The UnNoticed Entrepreneur
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I talk with entrepreneurs and experts about how to build a brand and generate more leads.
My name is Jim James. I've built my own companies on 3 continents since 1995 (that's right pre-internet), including a multi office public relations agency.
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The UnNoticed Entrepreneur
Ready, Squat, Go: How Two Students Changed Womens Toilets For Good.
It all started with a wait in line for a pee.
That got fellow Bristol students Amber Probyn and co-founder Hazel McShane thinking; "There has be equality for women at events." The first urinals were introduced for men in 1866!
Amber and Hazel have successfully launched Peequal, the UK's first squat-and-go women's urinal. These are designed to be 2.7 times faster than traditional portable toilets, solving a problem that affects half the world's population.
Hear their story including:
- Raising £250K during COVID despite being an event-based business
- What they did when the suppliers let them down on the eve of the big launch at Glastonbury 2022
- How they manage as a team, and supplied toilets to the London Marathon 2025.
It's an amazing story told by an inspirational entrepreneur; one of many great stories coming out of the NatWest Accelerator in this mini series.
NatWest Accelerators: Connections, locations, and guidance to inspire you to grow your business.
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Amber, thanks for joining me today on the NatWest Unnoticed Entrepreneur Podcast Series.
Speaker 2:Well, thank you for having me. I'm really excited to have this great conversation together.
Speaker 1:Well, you are solving a problem that affects half the world, you know all women that struggle when it comes to large events, and the first urinal male urinal was invented in 1866. But you've got a solution now for women, so do you want to tell us what business you're building, and then we'll talk a little bit more about you and your background.
Speaker 2:Love to. Yeah, so myself and Hazel, we've created Piqua, and Piqua is the UK's first squat-and-go women's urinal, and what we do is we get women out of the queues and back to the event so they're not missing out on their favorite acts or delaying their start times for marathons, or having to go further afield and have a wild wee where it's a bit unsafe, you know, really creating equal access to facilities, and we consider women's time as equal to men's time. So that's why we're really passionate about what we do.
Speaker 1:Yeah, what a wonderful, wonderful mission that you've got. And I said as a father of two daughters, and I have three sisters and five nieces.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you know the problem.
Speaker 1:I know the problem of waiting around for them actually.
Speaker 2:That's right, so it's benefiting everybody.
Speaker 1:Piqul, tell us then the backstory. How did you and your co-founder, hazel, start the business?
Speaker 2:then we'll talk about some of the challenges that you faced along the way and successes you've been having so in our master's year at bristol university, haze and I collaborated in our fourth and final year and the project was to solve a real world problem. So in our summers we'd work at festivals and in our breaks we'd have to choose between going to the loo or getting food just because the toilet queues were that long. So you'd have to really compromise on what you needed, and so we thought surely there's a better way. Let's just see what we can do, push some doors, be curious and sort of see if there's any kind of solutions out there already. So when we did the project and we were going through the secondary death research, we just realized there was nothing out there and we're like, oh my goodness, this is a massive gap. There's no innovation, there's no investment assigned to this.
Speaker 2:There's huge taboo around women's sanitation and it's actually very unsexy and women are very linked to being sexy. So if you don't want to talk about it, it's this huge taboo around. You know women's sanitation. So we were like, gosh, someone needs to do something about this. So why not us? So that's sort of where it kicked off it was. That was very a big conviction point, and then, ever since then, we've been speaking to millions of women, hundreds and millions of women, about getting this, getting this to be a standard facility why do you think that women's urinals have taken this long?
Speaker 1:you said it's been um unsexy. Yeah, has it also been something that's not been interesting to you? Know?
Speaker 2:inventors to vcs yeah, so the one point is that you know we sexualize women, so we don't want that associated. We don't want any kind of bodily liquid associated with women. So even in our language we'd say I'm going to the powder room, you know I'm going to powder my nose instead of going to the toilet. Or you know, you see these slight changes in our language even to sort of disconnect women from sanitation. Um, so there's like taboo around that. But then there's also lack of investment in this space, because at the moment it's very obvious that a lot of investors out there are men and this problem doesn't impact them very much, so the investment is less funneled towards women's sanitation or women's health tech. Yeah, there's a big barrier there for female founders to get investment. So, yeah, for a long time now it hasn't been a priority. Um, there's lots of other barriers as well, but those are two main ones yeah, I mean.
Speaker 1:So you've got, I think, the statistically less than one percent of all funding goes to women. Yeah, when it comes to, you know, investments, plus, you've got the like, the unsexiness of women's sanitation, yeah, being not high on people's agenda. And I guess you can't use technology perhaps in the same way to get scales and so on. Yeah, why did you and hazel think that you could solve this problem where, in 160 years, no one else has even come close?
