What the papers say

Forecourt Trader - June 2003

"Paws For Thought"

Like all good businesses, the Park Garage Group is keen to attract new customers to its forecourts - whatever shape or size. Even, it seems if they are extremely hairy and have four legs… Yes,the Park Garage Group was the first forecourt in the UK to have an automatic dog wash and it attracted a great deal of interest by doing so. Not just from the media, with many column inches devoted to marvelling at the unusual piece of equipment installed alongside the rollover car wash, but also from TV news stations which took great delight in such a novelty story. All of which has greatly benefited the site - a former Save site on the A20 at Wrotham Heath in Kent. "The volumes have shot up by 100 per cent." says Sunil Tandon, joint managing director of the Park Garage Group. "The site has probably had the biggest growth in our recent acquisition of six Save sites because of the advertising we've got out of the dog wash. It's created a lot of interest and given the site a great deal of presence."

Daily Express 20th December 2002

"Cleaning up with a barking mad idea"

"MUCKY paw prints on the upholstery could soon be a thing of the past thanks to a new invention for hosing down pets - the dogwash. They can now be given a wash and brush-up at the end of a run in the country after a garage opened up the first forecourt parlour for dogs. The specially designed stainless steel machine has already proved a great success with dog owners queuing up."

Guardian 13th February 2003

"Wet and Woofy Dogwash makes forecourt debut"

"With a splash and a squirm, Britain's latest filling station accessory has gone into action giving pet dogs the treatment usually reserved for grubby cars. Looking puzzled but resigned, a small queue of family pets filed through the scrub, shampoo and rinse of the country's first automatic dogwash (above), installed on a service station forecourt at Wrotham Heath in Kent."

Times 15th Feb 2003

"Who's a dirty Dottie?"

"This gleaming, stainless steel contraption , about the size of a small car, was developed here for the Spanish market,where about 160 are already in use,each washing 70 dogs a week. 'The Spanish love dogs as much as the British do', says Peter Heaton, who devised the Dogwash with his Spanish partner, Erik Pena. 'In Spain,children wash the dog on the garage forecourt while Dad washes the car. It has become a Saturday ritual.'"