A pet food factory site in Sudbury is set to become the first in the group’s UK business to open its doors to pets in the workplace.

Nestlé Purina Pet Food Factory, which employs 220 staff and a further 25 embedded contractors at the Suffolk site, has launched a Pets at Work scheme there.

Teams from the factory have worked hard this year to make the administration block a dog-friendly office space, where employees and their pets can work together in a happy and safe environment.

The scheme at Sudbury will enable workers to take their dog to work, following a successful behavioural assessment to ensure their pet is socialised and will feel settled when in the building.

Factory manager Kevin Shrimpton said they were “delighted” to be able to offer Pets at Work as a benefit to employees. “As we know, modern life can mean we spend more and more time at work and have less social time. Having pets at work is one of the ways in which we can enjoy the companionship of pets and reap the benefits, we cannot recommend it enough and look forward to seeing the ‘Pawgramme’ grow,” he said.

A recent survey from Purina, Nestlé’s pet food company, revealed that one in two Britons would happily take their dog to work if allowed.

Crystal Butler, safety health and environment manager at Sudbury, said the launch was “a fantastic achievement”.

“We believe that people and pets are better together and what better way to ignite this belief than to invite our pets in,” she said.

The Pets at Work scheme has been an established practice at Purina for more than 12 years and was rolled out as a wider Nestlé UK business policy at its headquarters in Gatwick last year. The scheme supports Nestlé’s wider health and wellness strategy and its aim to achieve a better work-life-balance.