The pet care retailer suffered a 5.1% decline in pre-tax profit to £40m during the 28 weeks to October 8, but like-for-like sales rose 5.1% to £574m 8 as more consumers decided to welcome pets into their homes.

Pritchard said the growing number of people getting pets during lockdown would be Pets at Home’s “biggest driver of future revenues” as the company targets further top-line growth.