ProtectaPet

An award-winning firm specialising in feline welfare landed on its feet when it chose Big Yellow as a commercial companion, according to the company’s animal-loving business development manager.

Colin Selstrom said the decision to lean on the UK’s largest self storage provider has helped ProtectaPet, which produces and installs a range of innovative products to keep cats safe outdoors, to stretch the reach, speed and efficiency of its furry friend-saving services.

“We have used Big Yellow’s nationwide network of stores to create our own footprint of depots,” he added, explaining how, prior to the partnership, ProtectaPet’s engineers were deployed from a single base in the West Midlands and often faced lengthy drives before lifting a tool. “Doing so allows us to shift stock closer to where it might be needed and that means our teams are saved from early starts and late finishes; we can charge customers less for their visits, which has helped in converting more enquiries into sales; and, by reducing our last-mile logistics, our operations are kinder on the environment.”

Access to Big Yellow’s dedicated national customers team means Colin can also be as agile as the cats ProtectaPet seeks to keep from harm’s reach.

“The flexibility is fantastic,” he continued. “Depending on demand we can open a unit in a different store, be it in Edinburgh or elsewhere, very easily and as simply as sending an email. If I need more space somewhere I can have it incredibly quickly and the same is true if we need to downsize. I take my hat off to the Big Yellow team I deal with – operationally they make my life, and those of our engineers, a lot easier.”

That convenience extends to having staff on hand to literally lift the burden for ProtectaPet, which was awarded the King’s Award for Enterprise in Innovation in 2023 in recognition of its rigorously engineered product range of fence barriers, enclosures and ‘catios’ and pioneering approach to preventative feline welfare.

“One of the big attractions of Big Yellow was that our people don’t need to sit round all day waiting for deliveries,” he said. “The staff at a store will forklift pallets for us, secure them in a loading bay and send us a text to tell us something has arrived.”

The time saved is committed to ProtectaPet’s core business – preserving the ‘nine lives’ of its customers’ whiskered loved ones. 

“For those who have them, cats are very much part of their family, and our systems are designed to allow cats to enjoy the enrichment of the outdoors without fear,” said Colin, the proud owner of three, while stressing the positive impact of ProtectaPet’s products on both animal and human lives.

“I always think of my own mother, who is 82 and whose cat is the only company she has with her on a day-to-day basis. If anything happened to that housemate, it would have a huge negative impact on her own mental wellbeing.”

Which is why Colin insists a company safeguarding felines from the dangers of traffic and fights with other neighbourhood pets and, in turn, delivering measurable conservation benefits by helping protect vulnerable small mammals and birds from mischievous paws, is very content with the homes it is provided by Big Yellow.

“If we’re sending systems around the country, it is important for us to know they are safe and secure,” he concluded, championing Big Yellow’s raft of security measures, which include electronic gates and perimeter fencing, around-the-clock CCTV monitoring and individually alarmed units protected by PIN code access. “With Big Yellow we are reassured that the value of our stock is not at risk but also that our schedules will not be disrupted because of missing or damaged products.

“Our systems give our customers peace of mind and Big Yellow gives me peace of mind that we can get our products to them in good order.”

For more information, visit protectapet.com