The Dog Wash Company’s 2026 UK Trade Show Schedule: PATS, Independent Hotel Show London & The Business Show London

Self-service dog washing isn’t a new idea globally — it’s already an established, normal part of pet care across the US, Australia, and mainland Europe, the same way self-service car washes, vending machines, and EV chargers became ordinary fixtures once the model proved itself. The UK is still early. Most dog owners here have never used a machine like ours, which means the businesses getting involved now — as hosts, as operators, or as retail and distribution partners — are getting in ahead of a category that’s still forming, not catching up to one that’s already crowded.

The scale of the underlying demand is not in question: there are over 13.5 million dogs in UK households, and the wider pet care market is worth billions of pounds a year and still growing.

What’s changing is where that spending goes.

Trade shows exist for exactly this moment in a category’s life — new, still-forming markets are where early adopters and industry influencers go looking for what’s next, and that’s precisely the audience we’re built to meet at all three of these shows.

Find us at PATS: Stand D36

PATS — the Pet & Aquatics Trade Show — is the UK’s leading pet and aquatics trade event, co-located with BETA International at the NEC Birmingham. It’s a trade-only show built for retailers, distributors, and suppliers to meet, source new products, and do business face to face, with buyers from some of the UK’s biggest pet retailers in attendance across the three days.

For us, PATS is about the people who already work with dog owners every day — pet shops, grooming salons, and doggy day cares are some of the strongest host sites in our own network, and PATS puts hundreds of exactly those businesses in one room. If you run a pet retail or grooming business and you’ve ever had customers ask about a wash, this is exactly the kind of question our machine answers. It’s also where we’ll be talking to wholesalers and distributors about strategic partnerships across the wider pet trade.

Pet retail has absorbed a lot of change over the past few years — grooming, daycare, and premium nutrition have all grown from niche add-ons into core revenue lines for independents willing to move early. Self-service washing is the next category following that same path, and PATS is where the retailers, groomers, and distributors who spot it first will be standing.

Find us at Independent Hotel Show London: Stand 1139

Independent Hotel Show London is the UK’s dedicated event for the luxury and boutique hotel community, bringing together over 3,000 buyers and 200+ exhibiting brands across two days at Olympia London. It’s a curated, trade-only show for independent hoteliers looking to elevate what they offer guests.

Dog-friendly stays are a growing part of the UK hospitality conversation, with more Brits choosing UK breaks over travelling abroad. For independent and boutique hotels, a self-service dog wash is a small addition that solves a real guest problem — a muddy dog after a countryside walk, or before check-out — while adding exactly the kind of thoughtful, on-brand amenity guests remember and mention in reviews. If you run a hotel, holiday park, or boutique stay and you’re weighing up how to stand out for dog-owning guests, this is the show to find us at.

The numbers back up what’s driving this: 52% of Brits are now planning a UK staycation this year against 46% travelling abroad, and dog owners are a significant part of that shift — one major UK holiday cottage operator reports that dog bookings now make up 31% of all its 2026 reservations, with demand for dog-friendly stays growing 28% year-on-year since 2022. With more than a third of UK households owning a dog, hotels that make life easier for those guests aren’t chasing a niche — they’re meeting a fast-growing expectation before their competitors do.

Find us at The Business Show London: Stand B1611

The Business Show London is the UK’s largest business event, free to attend and drawing over 25,000 entrepreneurs, SME owners, and senior professionals to ExCeL London across two days — alongside hundreds of exhibitors covering everything from franchising to business growth and investment.

This is where we meet the people at the very start of the journey we cover in our guide to finding a site with no location yet — entrepreneurs and investors looking for a low-overhead, scalable business opportunity, and multi-site operators considering where to expand next. If you’ve been thinking about becoming a dog wash operator but haven’t taken the first step, this is the easiest place to see the machine in person, ask questions, and talk through what getting started actually looks like.

It’s also, by design, a room full of people who can actually make that decision: industry research consistently puts trade show attendees’ buying authority above 80%, far higher than a typical cold enquiry. Entrepreneurs are increasingly drawn to asset-light, low-overhead models with recurring revenue over higher-risk ventures that demand constant reinvestment — and a self-service dog wash sits squarely in that category, in a UK market that’s still genuinely early.

At all three shows, our trailer will have the same setup: our national locations map so you can see the network for yourself, full brochure and installation information to take away, and a working machine you can watch in action — not just a photo of one.

The machine on the trailer is the most technologically advanced self-service dog wash available in the UK today, and it’s backed by the largest partner network of any UK provider — so what you’re looking at isn’t just a piece of equipment, it’s the front end of a national support system. Every install, whether it’s a partner’s first site or fifth, comes with lifetime technical support behind it. That’s the difference between buying a machine and backing it with a team that has a stake in it working for years, not just on installation day.

Numbers on a page are one thing. Watching a full wash cycle run in real time, hearing how quiet it is, seeing exactly how a dog owner actually uses it — that’s a different conversation entirely, and it’s exactly why we’re bringing the trailer rather than a leaflet stand.

What is a self-service dog wash machine? A self-service dog wash machine is a fully enclosed, easy-to-use washing system that allows customers to wash their dogs themselves using built-in warm water, shampoo, dryers and simple touch-screen controls. These machines are designed for high-traffic commercial environments and operate without staffing, making them a highly scalable and cost-effective addition to your site. Customers love the convenience, and businesses benefit from predictable income with minimal ongoing involvement.

Will the same machine be at all three shows? We’ll have a working self-service dog wash machine at each show as part of our trailer setup, so you can see exactly how it works no matter which event you visit us at.

What’s included when you install a dog wash machine with The Dog Wash Company? When you install a self-service dog wash machine with The Dog Wash Company, everything is handled from start to finish. Installation includes full delivery, professional setup and commissioning, a 12-month warranty, and ongoing technical support. You’ll also receive integrated management and payment software, access to consumables with discounted refills, and marketing support designed to drive customer awareness and usage. This turnkey approach means you can start generating revenue immediately with minimal operational effort. Dog wash machines can be customised to suit your business. Purchased machines can be fully branded with your colours, logo and graphics, while leased machines follow a collaborative branding approach to maintain consistency while aligning with your site.

Blogs

• Top 5 Reasons UK Businesses Are Investing in Dog Wash Machines — the wider case for the opportunity, useful ahead of any of the three shows.
• Car Wash to Dog Wash: How DIY Self-Service Dog Wash Machines Boost Business and Loyalty — the direct comparison behind the “already established self-service model” point above.

Case Studies

• Dog Wash Machine Installation Case Study: Centre Barcs — a real example from the host-site side, relevant for anyone we meet at PATS or Independent Hotel Show London weighing up hosting a machine.
• Case Study: How Waggy Wash Club Built a Dog Wash Business From Scratch — a real example of the kind of business several of our Business Show London visitors go on to build.

More on TDWC

• About The Dog Wash Company — background on who we are and the network behind the machine you’ll see on the trailer.