers, senior management and above). Millennials in this study are defined as those born between 1984 and 1999.