Meet the Founders
Rik and Helen Cridland
Helen and Rik Cridland are the husband-and-wife team behind HayPigs!®, a multi-award-winning UK family business, crazy about guinea pigs and specialists in small animal enrichment.
Their story began in 2014, when they adopted two rescue guinea pigs called Nutmeg and Neptune. They launched HayPigs!® and the Guinea Pig Circus™ on World Circus Day, 15 April 2017. Since then they have pitched in BBC One's Dragons' Den, appeared on ITV's Jimmy & Shivi's Farmhouse Breakfast, rescued and relaunched Guinea Pig Magazine, designed the Guinea Pig Village at Jimmy's Farm & Wildlife Park, and created Piggy Fest, the UK's first guinea pig festival.
HayPigs!® are on a mission to enhance and enrich the everyday lives of small furries and their humans.
At a glance
- 2017HayPigs!® launched on World Circus Day, 15 April 2017
- 25+Award wins, podium places and finalist spots since 2017
- 2,700Visitors to Piggy Fest 2026, the UK's first guinea pig festival
- 1.5MViews of our watermelon "Nom nom nom" clip across TikTok and Instagram
Meet the founders
Rik Cridland
Co-founder, Managing Director and "Ringmaster"
Rik grew up in Lytham St Annes on England's North-West coast. He studied Industrial Design at Sheffield Hallam University and took a Masters in Innovation and Creativity at the University of Huddersfield.
He went on to design promotional merchandise for brands such as Coca-Cola, Bacardi, P&G and Gillette, then film merchandise for studios including Disney, Warner Bros. and Universal. In 2012 he founded his own consultancy, Stir Design. Across his career he has taken more than 300 products to market, including a slide whistle pen that was John Lewis's top stationery product in 2014.
In the pet trade he is known as "The Guinea Pig Guy".
Helen Cridland
Co-founder, and co-owner of Guinea Pig Magazine
Helen is a dance artist, singer, choreographer and teacher, and also grew up in Lytham St Annes. She trained at the Northern School of Contemporary Dance and holds a Trinity National Diploma in Professional Musical Theatre.
She has played Frida in Abba Gold in the UK and abroad, and Belle in Beauty and the Beast. From 2018 to 2023 she was an associate dance artist on Chance to Dance, the Royal Ballet and Opera's flagship programme for young talent. She has taught at Essex Dance Theatre since 2012, and in 2026 she became a dance and movement tutor at City of Chelmsford Mencap.
Getting guinea pigs was Helen's idea in the first place.
Rik and Helen married in 2010 and live near Chelmsford, Essex, with their children Scarlett and Reuben, their dog Sansa and their resident rescue guinea pigs. HayPigs!® has been a family business from the very start: both children came to the shows as babies, strapped to Helen in a sling.
Our story, year by year
2014–2016 Nutmeg, Neptune and an idea
- 2014: Rik and Helen adopt Nutmeg and Neptune from their local rescue. They buy every toy on the market, but are frustrated by the lack of choice and quality.
- At the rescue, Tracey, the lady who ran it, asks Rik whether he could design something for guinea pigs. "I could," he replies. Rik calls it "the little seed" of HayPigs!®.
- The couple spend almost two years researching and developing their business concept. Their own herd tests every product prototype.
- 2016: Before selling a single unit, they order 18,000 products, putting "our neck on the line in order to be a game changer".
2017 The Guinea Pig Circus™ opens
- 15 April: HayPigs!® launches on World Circus Day with six circus-themed products, including the Cavy Cannonball™, Piggy Weightlifter™ and Wheek Wagon™.
- May: At the National Pet Show in London, Michaela Strachan guesses that the heavily pregnant Helen is expecting a boy. In July, Scarlett is born, and at six weeks old she comes to her first show.
- September: Pets at Home takes on the range online, followed by Pedigree Wholesale in October.
- 24 September: First award, at the first trade show. The Piggy Weightlifter™ wins Best New Small Animal Product at PATS Telford: "The judges were unanimous in their choice of this winning product." The award is dedicated to Crunchie, the face of the brand, who passed away that spring.
- 24 December: Zoella opens a box of HayPigs!® goodies on her Vlogmas.
