For 15 years, Lintbells (the company behind YuMOVE) have been on a mission to make sure that pets enjoy an active life, for their whole life. That’s why we’re continuously evolving to keep you and your precious pets happy and healthy.
You probably know YuMOVE for our strong commitment to keeping your pets active for life. But throughout our history, there have been plenty of interesting moments and milestones. From the bizarre story behind iMOVE to all of the exotic animals we’ve helped, these 15 interesting titbits about our company may surprise you. Read on to find out more…
1. ‘Lintbells’ is the Scottish dialect for the flax plant flower
In our infancy, we tried all the normal naming approaches. We tried everything ‘dog’ or ‘canine’, but nothing was unique or natural sounding. Then one day, we discovered that in Scottish dialect the flower of the flax plant was called ‘Lintbells’. And since our very first product (more on this later) used the oil from flax seeds, it seemed like a natural fit.
That’s also why our Lintbells logo features petals. The original logo (see below) was in all brown and had a spirograph flower to symbolise our approach of combining science and nature. And when the logo was revamped in 2016, we retained that same idea but expanded the petals, and added bright colours to reflect our growth and the energy we bring to our customers’ pets. 
2. We’ve won two Queen’s Awards for Enterprise
And they’re the most prestigious awards for British businesses – which is why we’re super proud of them. One was for our work in innovation, while the other was to recognise our fantastic work in international trade, and there’s a story behind them both.
When we were presented our first Queen’s Award for Innovation back in 2016, many canines from the show dog world were in the crowd. One of our co-founders, John Howie, even recognised one of the Border Collies in attendance at the ceremony – it was the doggy grandchild of one of our first customers!
When we won our second Queen’s Award – this time for International Trade – our other co-founder, John Davies, was doing business across the pond and couldn’t attend the reception at Buckingham Palace. Instead, we decided to bring a symbol of him along in his place… a laminated photo of his face on a stick. Here they are outside the gates: 
3. iMOVE was created because customers started taking their dog’s tablets
Some of our customers were so impressed with the results they saw in their dogs that they started taking YuMOVE Joint Care themselves! This was fine (as YuMOVE is safe for humans) but most of them would tell us, “I feel great, the results are incredible, but please can you do something about the taste?!” That’s because we’d made the tablets liver flavoured to be palatable to pooches.
From there, we decided to create a product especially for humans. We said goodbye to the meaty flavours that dogs love, and said hello to an odour and taste-free formula specifically for humans. And now iMOVE is our most popular joint product outside of the YuMOVE pet range. 
4. YuMOVE is available all around the world
Our products are helping pets in 12 countries (and growing) across four continents. It’s particularly popular in Taiwan. There, premium petcare is put on a pedestal. In fact, they’re so dedicated to looking after their pets, they have unique boutique stores displaying special edition YuMOVE products and merchandise – they’re even considered to be collectors’ items!
5. East of England Champ Show saves the day
In the beginning, the very first trade show we had booked into – the CLA Game Fair – was cancelled due to bad weather.
Fortunately, the lovely folks over at the East of England Champ Show allowed us to have a last-minute stand. This began our journey of trade and events shows, and helped us to build the fantastic customer base that we’re lucky enough to have today.
What’s more, many of the people who bought our products at that first show in 2007 are still with us today, and we’re now supporting the health of the doggy grandchildren we helped all that time ago.
6. Our extraction methods are one of a kind
When our co-founders, John and John, were developing our joint-boosting YuMOVE formula, they were told the ingredients couldn’t be extracted in a way to make a true difference in dogs. Instead of taking this as a knock back, they decided to develop a completely new and unique extraction method that would make it work.
We perfected a revolutionary vacuum extraction method, which takes our Green Lipped Mussel from a liquid to a powder in just 60 seconds, with no use of heat. We use a whole mussel, as well, not just parts of it. The result? A much fresher, much higher concentration of joint-soothing Omega 3s. And a Green Lipped Mussel that contains higher levels of Omega 3 than our competitors’ varieties.
7. YuMOVE has helped more species than you might think…
You might already know that our products range from dogs and cats to horses and humans… but did you know that we’ve also helped animals as small as rats and as big as elephants?