Speaker 2:I mean, I think it was that conviction that we had, like, when we realized there was nothing out there and it was like a bit baffling, you kind of surprised yourself and you sort of realized that this is a normalized inequality that us ourselves have been drawn into. You know, it's something that we know the problem we feel the pain waiting in the queues, but yet we've just stood about thinking, oh, someone else will do something about it. But then you get this conviction of, like gosh, something needs to happen, so let's see if we can do it, let's, why not us? That kind of attitude of why not us, if not us? Who? You know, that kind of the powerful, convicting language that you hear. It was that kind of moment, and then we just have been curious and been running with it ever since.
Speaker 1:Well, I think it's amazing that you found such a huge problem that no one had addressed, but also that the scale of the problem didn't intimidate you and Hazel.
Speaker 2:I think there was a bit of naivety at the beginning, to be honest, which was actually a protective thing, because if you knew what we were getting into, I don't know if we'd even started. But yeah, I think it is massive and sometimes it is intimidating to think about. We're actually changing industries, we're changing language, you know we're changing expectations and budget allocation and you know there's so many important things that people addresses and challenges, and so that's a big responsibility. So, yeah, I think the naivety I wish we had a bit more of that at the moment but yeah, it is a huge opportunity.
Speaker 1:You had a huge opportunity and we'll talk about how you got there in time. But just for anyone watching or listening, you have just served the London marathon. Yes, so you've had literally tens of thousands of people go through PCOR. So for anyone listening, this is a true story of a couple of women founders changing the way that events and even society operate. So I do want to call that out. So one listening goes wow, that's amazing. Let's stick around and listen to this story. So you and Hazel university find a real world problem, unlike just submitting your thesis and then getting jobs and say, well, we found the problem, but we decided not to tackle it. You have decided to tackle it. You have decided to tackle it. Can you just take us through the steps?
Speaker 1:the stages that you've gone from university thesis to actually delivering these P-Col urinals to the London Marathon.
Speaker 2:Sure, I mean, there's so many stages and so many things I could talk about, but to condense it down. So after university, Hazel and I did get full-time jobs. I got a job at an innovation consultancy and Hazel got a job with oh my goodness, I've forgotten the company now.
Speaker 1:An important company, Very important company sustainable company Sorry, hazel.
Speaker 2:And we did that in our days. And then we worked on Pequil in our mornings and our evenings to sort of keep going and keep pushing, getting more research, talking to more people, more customers, and so that was how we funded the sort of our work on Pequil. Right at the start, we were also applying for grants and competitions where you'd win 500 quid there, 200 quid here, so that would sort of tie us over, um right at the start. And then, um, we managed to get a grant from the University of Bristol that enabled us to go full-time, so we were able to quit our jobs, which is an incredible feeling. To you know, focus the best hours of your day on what you really want to do. Um. And then we made lots and lots of prototypes. So we were already making cardboard prototypes and 3d prints, but then we made two scale prototypes that we took to covid safe events. This was in 2021, um, and we took our large scale prototypes to get real feedback from women at these events, because you can talk about it all you want, but as soon as you go to an event, get your feet on the ground. That's when you get your real feedback. So it was fantastic. So the first one we went to was on the Downs in Bristol. Um, it was a comedy garden festival and, um, we had the BBC feature us. It was a fantastic opportunity because it meant that we won the front page of the BBC with this um made out of scrap material prototype.
Speaker 2:Basically because we had no money and that meant we had customers internationally reaching out to us saying how do we get you to the US? I want you in Malaysia, literally. It was incredible the demand that we were able to showcase and that was a big point for us because it meant that when we went for investment, we had all this sort of that. All these customers lined meant that when we went for investment, we had all this sort of that, all these customers lined up that showed the demand for our product like this. So lots of prototyping. And then the next step was raise investment. Um, and this was in covid. So lots of zoom meetings, lots of dodgy wi-fi, which was not fun, very triggering, but we did manage to raise 250K in COVID for an event-based business. So you know that's no small thing and we often think about that. How do we do that? But we had some incredible investors and that still back us today. And, yeah, that allowed us to manufacture the product in the UK and then be able to launch at Glastonbury in 2022.
Speaker 1:I could keep going but that that's Well, what an amazing story. So it sounds as though you managed to really tap into a zeitgeist where, although it hadn't been developed, everyone saw the need.
Speaker 2:Yes, that's right, and COVID actually helped in some ways, because it was a chance for festivals and events to rethink their sustainability and to look to switch up their solutions, and so people were a bit more open to change, a bit more open to trying new things instead of sort of the same old rigmarole. So, yeah, in that way it really did help us and also because we're so much more hygienic than portable toilets, it meant that because covid had just happened, everyone was looking for sanitary options, so it was another sort of arrow in our in our boat yeah, like for those people that aren't familiar with how a woman's urinal works, I I don't know whether it's possible to say paint us a picture in words yes, I try my best yeah, so that people can visualize, of course yeah, so it is a standalone facility so you don't have to hold anything.
