Does an acquisition always need a rebrand?
Despite being a well established brand, Noah’s Ark opted not to rebrand the business it acquired
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Gill Williams is the founder and Director of Noah’s Ark, a dog daycare service based across three sites in Hull and Oldham.
Gill started the business back in 2007 in her local townhall with next to no business experience. It was initially a labour of love that was born out of a desire to have her own dog looked after during the busy work day.
In 2023, Gill purchased Noah’s Ark’s third site. However, instead of building from the ground up as she had done with previous sites, Gill opted to purchase a dog daycare that was already well established. She had every intention of rebranding the business to Noah’s Ark but quickly realised that it wasn’t the right thing to do for that business.
Gill says that acquiring a business is a financial rollercoaster. There are usually numerous changes made operationally, physically, and even to the service or product itself that can cost significant amounts of money. Maintaining the established income and clientele prior to the acquisition can bankroll many of these changes, which may be adversely effected by a rebrand.
Despite the business maintaining much of its shape, Gill explains that she saw an almost immediate decline in revenue. The service model changed meaning that many of the dogs the business was taking in were no longer suitable for the new Noah’s Ark environment.
Gill’s financial balancing act was crucial to keep the business above water during the acquisition. Her belief in Noah’s Ark’s service model paid off. After those initial six months of growing pains, things began to turn around and the Oldham site is now Noah’s Ark’s most profitable one.
