ProtectaPet on the move to new global HQ

Growing pet containment specialist ProtectaPet is relocating its headquarters after purchasing a building more than triple the size of its current base.

The company – which is currently based in Tunstall, Stoke-on-Trent – will move into its new home on the Loomer Road Industrial Estate, in Newcastle-under-Lyme, over the coming months following a major refurbishment project.

The move into the 14,000 sq ft building marks the end of the company's four-year search for new premises.

ProtectaPet's communications director, Eve Davies, said: "We've been searching for a new building for about four years. We have reached capacity in Tunstall and have been using off-site storage for a long time.

"When we saw this building we loved it and put an offer on it straight away. It's the right size and the right location so it ticked all of our boxes.

"It will be great to be able to bring everything onto one site. The team can't wait to move in."

Managing director Simon Davies added: "This site will become our global headquarters. Everything will come out of here whether it's being shipped to the UK, Europe or America.

"And because it is three-and-a-half times bigger than our old site we will really be able to step up the production and assembly side of the business."

Established in 2014, ProtectaPet specialises in the design, manufacture and installation of pet containment products to allow pets to explore the outdoors safely – including cat fences and cat enclosures.

The company has 11 staff based in Stoke-on-Trent and a further 10 dotted around the UK in London, Bristol and Farnborough.

It also has an offshore warehouse in The Netherlands which helps serve its growing international client-base.

Eve said: "The cat population has gone from eight million to 12 million since the start of the pandemic, and people have been spending more money on their homes and gardens, so we're really fortunate that the market has grown – and we have been able to grow – during what’s been a difficult time for a lot of businesses.

"It has been a bit of a hurdles race at times, with Brexit, covid and the rising costs of steel, but we’ve navigated it all and with every new challenge comes a new opportunity."

Eve added: "We've grown 39 per cent in the last year and now we have the opportunity to continue to grow. In our old building we were quite restricted, restricted on how much stock we could hold and how many staff we could have, but our new building will be able to accommodate our growth plans.

"International growth is very much on the cards, but as it accounts for a small percentage of our annual turnover we still want to make the most of the opportunities in the UK."

7th March 2022, The Sentinel