4th October 2011

30th September 2011

We did our pre-opening "wet run" of some of our new facilities, so thanks to Ruby & Kiera the Cockers, Honey the Bichon and Daisy the Westie for your time today.  We hope you found all the extra space to your liking.  Just in case, we took the van down to the shop as a backup but thankfully didn't need it and everything ran pretty smoothly, even this morning with the Joiner, Plumber, Electrician and Gas Engineer all milling about finishing off - but hey, we now have our gas all connected up and heating/hot water on demand.  Yippee!  When the gas install was first ordered it was looking like just before Christmas before that would happen, but even that's now done.

There are inevitably a few tweaks needing done to our setup as a studio environment is very different from the van we've been used to working in for the past 2 1/2 years, with everything to hand just where you expect it to be, so as indicated last week, it is looks almost certain there will be a weeks delay before the public dog wash 'n dry will be operational.  It's all down to time left, and there just isn't enough of it for us to complete all our stuff before the 4th, but we don't see any point putting off opening the main facilities that we have bookings organised for.

It's been a very hectic and stressful few days but there are still a couple more to get through, so there is still time for our heads to explode!

The new photo above was taken yesterday, on one of the brightest, hottest days this year.  As our window graphics are translucent so as not to block out the light coming into the dog wash 'n dry (that's the electric lift bath you see through the window) and reception, they are kind of washed out by the reflection of the buildings in the sunshine opposite.  They look much better when actually viewed and fantastic at night with the lights on.

26th September 2011

The trades have had free run of the place to do all the renovation work over the past 3 months.  Now it's the last week, but we only have THREE DAYS to get all our equipment moved in/delivered and setup.  It's a really tight schedule and it is not gone quite to plan yet!  Delays in shipping, equipment out of stock that was in stock just a couple of weeks ago.  The usual problems, but it means that we will only be able to "wet run" on Friday as we're not getting a lot of the equipment delivered until Thursday.  We may not be able to open with the public dog wash room operational until the following week which will be a real shame, as we know there is a huge amount of interest in the facility, but our priority has to be getting the main baths in the back operational first to cater for our existing bookings that are transferring to the shop from the mobile service.  Computerising our appointments is going to stay a work in progress exercise as well for a few weeks too.

However, we HAVE finished upgrading the van's on-board water supply capacity to cope with an increase in appointments for "Mobile Fridays".  We used to run out of water after about 6 or 7 dogs with our built in 140 litre tank, but our main tank is now 210 litres and we've "borrowed" part of the shops new "Splash Shower" control electrics design to efficiently deliver the water more efficiently in fixed measures to the bath which gives us a new capability of at least 10 dogs.  The older tank is still fully operational and could be used as a supplemental supply giving a whopping 350 litres capacity, but only if using the van like a fixed studio as the extra weight right at the back could cause some stability problems when driving in anything other than perfect conditions.  However, it does mean another groomer wanting to "go mobile" and hiring our van could operate as a small static shop as well as be mobile and cope with potentially more appointments in a day than was previously possible.  From a groomers point of view, our van is probably the most efficient, advanced, fully featured, modified and improved K9 conversion mobile setup anywhere in the country!

9th September 2011

Dates for the Mobile Friday for the five locations until the end of the year are below.  Most of these dates are already full, and those that aren't will be in the coming few weeks as we start the task of rebooking as notified in earlier updates.  The locations don't repeat sequentially owing to the way current appointments are booked, but from 6th January 2012 will repeat in order of Musselburgh, Ormiston, Haddington, Dunbar, North Berwick.

We are giving out schedules to those staying mobile in these areas up to the end of March for forward planning, but please note that they are subject to confirmation due to possible holidays or short breaks.  Also note that if we have horrendous weather like we did last December/January there is very likely to be disruption to these dates and you will be offered a Studio appointment as an alternative as it is unlikely we will be able to rebook any missed mobile days.

1st September 2011

The 4th newsletter handout given out to customers is available for downloading here

Our new price list which comes into effect on the 4th October when the studio opens is available for downloading here

The decorators are starting tomorrow and most of the trades work will be complete by the end of the day but we have had a few set backs of late which will  mean that we will need to get them back in to finish off in a couple of weeks which is a pain.

