Ann Luffman - co-Managing Director
I’ve been married to my husband Mark for 36 years, I’m a mother of two grown up boys and a grandmother to three wonderful grandchildren so family is very important to me, I spend as much time as possible with my grandchildren, which is a little less since we moved to the North Pennines during the pandemic from East Anglia, slight change in scenery there! I walk with my husband, who is heavily involved in the Animals at Home business, and our dogs as often as we can, although our 12-year-old Labrador is willing, she is suffering with the hills, so sometimes stays at home and looks after the house for us while we’re out. I’m a keen open water swimmer and we’re very fortunate to have bought with our property a disused flooded quarry, so warmer months we will be found swimming and paddle boarding in the quarry, often accompanied by friends with the day ending with a barbeque and some light refreshments. With friends and family based in north Scotland down to Looe in Cornwall we are quite used to travelling and try where possible to combine business with pleasure.
My role as co-Managing Director of Animals at Home, following a Management Buy Out of the business back in October 2019, means that both myself and Iain Sherring our co-Managing Director are responsible for our Franchisee’s ongoing support and further Training, as well as advertising and recruiting for new prospects interested in joining the Animals at Home family and the future growth of the brand. Prior to joining Animals at Home back in 2014 my working life involved travelling around the country as a Reseller Account Manager in the B2B Telecoms industry, this included training and supporting start up and existing telecoms companies that had agreed to resell telephone systems, lines and mobiles from my employer, ensuring good supplier relations and the growth of the resellers business. The trouble shooting experience and business knowledge gained during these 20 years has been transferrable and invaluable when dealing between senior management and Franchisee’s to maximise business productivity working as the Franchise Manager for Animals at Home. It also helped that I could talk about pets all day. Part of my role is to ensure success of the New Starter along with building their confidence in their business and brand to enable them to reach their goals and longevity of their business, by way of the Franchise Agreement renewal at the end of their initial term. This will then naturally lead to the success and growth of Animals at Home the brand.
“We have been partnered with Animals at Home for just over four years and in that time, Ann has been an absolute pleasure to work with. Communication is always clear, concise, professional and super-friendly. Thanks Ann!” - Mark
Iain Sherring - co-Managing Director
I’m Iain, co-managing director of Animals at Home. I live on the edge of Exmoor in Somerset with my wife Kathy and Felix our teenage son. We share our home with Cap the working border collie and Gilly, the unemployed cat. We run a commercial flock of sheep with the aim of sustaining and growing our flock, and providing young ewes to other flocks to be mums. The farm keeps us fit and active and we enjoy the hands-on approach in lambing, field maintenance, hedge laying and can often be seen in scruffy clothing on various farm vehicles or walking the flock through our village to fresh grazing. Cap (a traditional sheepdog name, short for Captain) is an excellent sheep dog and is a great worker, as well as a wonderful home companion.
Away from my Animals at Home work and the sheep, we enjoy local grass roots rugby (my son plays Scrum-half for the local youth team) as well as following league and international teams. We enjoy an outdoor lifestyle, particularly the rugged Exmoor landscape and the beautiful West Country beaches. My love of the coast extends to being a volunteer Search & Rescue officer with a national coastal rescue charity.
I enjoy relaxing at home with my family and pets, enjoy good food and a family movie or box set; or poke around the garden or garage or on a rare clear weekend we’ll enjoy a motor show or motor racing event.
Along with the standard MD roles of the daily running of the company, I oversee training for new and mature franchisees, managing their in-house Animals at Home training, facilitating external courses such as City & Guilds qualifications, pet first aid training, veterinary hospital experience courses and all the relevant legislation for franchisees to operate safely, legally and competently; so they’re able to care for client animals and transport them for routine and urgent journeys.
Prior to my Animals at Home MD role, I was the start-up franchisee trainer, then training and support manager for the company, as well as being a former Animals at Home franchisee; so I've had experience in various franchising roles and importantly for Animals at Home franchisees, I have sixteen years experience in the animal care industry.