Kate Hurry’s career ambition had always been to work with animals, and in her role as a kennel and cattery assistant at Westlodge Kennels and Cattery she felt she had landed her dream job. But last May, her boss and owner of the business, Iris Wheeldon, was diagnosed with breast cancer and became unable to manage the business. Without needing to be asked, Hurry stepped up and took over.
“When Iris started her treatment she became poorly, so I started to take on some of her duties, coming in early, checking the animals and getting organised for the day, so that she didn’t have to,” she says.
Hurry, 22, joined the Cambridge-based business seven years ago as a student on work experience. She went on to complete an apprenticeship there in animal management before becoming a full-time member of staff.
She says: “I loved my work, looking after the animals, helping the more nervous dogs and cats to settle in and reassuring their owners that they were in very good hands. I was lucky to have Iris as my boss because she was an excellent mentor, and while I learned a lot of the basics as an apprentice, I gained lots of valuable skills and knowledge over the years from working with her.”
Hurry admits that the past 10 months in the hot seat have been a steep learning curve and says one of the biggest challenges was managing a crisis when one of the canine residents became ill.
She says: “A labrador retriever needed emergency surgery to remove a toy it had swallowed at home several days earlier that was causing an obstruction. I had to look after the dog while he recovered and keep his owners up to date and reassured.”
Wheeldon has been amazed by Hurry’s ability to take on the extra responsibility and show such initiative. She says: “You train your staff to do their job to the best of their ability but you never expect them to have to take the helm because you are unable to carry on running your business. With aspects of the business she was unfamiliar with there has been some trial and error, but Kate has kept things going well, and I’ve had nothing to worry about.”
With two other full-time employees and three apprentices at Westlodge, Hurry has also had to become a mentor herself. She says: “Having been an apprentice I know what they are experiencing, so I’ve tried to help them with their coursework. I’ve also helped them develop the skills they need for their job, so that everyone in the team knows what they are doing.”
With the approval of her boss, Hurry has implemented new routines to improve efficiencies and free up time for the staff to relax and interact with the resident pets, which has proved to be a huge success. She has also taken over the training and rehabilitation of the rescue dogs that find their way to Westlodge via Iris’s husband Marc, a rescue officer with the local Golden Retriever Club.
Hurry says: “A lot of these dogs come to us with issues and behavioural problems. Working with them, training and rehabilitating them, and eventually rehoming them is one of the things I find most rewarding about my job.”
Key for Wheeldon has been Hurry’s focus on her customer skills. She says: “Kate has become very popular with our new and existing customers, who were previously used to seeing me in reception. She has built a special rapport with them and puts even our more nervous customers, who have never left their pets before, at ease. She’s taken on all aspects of running the business, which has enabled me to concentrate on getting well. We don’t think we could have done it without her.”
Kate Hurry was shortlisted in the Small Business Showcase competition’s Rising Star category. Find out more about the competition here
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