House move led to unexpected business venture as couple gets stuck into new natural pet food business - Oscar's Pantry
What began as a house move soon led to an unexpected new business venture for a couple who have spent decades in banking.
After falling in love with a property in Clanfield, Sharon and her husband, Mark Mattock, were presented with a wonderful opportunity to not only buy their dream home but take over a natural dog food business.
The couple, who spent decades in the banking industry, mulled over the idea before taking a leap of faith and becoming the new owners of the rebranded business, Oscar’s Pantry - named after their dog.
Sharon said: “We have been trying to move house for a couple of years and have a bit of a change and we found this place in Clanfield - we fell in love with it and the estate agent also said the owners ran a dog food business which they weren’t carrying on with when they moved.
“It wasn’t something we have ever thought about before because we’re both in banking but the more we thought about it, the more interesting we thought it was.
“It’s something that I can fit around my own job so we decided to go for it because we have nothing to lose.
In order to give the business a dedicated space, Mark and Sharon had a small chalet built at the side of their home so customers can explore the extent of their stock.
Oscar’s Pantry offers a range of Nutriment raw dog and cat food as well as natural treats.
Mark said: “What we want to do is source natural food for dogs and cats and make sure our customers know how good things can be for their dogs.
“We’ve been pretty much flat out since the beginning of September doing bits and pieces - this building took about six weeks to put up. It’s not a very big building, it’s very small but it’s got everything in here that we need and we think our customers need and we’re really pleased with how it’s turned out.
“The hope is to just make sure we are enjoying it and offer really good quality and good value treats and food.”
The pantry is open on Wednesday between 10am and 4pm for customers to browse stock but they can also place orders for convenient times of the week by contacting Sharon.