How Chesterton firm keeps thousands of cats safe across the globe
ProtectaPet has recently set up a new HQ - and is shipping products all over the world
Bosses at a North Staffordshire firm who help cat owners keep their pets safe have moved into their new global headquarters - after the facility underwent a £150,000 refurbishment. ProtectaPet, whose new Chesterton base is the fourth in the businesses' eight year history, supplies cat fences, enclosures, cat-balconies and 'catios'.
Now from its new HQ, the firm assembles kit to be sent across Europe along with Japan, USA and New Zealand. Owners Eve and Simon Davies are childhood sweethearts and bonded over their love of animals.
The pair started the company in 2014 after they lost their cat Lola in a road traffic collision in 2009. Eve, aged 37, said: “Simon is the visionary, he's full of ideas, it's all his idea. I think about how it can really happen on the ground. I'm a bit more risk averse.
“We’d been looking to move for ages. It’s very difficult to find premises in Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire. The new premises is five times bigger than the last one but we’ve managed to fill it.
“The business has exceeded all my expectations. On the other hand, I totally get it as a cat owner myself - and to lose a cat in a road traffic collision. I’ve got great conviction in the product we offer, so in that respect, I’m not surprised.”
A lot of customers think they’re not able to keep a cat in a garden. Eve added: “Cats are very agile and they’re free spirits. You can’t imagine being able to keep them in a garden.
“We had some research done by the University of Lincoln, they surveyed about 100 of our customers. The cats showed less signs of stress after putting in our products.”
Before starting the venture Simon, aged 39, was a product designer and Eve was a lecturer at University of Birmingham and Manchester Met. Now there’s about 27,000 cats in the UK that are in a ProtectaPet garden.
The best way for customers to get in tough is by phone or email. Eve also invites people to send in photos of their garden and their pets too. The firm can be reached on 0800 999 4008 or e-mail evedavies@protectapet.com
Please read a summary of the Sentinel article here.
