A Yorkshire solicitor who created a digital platform for owners to plan ahead for their pet’s future care has won £75,000 grant to help develop her business.

Rachel Roche, founder and director of York-based Roche Legal, inspired by her own dog Molsey, created digital platform PetPact last year to allow owners to name an animal guardian and set out instructions for ongoing care.

The online document names an ‘animal guardian’ and is signed by both owner and guardian. It is drawn up to be used alongside a will, though those that complete the process can use it as a standalone document. Binding provision for a pet must still be made in a will.

Roche, admitted in 2009, won £75,000 as a winner in the UK Women in Innovation Awards 2025/26. The funding will help validation of PetPact with vets and pet insurers. 

As well as the grant Roche will receive business support, training and networking. Her ambition for the business is to make it ‘the UK’s trusted standard for pet care planning’.

Roche said: ‘Like me, every pet owner hopes they will always be there to care for their furry, feathered or scaled friend but life is unpredictable. Currently, your dog has the same legal status as your sofa but nobody grieves for the loss of a sofa.'

A former litigant in person, Nimrita Dadlani, was also named a winner by Innovate UK. Her project, Pivot Technologies Limited, was founded in 2022 and works to help family lawyers and litigants in person turn 'chaotic' evidence into ‘structured, fully cited court-ready’ case files.

Dadlani was a litigant in person during her own family case when legal representation was ‘unsustainable’. Inspired by her experience, she built Pivot, which has been adopted by some family law firms. Dadlani’s three-year plan for the business is to scale across the UK and expand to the US.