Pictured above: Mark Miller (Wright Hassall) Graham Baker (Butcher's Pet Care) and Nick Abell (Wright Hassall) with Molly, Rudd, Charlie

A leading pet food manufacturer will be going for walkies next year thanks to law firm Wright Hassall.

Butcher's Pet Care will move to a new state of the art headquarters and production plant in late 2011 after the Midlands solicitors helped negotiate a new lease next door to its current base in Crick.

Landlord Gazeley has now started work on the new £38 million, 250,000 sq ft complex which will allow the company to produce around 1,000 cans of pet food per minute and five million a week.

The expansion is part of Butcher's plans to further establish itself in Europe and develop its position as the UK's second favourite brand of canned dog food.

Work started on the development in April and Graham Baker, chairman of Butcher's Pet Care, said the move would help meet growing demand at home and abroad.

He said: "This is the perfect solution for our future needs. We are an expanding company which has a growing market inside and outside the UK, but we also have strong links with Crick, so staying local but upping our capacity is ideal.

"Wright Hassall has looked after all the legal aspects of the negotiations in what was quite an involved process and we are delighted with the outcome."

Wright Hassall worked with Butcher's Pet Care and Gazeley to agree a lease which will see the landlord create the bespoke building, which Butcher's will rent for 20 years.

Its existing factory will be demolished to allow for a further new unit to be constructed.

Mark Miller, partner in the commercial property department at Wright Hassall, said: "Butcher's Pet Care is a household name in the UK and it has major plans to continue to be a leading pet food provider domestically and to grow its business in Europe. 

"It's been a pleasure to work with the company and play a key role in this vital stage of its growth."

Wright Hassall, of Europa Way, Leamington is a 220-strong firm with a 20 person commercial property team.

Baker added: "We're delighted that, with the support of Crick Parish Council and Daventry District Council, we were able to agree terms on what was a complicated lease and required co-operation.

"The bespoke agreement has benefits not only for Butcher's and Gazeley, but for the local business community."

For more information about Wright Hassall, please visit their website here: www.wrighthassall.co.uk