We have started allocating the "Mobile Friday" days and will put them up here next week.  We have filled a lot of them already as we have been allocating the November days for repeat customers over the past few weeks, but now we have our opening date, need to work both back and forwards for October and December (and into 2012)

Everyone we have been to since the second update handout was made, will have seen the scannable QR code on it, and we know that many have used it to get our contact details into their mobile phone.  We have an updated one made up with our new phone number, but it's in the meCard format instead of the vCard format.  The main difference is it has information in addition to our website, email and physical address, such as a link for finding us on you mapping app.  We will be adding this to the van above our new address on the doors, but it's also on our final 4th newsletter handout which can be downloaded opposite.

At the end of June we updated our pricelist to include the DIY and mobile appointment supplement and changed around some of the conditions on the back.  This was given out at appointments and is an advance notice of the changes in our pricing structure.  There will be a final version of this which will come into effect from the 4th of October and will include an additional change for the mobile conditions as we will no longer be catering for extra large or giant breeds for mobile appointments.  The reason for this change is we have purpose built facilities in the studio specially for bathing and drying these breeds plus larger tables and more room to cater for them - we simply don't have this luxury in the van.  We did it in the past by kneeling and crawling on the floor around dogs that were too large for the table.  It was awkward at best and far from ideal, but it got the job done in a cramped space but we simply don't have to do that now.  Unfortunately it will mean that a couple of very large dogs that we have done in the past won't be catered for at the studio despite the facilities, as they are excessively noisy whilst being washed and dried.  As that can take up to two hours (or more) it would be an unacceptable nuisance to our neighbours.

15th August 2011

You can see a layout of how the shop will look by clicking this text.

As you would expect with a major renovation of this scale, there have been a few things uncovered that needed us to change how the work progressed and to accommodate additional tasks - and of course the extra associated costs!  There have been a couple of major cost additions that have seriously dented our budget to the point where we may have to scale back some of the works completion until after we are open, up and running.  Almost £3k to get gas re-connected and £2k to insulate and fire proof modifications that were carried out 20 years ago were unforeseen and unwelcome to say the least.  Also increased is the cost of rewiring in it's entirety as none of the existing structural wiring met current standards.

We've put a copy of the layout of the shop in this week's update (see link opposite) and would like to give you some advance information on what facilities we are providing.  The front door has a small step which may cause problems to those with a physical impairment, so there are both high and low level door bell pushes to attract attention if needed.  In through the front door is a reception and waiting area with the public Dog Wash 'n Dry room and a retail area next to the reception desk.  There is no public access beyond the reception desk.  The rear grooming room is separated from reception by a small hall with two opposed opening doors at either end to provide additional barriers to restrict dog movement should one try and make a bid for freedom!  Initially we will have capacity for 16 dogs per day rising to 25 by next spring.  We will eventually have a maximum capacity on the premises for around 50 dogs per day if fully staffed with 5 grooming tables.  If you have been to other groomers, the single biggest difference between our shop and theirs is bathing facilities.  We will have 1 public bath in the front, with space to add another, plus 3 in the back with one of those specially designed to cater for large/giant dogs.  We also have left space to add an additional bath in the rear as well.  The majority of grooming shops have only one bath for every size of dog they cater for and are often quite basic.  With the exception of the large/giant bath, ours are all stainless steel and electrically height adjustable.  They also have facilities incorporated to assist with giving extra support to elderly or infirm dogs during bathing and drying.  All the baths are powered by our own designed "Splash Shower" system which maximises the coat cleaning process with the least amount of water, plus incorporate double grit and debris/hair filter traps before disposing of the waste water.  Our dog washing water supplies are plumbed separate to isolate them from the main water supply.  All our shampoos are 100% natural and biodegradable.  We have made a big effort to minimise noise intrusion to our neighbours from our shop by adding sound absorbing insulation and partitioning plus external screening around the rear boundary.  To assist with both animal and human safety whilst on the premises, all working and dog storage areas can be monitored by reception via CCTV cameras.  Further safety measures are of course provided by emergency exit lighting, smoke, heat and carbon monoxide detectors.

We are not due to get our advertising consent determined until the 17th September at the latest so we can't put our window graphics and signage in place until that has been approved.  We are geared up to get the van refreshed with some new logos, but as it would need to be off the road for a few days will probably wait until the shop is open first - no point people phoning the new number on the van if there's nobody there!

Once our broadband is connected we will be a member of the BT FON network, so if you are a BT Broadband customer or a BT Openzone subscriber you can connect to our wireless hotspot using your own logon and password account details on your own secure dedicated channel for free!

