" designers first our British Made dog bed products offer quality to last, outstanding comfort & affordability without compromise "
- Caroline Bate
We are a family business
I created Hugo & Otto out of the joy of the love of dogs and design. From humble roots in the Isle of Man, a career with British Airways that lasted 19 years I re-set my life and took on a full time interior design course in London and a weekly commute for a year in 2005 until I qualified in 2006 whilst juggling my very young son as a newly divorced single parent. It was a huge career and life switch from being salaried in a middle management job to taking a leap of faith to start my own business without any business knowledge and I was doing this alone in Cheshire.
Fast forward a few years and more grey hairs than I could wish for my son is now 24 and stepping out into his own career dreams of the Royal Navy. The past 10 years have seen me set up Hugo & Otto with a stunning high street boutique and online store offering the very best of luxury multi-award winning dog products and on again to invest in British manufacturing to offer the very best of British handmade dog beds. I created our baby sister brand Dog Company to offer more freedom of colour palette. To say I have had quite a journey to get here including slaying dragons who will is an understatement but everything has always been for the Love of Dog.
We share our lives with 3 mini wire haired dachshunds who are Ottilie Lettuce, Otto and Beatrix who are her babies. In late summer we said goodbye to our beloved Hunter (The BYD) and joined Finnbar MacBrigadoon on his rainbow bridge
Four feet
I have done mostly what most men do,
And pushed it out of my mind;
But I can’t forget, if I wanted to,
Four-Feet trotting behind.
Day after day, the whole day through
Wherever my road inclined
Four-Feet said, ‘I am coming with you!’
And trotted along behind.
Now I must go by some other round,
Which I shall never find
Somewhere that does not carry the sound
Of Four-Feet trotting behind.
- Rudyard Kipling
Slow MADE GOODS & change for good
The Slow philosophy is not about doing everything at a snail’s pace. It’s about seeking to do everything at the right speed. Savoring the hours and minutes rather than just counting them. Doing everything as well as possible, instead of as fast as possible. It’s about quality over quantity in everything that we do.
In terms of making and manufacturing goods, it taps into a way of production that spans centuries and working in a collaborative way with smaller suppliers.
* We focus on low production
* Encouraging young British designers and craftspeople
* Creating Local employment with an output that promotes quality over quantity
* Working in a collaborative way with smaller British makers suppliers to understand our supply chain
* We work with ethical employers and suppliers who recycle and re-use their off cuts from production lines
* Working towards Carbon neutral
* We are followers of B.Corp since 2019 and we back the mantra Change For Good.
fabulous fabrics & 100% faux fur
We know and understand upholstery fabrics and the supply chain. We look for durable, robust fabrics, quality and washability first and then colourways. I would always try to select a technical fabric which offers outstanding martingale rub tests and stain resistant technology but they come at a price of which the fabric suppliers expect your to pay and this is why some of our products have a higher price tag simply because of the cost per meter. Our XL dog beds for instance will take upwards of 5 meters to make but then you can pop in several dachshunds and a few spaniels into the XL.
When we are talking Luxury Faux Fur the very way they manufacture it which is on a round knitting machine and then shipped from Belgium or further afield in 15 meter rolls the cost to buy at trade is eye wateringly astronomical. Our faux fur are supplied by the Industry best it is not a fast turnaround cheap mass market product.
Dogs adore sleeping on and within layers of faux fur, it is both calming and comfortable. I have a personal view, not based on science nor data that the feel of faux fur reminds your dog of their mothers when they are born and those first vital few weeks of sleeping on their mother.
Our faux fur is an ideal substitute for real fur and fleece that tends to "felt" down with weight. A cruelty-free product guaranteed to be free from harmful chemical. All our faux fur dog beds and products are 100% fake fur. Our fabrics undergo full composition testing by the manufacturers and our British suppliers ensuring that no animal fibres are present.
The standards and quality of luxury faux fur is outstanding, we are passionate about all animals and have a cruelty-free ethos. We belive that it is unjust to keep animals in captivity for them to suffer appalling abuse before being inhumaely killed for their fur especially when the standards of luxury faux fur offers calming for dogs, a beautiful pile, feel, warmth and look.
