Pets at Home has acquired a stake in dog-walking and pet-sitting service Tailster, the retailer’s first move in the £1 billion a year pet-minding market, which includes dog walking and cat sitting.

The retail chain said the purchase of the Tailster stake was part of its strategy to generate 50% of sales from pet services. Pets at Home will offer Tailster’s services to its VIP loyalty scheme customers, which currently amount to 4.4 million.

Peter Pritchard, group chief executive at Pets at Home, said: “We are delighted to be able to announce this exciting new partnership with Tailster. It is a win-win deal, good for both businesses but especially good for owners searching for someone they can trust to look after their much-loved pet.”

Customers can access Tailster’s 26,000 registered carers and owners across the UK to track their pets’ activity via GPS.

Tailster was founded in 2014 by Indy Sangha and had raised $£510,000 in funding for the business before Pets at Home’s investment, according to the tech start-up site Crunchbase.

Mr Sangha said: “Not only does the team at Pets at Home share our vision about how we can bring our services to UK pet owners and drive the growth of our business, but it also shares many of our values of putting pets first, and the customer at the heart of what we do.”