Our products have been used to support the occasional rat and tiger, as well as a 28-year-old gorilla with long-term skin issues, an aging Komodo dragon and two Buddhist elephants. We’ve even supplied YuMOVE to the hawk who works to clear out the pigeons at Kings Cross station – he was getting a bit stiff after years of chasing!
8. The most common dog name that we have on our subscriber’s list is Alfie
What's more, we've got lots of dogs called Oscar, Bella, Rosie, Buddy and Max, so if your pup also goes by those names, you're in great company!
9. We’ve helped hundreds of animal charities over the years
We’ve always tried to do our bit to help all pets – especially those who aren’t lucky enough to have a pet parent looking out for them. Early on in Lintbells life, we started donating our skin supplements to a charity in Sri Lanka, the Dogstar Foundation. They were rescuing street dogs with serious skin conditions and using our products to nurse them back to health. Some of the ‘before and after’ photos they sent us were incredible. And we’re still giving back to this very day. In the last year alone, we’ve worked with some great charities like Rescue Your Rescue, Battersea and Street Vet, to name but a few.
10. We only started with one product… and it wasn’t YuMOVE Joint Care!
In fact, it had nothing to do with joints at all. In 2006, our founders and a handful of other employees were determined to create a supplement that helped to improve a dogs’ skin condition, enhance their coat and promote eye health. Thus, YuMEGA Dog oil was born.
From there, an entire brand was created. We now have 45 products across the globe and we specialise in pet joint health… but don’t worry, the idea behind YuMEGA Dog lives on in our YuMOVE Skin & Coat Care range. We even have a show dog product.
Take a look at our old branding versus our new branding to get an idea on how much we’ve evolved: 
11. We’ve been privileged to welcome HRH The Princess Royal to our HQ
Back in July 2021, we were honoured to welcome HRH The Princess Royal to our offices in Hertfordshire. Her visit marked the expansion of the business and celebrated our charitable work during the pandemic.
HRH The Princess Royal unveiled a commemorative plaque and presented some Outstanding Contribution Awards to our long-standing members of staff. The visit was rounded off by the presentation of flowers, and a hamper of Lintbells products for HRH The Princess Royal’s own horses and dogs.
CEO John Howie said: “We were delighted to welcome HRH The Princess Royal to Lintbells. It was a tremendous honour to receive her visit, and our team were extremely excited to meet Her Royal Highness. After so many months of working from home, it was an excellent way to bring the team together and receive such incredible recognition.” 
12. Our CEO gave dog advice to HRH Prince Phillip, Duke of Edinburgh
While we're on the topic of Royals, John Howie once had the privilege of meeting HRH Prince Philip. And with that well-known twinkle in his eye, Philip asked whether we could help make the Palace’s dogs a little less gassy! Naturally, John suggested YuMOVE Digestive Care for Dogs. We have no way of knowing if they actually took the advice, we can only assume that the Queen’s Corgis now have much less sensitive tummies, thanks to us.
13. YuMOVE was inspired by Charlie the Chocolate Lab
The whole concept of YuMOVE was inspired by John Davies’ Chocolate Labrador named Charlie. Unfortunately, he suffered from a back injury and began lagging behind on walkies – and even struggled to jump up on the sofa.
They trialled every pet joint supplement on the market with Charlie, but nothing worked. Our team at the time decided to put their thinking caps on and came up with the original YuMOVE formulation. Our early customers loved it, so we launched YuMOVE at the International Agility Festival in 2009. We’re now proud to say that since then, we’ve helped over 1.5 million dogs each year like Charlie.
14. Our office is filled with dogs
On any given day you’ll see dozens of furry associates running around. You’ll even find them modelling for photos or going viral on TikTok! They’re often the inspiration behind our new products, too.
15. Speaking of social channels, over 11,000 of you follow us on Instagram
Don’t follow us yet? You can find us on TikTok, Facebook and Twitter – as well as Instagram where you can get your daily fix of puppy pics!We'd love to hear how long your pets have been on the YuMOVE journey! Get in touch via our Facebook and Instagram pages.