2018 Award-winning new business
- March: Crunchie appears on the cover of Guinea Pig Magazine.
- May: Nutmeg passes away, aged six. "Nutmeg is the reason HayPigs even exists… forever our ringmaster."
- September: HayPigs!® goes to Australia, in more than 150 Petbarn stores through Guinea Pigs Australia.
- 26 October: Winner, New Company of the Year, Essex Business Awards. "This is for all those people who dream big and take a chance!"
- 16 December: The Cavy Cannonball™ makes the front cover of The Sunday Times Home supplement's "Ultimate Gift Guide", complete with a small asterisk: "*Not a working cannon". The cover is then shown in the newspaper review on BBC Breakfast.
2019 Best Retailer and ITV This Morning
- April: Winner, Best Retailer, ActionCOACH Business Excellence Awards.
- June: Rik and Helen first dress as P.T. Barnum-style ringmasters, the look they later wore in the Den.
- July: Guests on the Popcorning Piggy podcast.
- September: Silver, PetQuip Pet Product of the Year (Small Animals), for the Circus Treat Ball.
- 5 December: On ITV's This Morning, vet Dr Scott Miller presents the Guinea Pig Circus set in "The Best Christmas Gifts for Your Pet".
- 10 December: House of Coco's "Boss Couples" interview.
- December: Rik and Helen become directors and co-owners of Guinea Pig Magazine, the world's only regularly published magazine for pet guinea pigs.
2020 Lockdown and a Pig Top
- March: Free lockdown colouring and activity sheets for families while schools are closed.
- May: Neptune passes away, aged 7½. "Neptune was one of the two original HayPigs, he inspired our whole business adventure… he was our family pet and an incredible companion to us."
- August: First collaboration with Jimmy's Farm & Wildlife Park: a guinea-pig-sized "Pig Top" circus tent in the Guinea Pig Village.
- 31 August: The Cavy Cannonball™ and Circus Hidey Hut™ appear, unsponsored, in a PewDiePie video.
- November: A 2021 calendar raises funds for Blackberry Patch rescue, with 100% of profits going to the rescue.
- Rik and Helen lead a full rebrand and relaunch of Guinea Pig Magazine, saving it "from the brink".
2021 Into the Dragons' Den
- 15 April: The new haypigs.com launches on Shopify, on the brand's fourth birthday.
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29 April: BBC One Dragons' Den, Series 18, Episode 5. Dressed as Mr and Mrs P.T. Barnum, Rik and Helen ask for £60,000 for 10%. Before they walk in, the Dragons guess the animal: "Hamster. Hamster. Hamster." There's no investment, but Deborah Meaden gives them a memorable send-off.
"You'll make a lot of guinea pigs happy and those are not words I ever thought I would say!"
Deborah Meaden, Dragons' Den - August: Reuben is born. At eight weeks old he comes to PATS Telford, strapped to Helen.
- 23 October: Winner, Small Mammal Product Innovation, Pet Industry Federation (PIF) Awards, for our 100% Timothy Hay. Baby Reuben joins Rik and Helen on stage to accept it.
- December: The watermelon "Nom nom nom" reel goes viral, on its way to about 1.5 million views across Instagram and TikTok.
2022 A village for guinea pigs
- August: HayPigs!® becomes official sponsor of the Guinea Pig Village at Jimmy's Farm & Wildlife Park, designing and building five buildings, including Nibbles Nail Bar and The Guinea Pig Café.
- 26 September: Winner, Best New Small Animal & Bird Product, PATS Telford, for the Pig 'n' Mix™ treats range.
2023 Subscriptions and sustainability
- April: Rik meets Steven Bartlett, completing his set of Dragons.
- May: The HayPigs!® subscription box launches. First visit to Chelmsford College's enterprise festival, ENTFEST.
- November: The Cavy Cannonball™ appears in Vodafone Australia's #FindGary campaign.
- December: A second Sunday Times feature, with the Cavy Cannonball™ alongside a £5,710 Gucci dog bed.
2024 Jollyes, Have I Got News For You and the first Welfare Forum
- January: HayPigs!® arrives in 60 Jollyes stores across England, Scotland and Wales.
