A COUPLE have realised their dream of owning a kennels business after securing £100,000 to fund the acquisition.

Carrena and Darron Burness bought Meadowcroft Kennels, at Stoney Bridge, Belbroughton, after receiving funding from West Midlands lender BCRS Business Loans via the Community Investment Enterprise Facility to carry out the purchase.

After buying the business in October - the couple have now embarked on the next phase of their growth plans, safeguarding seven jobs and creating four new roles in the process.

New services and offerings are being shaped as dog lovers Carrena and Darron set about realising their long-held ambition of running their own kennel business, which they have moved into with their two sons.

Having launched dog walking business Beacon Barkers in 2020 - the family were keen to acquire Meadowcroft Kennels, which provides accommodation for 65 dogs, when it became available.

Darron said: “We could see the massive opportunity from purchasing the business as there is high demand for these services and a great catchment area for customers.

“We were novices at acquiring a business but the BCRS team offered us support and reassurance at every step of the way as they had the background and the experience to take on our project."

He added: “The local community have been very supportive and bookings have been great so with our growing team we are looking forward to the future.”

Carrena said: “From a family point of view, by living and working on-site we have a great work-life balance. It has taught the boys to look to achieve something in their lives and what it means to own a business.

“They like to help out in the kennels and we all look at life differently. It has given us a sense of achievement that we could do something special if we set our minds to it.”

The family, from Rubery, Worcestershire, have now renamed Meadowcroft, located off the A491, to Beacon Barkers Pet Centre, with a new website beaconbarkerspetcentre.co.uk.

They are now looking at future growth by offering additional services around pets and events as well as creating opportunities for volunteering, work experience and youth training.

Angie Preece, business development manager at BCRS Business Loans, supported the directors throughout the loan application process to help them buy the business.

She said: “It was great to see people with a huge amount of passion who wanted to succeed. As a co-operative Community Development Finance Institution, we are committed to supporting people like Carrena and Darron to further the growth and prosperity of as many businesses we can across the West Midlands region.

“They had the business background and personal circumstances which enabled us to proceed as we knew this funding would support further success.

“We believe viable businesses should be supported, so we were pleased to help Carrena and Darron make their dreams come true.”

Businesses struggling to access finance from traditional lenders may be able to secure loans from £10,000 to £150,000 from BCRS Business Loans to support growth and recovery plans.