Reclaim time for what matters.
Jo handled admin and scheduling so Ritchie could focus on franchise strategy and growth.
Freeing a franchise director to focus on growth.
How Virtalent helped Pets, Homes & Gardens reclaim their time and headspace.
Small Business
Family-Run
Southampton, England
One less bottleneck in the business
Making space for the bigger picture.
Ritchie Clarke is Co-Owner and Franchise Director of Pets, Homes & Gardens, a pet care franchise based in Southampton. By 2025, the business was growing, but Ritchie was not spending his time on growth. Admin had taken over: emails, scheduling and recurring tasks that kept him from the strategic work the business needed from him.
He knew he needed support, but not the commitment of a full-time hire. He wanted someone who could slot in, take ownership of the tasks that were consuming his time, and free him up to focus on the direction of the business.
After finding Virtalent, Ritchie went through a straightforward onboarding process and was quickly matched with Jo, a VA with the right skills and experience to support a busy franchise operation.
“VA almost isn’t the right word. It feels like she’s more of an extension of the Pets, Homes, and Gardens family.”
Ritchie Clarke, Co-Owner and Franchise Director
Jo took on the admin and coordination work that had been pulling Ritchie away from higher-level thinking. With that off his plate, the change was noticeable across the business. Ritchie’s wife and Co-Owner Amber saw it clearly too.
“Once Jo came on board with us, we saw a big change. Ritchie was able to take a step back and be a bit more involved with the family, as well as running the business.” – Amber Clarke, Co-Owner of Pets, Homes & Gardens
With Jo handling the day-to-day, Ritchie had the time and headspace to focus on the next stage of the franchise’s growth – the work he had been putting off for months.
Services Used
How Pets, Home and Gardens used Virtalent support
Since bringing Jo on board, Pets, Homes & Gardens has a Franchise Director who can think clearly, plan effectively and focus on where the business goes next. The admin still gets done – it just no longer falls to Ritchie.
For Virtalent, this is exactly the kind of partnership the service is built for: matching a driven business owner with a VA who complements how they work, so the business can move forward without the person at the top being pulled in every direction at once.