- 25 April: Prince William is photographed using HayPigs!® products on a visit to Woodgate Valley Urban Farm in Birmingham, with the pictures carried by HELLO! and the national press.
- 3 May: Guinea Pig Magazine appears on BBC One's Have I Got News For You. Host Martin Clunes: "Now that's proper journalism."
- May: Back at ENTFEST, this time giving students a masterclass.
- September: Rik attends the first Guinea Pig Welfare Forum, calling it "a massive step forward in our collective pursuit of attaining better welfare and enrichment for guinea pigs".
2025 Farmhouse Breakfast, Olympia and a viral village
- February: Our 10,000th order on haypigs.com, marked with a trophy from Shopify.
- May: Our Guinea Pig Village reel with Jimmy's Farm reaches about 707K views across Facebook and Instagram.
- 7 June: Rik and Helen join Jimmy Doherty on ITV's Jimmy & Shivi's Farmhouse Breakfast to talk about guinea pig enrichment.
- 10 September: Rik speaks at the Guinea Pig Welfare Forum 2025 on where guinea pigs are bought and sold, then joins the panel debate.
- September: At London Pet Show Live, Olympia, we give guinea pig talks, show the Guinea Pig Village away from Jimmy's Farm for the first time, and build a giant enclosure to show that bigger is always better.
- October: HayPigs!® becomes the exclusive UK distributor of Ozzy Cages, in partnership with Guinea Pigs Australia.
2026 Piggy Fest and a record year
- January: Launch of the Build Your Own Guinea Pig Village mini houses, inspired by the village at Jimmy's Farm. The first production run sells out.
- April: HayPigs!® turns nine. Rik meets Sara Davies again and gives her a goodie bag for her son's hamster, Harry. Sara shares it on Instagram: "These guys came in the Den years ago, can you remember them? HayPigs!… Harry's living his best life." Five years after "Hamster. Hamster. Hamster.", a Dragon's hamster finally gets his HayPigs!®.
- 9 June: Third place, PIF Innovation Award, for the Build Your Own Guinea Pig Village.
- 13 June: Headline sponsor of the Elijah's Animal Sanctuary Summer Gala.
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25 July: Piggy Fest – Guinea Pig Festival at Jimmy's Farm & Wildlife Park, the UK's first dedicated guinea pig festival, created by HayPigs!® with Jimmy's Farm. It welcomes 2,700 visitors and raises about £2,000 for guinea pig rescues. The festival area is animal-free, putting the welfare of nervous prey animals first.
"We knew the guinea pig community was special, but, we are speechless!"
Team HayPigs!® - 29 August: Rik features in The New World's "Welcome to PigTok" by Felicity Hannah.
- 24 September: Triple finalist at the PIF Awards 2026: Brand of the Year, E-commerce Business of the Year, and Marketing Campaign of the Year for Piggy Fest.
- 14 October: Influencer Remy Gumbs chooses an Ozzy Cages setup for her piggies. We helped her build a giant L-shaped enclosure, which now features regularly in her Instagram and TikTok videos.
As seen on TV and in print
- BBC BreakfastNewspaper review, December 2018
- ITV This MorningHayPigs!® products, December 2019
- BBC One Dragons' DenSeries 18, April 2021
- BBC One Have I Got News For YouGuinea Pig Magazine, May 2024
- ITV Jimmy & Shivi's Farmhouse BreakfastJune 2025
- The Sunday TimesHome supplement cover, December 2018, and December 2023
See all our TV, press, podcast and award highlights on our Media page.
Award highlights
| Year | Award |
|---|---|
| 2017 | Winner, Best New Small Animal Product, PATS Telford (Piggy Weightlifter™) |
| 2018 | Winner, New Company of the Year, Essex Business Awards |
| 2019 | Winner, Best Retailer, ActionCOACH Business Excellence Awards |
| 2019 | Silver, PetQuip Pet Product of the Year, Small Animals (Circus Treat Ball) |
| 2021 | Winner, Small Mammal Product Innovation, PIF Awards (100% Timothy Hay) |
| 2022 | Winner, Best New Small Animal & Bird Product, PATS Telford (Pig 'n' Mix™) |
| 2023 | Runner-up, New Innovation of the Year, PIF (Pig 'n' Mix™) |
| 2026 | Third place, PIF Innovation Award (Build Your Own Guinea Pig Village) |
| 2026 | Finalist, PIF Awards: Brand of the Year, E-commerce Business of the Year, and Marketing Campaign of the Year |
Championing guinea pig welfare
"At the core of our business is a passion and desire to change the way we view small animals as a pet. Guinea pigs are an incredibly intelligent, social animal with far more complicated welfare needs than many currently give them credit for."
