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A North Tyneside entrepreneur has swapped a global career in fashion retail for her own dog-friendly venture as a dog groomer.

Fresh from three years working for H&M in Australia, Phillipa Purdy returned home last year ready to swap her 22 years in retail for a new career and spent months carrying out the training and qualifications to realise her dream of working with dogs as a professional groomer.

Now with new premises at Whitley Lodge, Whitley Bay, Mrs Purdy has now opened Pip & Paw and is ready to welcome customers.

Pip & Paw represents a major change in direction for Mrs Purdy, who began her career in retail as a window dresser before joining global fashion firm H&M, working nationally to manage new store openings before her services were required to expand the brand internationally.

After working in Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore to help provide a seamless expansion of the brand into new markets, she accepted a role on the west coast of Australia where she remained for three years.

But it was when she came to apply for permanent residency that she was instead drawn to thoughts of home.

She said: “My retail career has taken me all over the world and I’ve been able to experience jobs, locations and a lifestyle that I never would have imagined when I first started out in the 1990’s. Although Whitley Bay has always been my home, I was offered a promotion to remain in Australia and so I began the process of applying for permanent residency in 2019.

“Sadly, at the same time, my husband was travelling back and forth between Australia and the º£½ÇÊÓƵ for work and we felt that perhaps the time was right to return on a more permanent basis and make Whitley Bay our home once again.

“With the only available roles involving regular commutes to London, I took a look at my life goals and felt it was time for a more permanent change of pace. So, I embarked on learning something I’ve always dreamed of, dog grooming!

“This has been the culmination of many years of work and I’m absolutely delighted to finally be realising my goal of working with animals.

“Opening a new business in the middle of pandemic is not how I originally saw the business starting but Pip & Paw is now ready and I am looking forward to meeting some new furry friends in need of a new haircut.”

Now that she’s back in her hometown, she has not only been able to welcome her own dog but she also gets to spend every day meeting new four-legged friends from the comfortable surroundings of her grooming salon.