Although the actual location is shown on the map above, we keep getting asked where it is relative to local landmarks as many know the main thoroughfare through Cockenzie and Port Seton, but mistakenly consider this to be the High Street, when in fact it is Edinburgh Road.  The High Street runs closest to the sea and links Cockenzie harbour to the west with Port Seton Harbour to the east.  From Prestonpans, you would turn left at the staggered crossroads by the small newsagents into West Harbour Road past James Dickson & Son Fish Curers.  The road becomes the High Street at the back of Cockenzie House.  Past Marshall Street on the left which would take you to Cockenzie and Port Seton British Legion then past The Gourmet Kitchen Chinese Take Away, Hair by Lorraine and Robert Rollo & Son Builder's office.  Then you have our shop.  Further on is The Thorntree pub and the road beomes Wymess Place, Viewforth and Seton Place before Port Seton Harbour.  After that goes right by two chip shops and fishmongers rejoins the main B1348 thouroughfare at Gosford Road/Links Road opposite Port Seton Co-op & Chemist.

1st August 2011

We are currently fully booked right up to mid-September with just a few bookings available onwards to the end of the month with October filling up fast too.  Because this is also around the time the shop will be open and we will be making the transition to only the one mobile day per week, all bookings around this time are subject to change and confirmation.  Once we have a definite opening date, we will be embarking on the rebooking exercise for the mobile days once the schedule is worked out over the next couple of weeks or so.  We have already started making and moving some bookings in October through December in advance of this as it would be quite a daunting task to suddenly start moving around 200 appointments in a short space of time.  As we have said previously, please be patient as we try to make this transition as smooth as we possibly can.  We know it can't work out for everyone but we will try our best.  The easiest ones to accommodate will be those who are coming to the shop as we will have more appointments available to fit everyone in - so long as you realise there are no Friday appointments at the shop for a while.  Once we get to January 2012 and just morning or afternoon appointments it should be a lot easier to manage.

In preparation for going to a single mobile grooming day per week with more appointments to cater for, we have taken delivery of a new 210 litre water tank to replace our vans built in 140 litre tank.  We generally run out of water around dog 7 and the larger tank will allow us to cater for up to 10 dogs or provide more wash/rinse cycles for really dirty dogs.

Our very own designed and built Splash Wash System prototype mentioned in week 2 has been successfully trialled, tweaked and perfected and are now starting on the build of the rest of the units we need for the grooming room baths in the rear shop.  We are very pleased at how it has turned out and the unique innovative features built in to make the professional groomers job of getting dogs clean as efficient as possible.  You too can experience this with the DIY Dog Wash 'n Dry and compare it to how you have cleaned your dog in the past - you'll never want to put your dog in your sink, shower or bath at home ever again!

18th July 2011

The 3rd newsletter handout given out to customers is available for downloading here

Since the vast majority of our 560 doggy customers will be changing to the studio, the initial EIGHT locations we thought we would still provide a mobile service to is being reduced to FIVE, but we are widening the catchment area around each so we can still get enough dogs booked on the day to make it worthwhile.  We have decided that the mobile grooming day will be a FRIDAY, and the areas covered will be centred on: Musselburgh, Ormiston, Haddington, Dunbar and North Berwick.  The North Berwick area has expanded to include Dirleton, Archerfield and Gullane en-route to/from North Berwick.  We will NOT be providing a mobile service to ANY other areas.  See information in our advance pricing notice downloadable in the Week 8 update below for collect and returns within a 2.5 mile radius of the studio and the mobile service supplement.

There is a bit of an overlap where we have dogs between Ormiston & Haddington  (at Boggs Holdings, Macmerry, Gladsmuir) and Ormiston & Musselburgh (at Whitecraig, Wallyford) where some customers may be offered appointments on either area's days if there are gaps to fill.  We will have between 6 and 8 appointments available on a mobile service day.  Although you will be given an appointment time just as at present for both Studio and Mobile, it will be a very rough approximation for the Mobile service as they progress through the day.  Don't assume by this that we are more likely to be late arriving as the day progresses as we quite often finish quicker than anticipated, plus with less travelling scheduled between appointments, could be just as likely to arrive early.

We expect Studio appointment times will change by the end of the year to being morning or afternoon, with all morning dogs arriving at 9am and all afternoon dogs arriving at 1pm.  Owners will then be called to collect as soon as we can determine when their dog(s) will be ready.  This rescheduling is to allow us to prioritise dogs more efficiently for grooming which will allow us to reduce our appointment lead times as well as being able to accommodate "urgent" cases easier.