Rik Cridland
- Rescue first: every HayPigs!® guinea pig, from Nutmeg and Neptune onwards, has been a rescue.
- Designed for and tested by Guinea Pigs™: every product is tested by our own herd.
- Bigger is always better: we champion spacious, enriching homes, from the Guinea Pig Village to Ozzy Cages.
- Guinea Pig Magazine: co-owned by Rik and Helen to promote the health, happiness, enrichment and welfare of guinea pigs.
- Guinea Pig Welfare Forum: attended every year since the first forum in 2024, with Rik speaking in 2025.
- Supporting rescues: fundraising for Blackberry Patch, Patch's Piggy Trust and Elijah's Animal Sanctuary, plus about £2,000 raised at Piggy Fest.
Frequently asked questions
Who founded HayPigs!®?
HayPigs!® was founded by husband-and-wife team Rik and Helen Cridland, from near Chelmsford, Essex. Rik is a product designer and Helen is a dance artist and teacher.
When was HayPigs!® founded?
HayPigs!® launched on World Circus Day, 15 April 2017, after almost two years of development. The idea came after Rik and Helen adopted their first rescue guinea pigs, Nutmeg and Neptune, in 2014.
Were HayPigs!® on Dragons' Den?
Yes. Rik and Helen pitched HayPigs!® on BBC One's Dragons' Den (Series 18, Episode 5) on 29 April 2021, dressed as Mr and Mrs P.T. Barnum. They asked for £60,000 for 10%. They didn't get an investment, but Deborah Meaden told them: "You'll make a lot of guinea pigs happy and those are not words I ever thought I would say!"
What is Piggy Fest?
Piggy Fest – Guinea Pig Festival is the UK's first dedicated guinea pig festival, created by HayPigs!® with Jimmy's Farm & Wildlife Park in Suffolk. The first festival, on 25 July 2026, welcomed 2,700 visitors and raised about £2,000 for guinea pig rescues. Find out more about Piggy Fest.
What is the Guinea Pig Village at Jimmy's Farm?
The Guinea Pig Village is a miniature village for the resident guinea pigs at Jimmy's Farm & Wildlife Park in Suffolk. HayPigs!® became its official sponsor in 2022 and designed and built its buildings, including Nibbles Nail Bar and The Guinea Pig Café. It inspired our Build Your Own Guinea Pig Village range.
Who owns Guinea Pig Magazine?
Rik and Helen Cridland have been directors and co-owners of Guinea Pig Magazine since December 2019. They led its full rebrand and relaunch in 2020. It is the world's only regularly published magazine for pet guinea pigs.
Have HayPigs!® been on TV?
Yes. Rik and Helen have appeared on BBC One's Dragons' Den (2021) and ITV's Jimmy & Shivi's Farmhouse Breakfast (2025). HayPigs!® products have featured on ITV's This Morning (2019) and BBC Breakfast (2018), and Guinea Pig Magazine appeared on BBC One's Have I Got News For You (2024).
What awards have HayPigs!® won?
HayPigs!® has more than 25 award wins, podium places and finalist spots since 2017. They include best new product awards at PATS Telford in 2017 and 2022, New Company of the Year at the Essex Business Awards (2018) and Small Mammal Product Innovation at the Pet Industry Federation Awards (2021).
Are HayPigs!® products tested by guinea pigs?
Yes. Our products are designed for and tested by Guinea Pigs™. Every product is tried out by our own resident herd of rescue guinea pigs before it goes on sale.
Wheek to you soon
Meet our happy herd, catch up on our press coverage or browse the Guinea Pig Circus™.
Meet the HayPigs!® TV, press and awards Our Story