Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Year of uncertainty for Moray dog care business ends with new home at former Army barracks

Esther Riddell, owner of Moray Mutts, has been searching for a new home for her firm for a year.
Esther Riddell, owner of Moray Mutts, has been searching for a new home for her firm for a year.

An Elgin dog care business, which was forced to search for a new home because of planning rules, has relocated to a former Army barracks.

Moray Mutts, formerly known as Doolittle Doggy Day Care, was pushed out of its town centre accommodation after the upstairs premises became earmarked for flats.

Regulations meant the firm was not allowed to be based under the homes and red tape thwarted other potential replacements across the town.

But now, the firm has ended more than a year of uncertainty by opening a new base in Elgin’s Pinefield Industrial Estate.

Yesterday, more than a dozen dogs darted about old tyres and wooden houses which have been set up as playthings.

The building has previously been accommodation for army soldiers staying in a barracks and was most recently home to a plumbing business.

However, Esther Riddell, owner of Moray Mutts, believes its unconventional past lends itself perfectly to her canine companions – portraits of whom now adorn the walls of the business.

She said: “They love it here. There’s a big outdoor area and they run in and out all day long.”

Mrs Riddell added: “It really was quite a stressful situation. At some points, it really did look like it was going to close for good.

“I used to run it with my sister, but she had to leave for another job because of the uncertainty. I had to respect that, we all have bills to pay.

“It’s just great to put it all behind us now and look to the future. The new place was quite run down when we got it, it took a while to get it just right.”

The plight of Moray Mutts led to a huge outpouring of support from regular customers and supporters of the business.

Canine owners from across the area contributed to a fundraising campaign which collected more than £2,000 to aid the building’s conversion to a dog care business.

Mrs Riddell said: “So many people wanted to help. It really did make a big difference to the refurbishments. I don’t know how it would have been possible otherwise.”