It's still too early to determine an accurate opening date, but as soon as we can, we will start the logistical nightmare of rebooking everyone that are staying mobile to a Friday as near to their existing appointment as we can for their area, and everyone else that are currently booked on Friday's to other days.  We don't expect it to be a smooth process, but we'll try our best and will appreciate your patience!

Initially on Fridays, only the "no appointment DIY Wash 'n Dry service" will be available in the morning at the Studio, which will close at 1pm for a half day.

OTHER GROOMERS
If you are in our area and are interested in using our Studio or Van facilities to operate your business from once we are open, we hope to have information available by the end of July,  You will need to email us first to register interest.  We will reply with a brief form for you to complete and some initial information on what we will offer and assist you with, along with costs.  If you want to proceed further we will email you again with a personalised document which will form the basis of an agreement.  You can email us now at the email address below to register interest if you wish, please include a little bit of background on your dog grooming experience, previous work skills and how long you have been established, or when you intend starting if you are still in training at the moment.

StudioGroomer AT SplashDogGrooming.co.uk (copy and paste replacing AT with @ and no spaces)

It is very important for you to note that we are not employing groomers, you will not work as a contractor to us nor will we supply dogs for your business or provide grooming training.  You must have already had professional training at a recognised training establishment, or been operating full time as a grooming business for at least one year.  Your business will operate autonomously from ours in every sense and will not be affiliated or connected to ours in any way other than you are renting the use of facilities.

We will only have space for THREE grooming businesses at any one time.  There will be a pre-selection process to ensure that our reputation is safe guarded and we are able to offer the most appropriate information and support to help your business grow to be as successful as ours.

25th June 2011

Our new price list which comes into effect when the studio opens is available for downloading here

As we have already indicated (see the newsletter handouts) the mobile service will be retained in a limited form and looks likely to operate only one day a week.  We will finalise a rota for the day and areas it will be available towards the end of July.  To retain the service it has to be worthwhile for us so we have formulated a new pricing structure which is available in this update notice.  Rather than have a separate pricing structure for studio and mobile, we have kept is simple by retaining the same prices you are used to for both, but adding on a supplement per dog booked for a mobile appointment.  That way, if you transfer to the Studio from mobile or vice versa you pay the same price as usual, but with or without the additional mobile supplement.  We know from checking prices in other studios that they are more expensive than us, even with the mobile supplement added, so we are still providing exceptional value for our services, plus we haven't increased our prices from last year and have committed to no increases until our usual April review in 2012.  We have also restricted our collect and return radius and added the price structure for the DIY Wash 'n Dry, for which there's lots of interest.

6th June 2011

The 2nd newsletter handout given to customers is available for downloading here

The handout available here contains everything that was in the first one plus additional information.

29th May 2011

Reaction to the news of our shop opening has been overwhelmingly positive from customers seen over the past few weeks.  There is a genuine concern from those customers around the county that won't be able to transfer from the mobile service that they are going to miss out on our services when it is reduced.  We would like to try and reassure you that we will make every effort possible to keep your dogs in top condition but we ask for some flexibility in the dates we will be able to offer.  If you have had the hand out from us or downloaded it from the link under the shop photo below, you will see that to keep the service as a viable business item for us, we need to get as many customers in the same close locality booked on the same day.  No more scheduling like Wester Hailes to Dunbar to Haddington to North Berwick any more!  How many we need on a day comes down to target grooming takings for the day and not necessarily a minimum number of dogs.  Some take twice as long as others, but we don't charge twice as much, and even some small dogs can take longer than much bigger dogs depending on the style and coat length/condition.  But we are looking at anything between 5 and 8 dogs within this variable criteria as a very rough guide.  Priority for the mobile service will be given to elderly and infirm (customers and dogs!) who cannot get to the shop, then other existing customers followed by new enquiries.  We are still trying to collate our customer data to determine a schedule for various towns/areas to cover on the operational days.  In the meantime, we are still taking bookings for the mobile service as normal. But once we are closer to an opening date for the studio we may have to change the date for your appointment if you are staying mobile in an area we will still be serving if you can’t come to us.

