Joint venture marks the next phase of Raccoon’s ambition to build a world-leading animal health ecosystem, connecting trade and consumer audiences through a growing portfolio of specialist events.
Raccoon Media Group has announced a new joint venture with Edition Media Ltd, bringing Edition Dog Live into its growing animal health portfolio and setting out plans to significantly grow the event.
The partnership will combine the established Edition Dog brand and community with Raccoon’s investment and experience in building specialist events. The two businesses will work together to develop the event’s marketing, content, commercial proposition and visitor experience, with plans to grow its reach across the UK dog market.
Edition Dog Live is the UK’s largest non-competitive consumer dog show, bringing together dog owners, brands and industry experts at NAEC Stoneleigh. The event features more than 200 exhibitors alongside expert content, live arenas and interactive experiences spanning dog health, wellbeing, nutrition, training and responsible ownership. Welfare sits at the heart of the event, with Stoneleigh’s extensive indoor and outdoor space providing an ideal environment to grow the show while continuing to put the needs and wellbeing of dogs first.
The partnership comes at a time of significant growth in the UK dog market. The UK is now home to an estimated 15.5 million dogs, three million more than five years ago, with 41% of households now owning a dog compared with 33% in 2021. Ownership is particularly strong among younger consumers, with 58% of 25 to 34-year-olds now owning a dog. The continued growth and changing profile of dog ownership makes this a timely investment for Raccoon as it builds its presence across the animal health market.
The joint venture is the latest investment in Raccoon’s growing animal health ecosystem, which now includes PATS, BETA International, the National Equine Show and Edition Dog Live. This announcement bolster’s the plans for a broader Animal Health ecosystem week, bringing complementary specialist events together around a shared timeline. The model will create focused events for distinct trade and consumer communities while connecting them through a wider programme designed to raise the profile of the animal health sector as a whole.
Raccoon has already invested significantly in growing its established animal sector events. Since acquiring PATS, the team increased attendance by 70% in one year. International attendance increased by 169%, with a record 445 exhibitors from 15 countries. BETA International has also grown to more than 200 exhibitors for 2026, alongside an expanded international presence and Hosted Buyer Programme. National Equine Show, a consumer equestrian event held annually attracts over 17,000 visitors over two days. The same approach will now be applied to Edition Dog Live, retaining the identity and community that have driven its success while providing the investment, expertise and resource to support its next stage of growth.
Mike Seaman, Group Chief Executive of Raccoon Media Group, said: “Edition Dog Live is exactly the kind of event we want to work with. It has a strong brand, an incredibly engaged community and huge potential.
“We’ve seen through PATS and BETA International what can happen when you take established, much-loved events and put serious investment, resource and ambition behind them. We’ve respected the heritage of those brands while giving them what they need to grow, and the response from their industries has been exceptional.
“We no longer think about markets simply as B2B or B2C. We think business to customer. Our job is to understand all of the communities within a market and build events that genuinely serve them. Our ambition is to build an animal health ecosystem, with complementary specialist events working together around a shared timeline. That doesn’t mean putting everyone into one event. It means creating focused events for distinct communities and connecting them in a way that raises the profile and creates opportunities across the whole sector.
“Edition Dog Live is an important part of that strategy and, alongside PATS and BETA International, takes us another step towards Animal Health Week and a much bigger proposition for the industry.”
Jennifer Dow, Edition Media Ltd, said: “Edition Dog Live has always been built around the health, wellbeing and welfare of dogs, and that won’t change as we grow. Stoneleigh gives us a fantastic home for the event, with the space and flexibility to create a brilliant experience for visitors while making sure dogs have room to step away from the busy show environment when they need to.
“Partnering with Raccoon gives us the investment, expertise and resource to take Edition Dog Live to the next level without losing what has made it special. They understand specialist communities and they share our ambition for what this event can become. We’re incredibly excited about the next chapter.”
The partnership comes as Raccoon strengthens its animal health leadership team with the appointment of Tess Drew as Portfolio Director. Drew brings extensive experience in the animal and pet events sector, including roles at the RSPCA and Touchpoint Live Media, where she led a portfolio including DogFest, The Vet Festival, SuperDog Awards and Big Dog Walk. Her wider experience includes the Daily Mirror Animal Hero Awards and BBC Countryfile Live. Drew will work across the division as Raccoon continues to invest in its existing events, develop its Animal Health Week proposition and explore further opportunities across the market.