Whitehall, Dover & Dartmouth Bolster Collections
HUGO & OTTO SIGNATURE DOG BED COLLECTIONS Speciality Med-Large Dog Breeds. Bolster Dog Beds deep filled 4 individual side bolsters & base mattress, embroidered, pinch piping, zipped, removable covers. Standard Polyester or Memory Foam Mattresses. Provenance: Prestitigious Textiles Fibregaurd® & Warwick Fabrics Easyclean® Fabrics, Ian Mankin Linen & Linen Blend Coastal Collections. Unregistered design rights Hugo & Otto 2018 ©
Launch November 2018 daylesford organic farm
Louis Velour & Harewood Pillow Cushion Collections
HUGO & OTTO TINY PAWS DOG BED COLLECTION Speciality small-med dog breeds. Deep filled pillow cushions. self piped, emboidered, zipped, removable covers. Standard Polyester Mattresses. Provenance: Louis: In the Style of Hugenot, Prestigious Textiles & Warwick Fabrics Plush Velvet. Harewood accompanied the Portreath Double Rattan Raised Dog Beds fabric Abraham Moon Pure Wools Basket weave rom their archives collection. Unregistered design rights Hugo & Otto 2018 ©
LAUNCH NOVEMBER 2018 DAYLESFORD ORGANIC FARM
Stretton & Shoreditch Memory Foam Box Bed Collections
HUGO & OTTO MEMORY FOAM COLLECTIONS Speciality easy step in/out for all breeds, stable non tip mattress, especially short legged dogs, elderly, sight impared, surgery recovery, growing puppies, Canine Arthritis pain management. Removable covers. 4 individual polyester side bolsters, removable & flip over Visco 50 Memory Foam Mattress. Provenance: Presitigious Textiles Fibreguard® & Warwick Fabrics Easyclean®, Plush Velvets & Luxury Faux fur. Unregistered design rights Hugo & Otto 2019 ©
LAUNCH NOVEMBER 2019 DAYLESFORD ORGANIC FARM
Gstaad Snuggle Pocket Dog Bed Collections
HUGO & OTTO LUXURY FAUX FUR COLLECTIONS Speciality small-med dog breeds, favoured by sight & scent hound breeds. Pocket sleeping bed style with outer and inner layer of luxury faux fur within outer layers of velvets, choice of internal mattress linings of standard polyester vertical fibre or Visco 50 memory foam. Provenance: Presitigious Textiles & Warwick Fabrics plush velvets & Luxury Faux Fur Unregistered design rights Hugo & Otto 2019 ©
LAUNCH NOVEMBER 2019 DAYLESFORD ORGANIC FARM
York Sitting Pretty & Lincoln As Nice As Pie Memory Foam Crumb Collections
HUGO & OTT MEMORY FOAM COLLECTIONS Speciality med-large breeds, relaxed style, high sided deep filled dog bed, easy to lounge, spread out. Hugo & Otto unique design internal 2 tier mattress system, polyester vertical fibre layer with memory foam crumb layer. Antiqued velour, self piping, removable covers. Provenance: Warwick Fabrics Easyclean® fabric. Unregistered design rights Hugo & Otto 2019 ©
LAUNCH APRIL 2020 online lockdown
Dog Company Launch
DOG COMPANY BABY SISTER NEW BRAND & BRAND WEBSITE LAUNCH DECEMBER 2020. Dog Company or DogCo for short was created as a new brand look British dog bed company offering dog beds from our design and British makers studios utilising small British fabric suppliers with smaller margins to offer you our fabulous style, designs and creations at a lower an affordable price point. Bucking the trend for fast throw away cheap market imports whilst encouraging creative makers, local employment and British manufacturing. And a little free reign with wowsy colours and glorious "style it your way" with mix & match designs.
www.dogco.uk
" Thank you for your great customer service and expert advice on how best to help Hector rest and recover after his cruciate surgery. He really loves the Little Nap especially the faux fur if he could talk he would say Thank you for the best bed ever!"
"The Shetland Rose dog crate set arrived today and we couldn't wait to put it together ready for Daisy to arrive at the weekend, we are just so excited now and counting the sleeps, thank you for all your help it is perfect"