Unfortunately for some locations at the outer limits of our current service where there are only one or two dogs, we are sorry but will have to say a fond farewell if you can't come to us. At the moment is looks like the following eight locations will still be catered for: East Edinburgh/Musselburgh, Prestonpans, Tranent/Macmerry, Ormiston/Pencaitland, Haddington, Gullane/Archerfield/Dirleton, North Berwick, Dunbar.  We still need to try and work out the rotation days and it looks likely that some areas will get more days than others.  We hope to make more information on this scheduling available in July sometime.

OTHER GROOMERS
We anticipate that it will be very difficult for new customers to get a mobile service appointment in future so there is a very good opportunity there for another mobile grooming service to start up in the area.  Hiring our van for the days we are not using it would be a very cost effective way for someone to get started.

16th May 2011

Week 2.  We are now starting to get quotes in for the renovation.  There are still a few items to cost but the current estimate is around £20k.  We are half way to that figure already and haven't even started yet!  There are some things we need to do now before we can start inside, such as remove old cement panels containing ceramic asbestos plus ancient electric storage heaters and a water tank - not cheap!  But it needs to be done and certified safe before any other works inside can be started.

However, there are a couple of things that can be done outside.  As part of our change of use planning permission for noise control and neighbour privacy, we will be building a fence around the rear outside boundary.  This is to help mitigate airborne noise from our grooming and bathing/drying rooms once we are up and running, but is worth doing first to assist with noise reduction from the renovation works too.  The signage board above the shop front window is beyond repair, and will be replaced.  As we are in a conservation area, we will of course be replacing it like for like so the frontage is not visually changed.

We have to apply for a building warrant first, but once we get that, the heating, plumbing, drainage and electrics fit out can get underway, followed by the internal partitioning, various joinery work including making the reception counter/retail display.  The last major item will be the laying of the new easy clean anti-slip flooring.  In parallel with the building warrant will be the advertising consent application, so we can get our signage in place.

Once the program of works is complete, we can get all our new grooming equipment in for bathing, drying etc.  Our very own branded, designed and built "Splash Shower" deep penetrating hydro-massage wash equipment is currently at an advanced stage of manufacture and the first prototype should be ready for testing over the next week or so.  We are making two versions - one is fully self contained with it's own 50 litre heated water supply tank and push button ease of operation for the public DIY facility, the other version is for our three baths in the grooming room which is less automated and has a large shared hot water tank.  It's interesting revisiting a former professional life and do a bit of product design & build again.  Who knows, if there is enough interest in it we might even consider looking at manufacturing a product range to sell to other salons.

The 1st newsletter handout given to customers is available for downloading here

Thursday 5th May 2011.  For the people of East Lothian, the Scottish Parliament election on May 5th may be regarded as a historic, land mark event in Scottish history.  But what has got the dogs of East Lothian excited is the news that on the very same day, Splash Dog Grooming added a Studio premises to it's service portfolio in Cockenzie High Street!

We have some refurbishment and fitting out to do specifically for dog grooming before we open around August/September, but when we do it will be the most highly specified grooming establishment in south east Scotland.  We are building on the acclaimed high quality mobile service we established two years ago with facilities never seen before in the area.  We will be the only dedicated professional dog grooming premises on a High Street location in East Lothian.

As our service is so much in demand and booked so far in advance, this causes problems every day for new enquirers looking for an appointment.  When we open the Studio we will be able to handle two to three times as many dogs  which will significantly improve appointment availability.  To further enhance our service we will also be including a drop in, no appointment required, DIY dog wash 'n dry facility.  This is unique to the area and one of only a handful in the whole of the UK.  We are also looking at introducing online appointment booking, card payment facilities and an automatic grooming customer loyalty point scheme which will offer the opportunity for discounted/free products or appointments.

To other East Lothian/East Edinburgh Groomers:
We will have spare capacity over and above the service we can provide, so will allow other trained groomers to "rent a table" and operate their business from our premises with the use of our brand new facilities.  We will be reducing our mobile service once we open the studio, so we may make our fully equipped mobile grooming van available should other groomers wish to hire it.  We know all the difficulties faced, especially by newly trained groomers, in getting their business up and running to a sustainable level.  Successful candidates operating from our premises will benefit from our excellent facilities plus our business insight and support to become successful grooming business's in their own right.  We expect the limited number of places we have available to be highly sought after.  There are strict terms and conditions that will apply to groomers accepted to use any of our facilities, more details will be available in the coming weeks.  Please do not call or email yet, but keep monitoring our site for updates and instructions.