Speaker 2:It's not a funnel. You just step into this facility and pop a squat, you pee into this thing called the pedestal, which is anti-splashback, and it's really comfortable for all squat heights. We've tested this thoroughly and there's a handle if you want support and you just pop a squat and pee, squat and go. It's that simple. It's a designated safe space for women to go for a wee, just like the equivalent of male urinals. Uh, it's. What's the key thing about peak quiz is the efficiency. So we've designed it to be 2.7 times faster than a portable toilet, which means women are in and out of those queues like no. Tomorrow means that you get back to the event without having to miss out on anything. Um and those, those, um. That efficiency has been made real because of things like the pedestal being just squat and go. You'd have to touch the thing, clean anything down.
Speaker 2:It's overlapping doors instead of like a lockable door and it's semi-private. This is the important thing. It means that when you're standing up, you can be seen from the waist up, so it's really fun. You can wave at your friends, um, but then when you're peeing, you're popping up. You can be seen from the waist up, so it's really fun. You can wave at your friends. But then when you're peeing, you're popping a squat. You can't be seen by anyone and that means you're fully private. It means that you're incentivized to just pee and go. You're not checking your phone, you're not doing anything else in the toilet, you're just peeing.
Speaker 1:You said something there which made me think of you and Hazel as engineers, which is about the micro moments and makes me think about the idea of the frictionless customer experience. We remove anything that's a bottleneck, and you've identified time as being the give back for the customer. How did you light upon what you're calling micro moments as being one of the keys to success?
Speaker 2:I think we just knew that we needed to make it more efficient some way. So we were trying to tackle what, what was it that was slowing this process down and then try to re-out, design it basically, um, and that's shown throughout our journey, because we're actually launching a version five next year. So, you know, not just version one, not two, not not three, not four, but five. And that's just micro improvements that we've made to make the product a lot more efficient, a lot more desirable for the user to use. So, yeah, it's just constant iteration and improvement to make it even more efficient.
Speaker 1:So let's talk, then, about the move from raising money and making these things yourself, these urinals yourself, to commercialization, because it's one thing to have a great idea and get people saying, hey, can you deliver it. It's another game altogether when there are two of you in Bristol and you're delivering urinals to Glastonbury, for example, or to the marathon in London. How did you and Hazel overcome the really the transition from idea and prototype into delivered commercial product?
Speaker 2:um, I think a big moment was when we started manufacturing from the UK. So it went from building the prototypes ourselves to an established rotational moulding factory producing the product for us, and that was the product that we had ready for Glastonbury. However, there is a story here. You know, one of those barriers that you, as founders, always have to come up against. Unfortunately, the manufacturers made half of the product, so they made the tanks but not the walls. So if we had just gone ahead, we wouldn't have been able to do Glastonbury that year.
Speaker 2:So, as gritty founders that we are, we were like no, this has to happen. How do we get to Glastonbury? How do we make sure that we do this? Launch Women access? How do we get to Glastonbury? How do we make sure that we do this? Launch women access, this product?
Speaker 2:So we got loads of our friends together. We, we ordered some scaffold, loads of allen keys and some foam boards and we basically built the walls ourselves I think over 300 walls over a weekend or two, and our you know, new employees they also gave up their weekends to join us, and it was just this big team effort that enabled these walls to be made. And we got to Glastonbury and we launched there and it was significantly successful. We were on Women's Hour, we sort of hit huge BBC outlets. It was incredible and we got to prove that this is something women love and really want to see more of, and that those walls we actually took throughout the whole of 2022. It wasn't just Glastonbury, so the manufacturers actually couldn't have produced those walls for any of the other events either. So it just shows you just have to really dig deep and think how can we actually make this happen? As a founder, you're like so stubbornly passionate about what needs to go next. So, yeah, that was.
Speaker 1:That was a really big moment of going from just prototyping to commercialization can I ask what went wrong with the procurement process that the manufacturer didn't deliver?
Speaker 2:because I wish I knew. Okay, there's multiple reasons. You know things that you can't help like. You know, one of the tool makers was sick for three weeks, delaying production, you know, or some a big order took longer than they anticipated before our order, pushing ours back. You know, there's just so many things that you can't control with manufacturing and so, yeah, that buffer time was just eaten up. But you know, we've learned a lot from it and you know we we do enjoy, um, not having to make ourselves. You know we do enjoy working with manufacturers that have those skills to make sure we can commercialize. But, um, yeah, we're excited to be producing version five in poland year. So we went out there last year and we absolutely loved it and it was a fantastic factory where they've got everything run to a T. We really enjoyed their business, their manufacturing.
Speaker 1:Okay, obviously it's a bit disappointing that in the UK you won't be able to find someone to deliver, that you've had to go to Europe. But what I will ask you is a cash flow question, because when you commercialize you've got the quarter of a million but you've got a team. You've got you and Hazel. How are you able to structure the cash flow to carry you through? Because if you have a manufacturer that doesn't deliver but you've probably got a commitment to glass debris, for example, yes for me, anyway, the stress is when I'm trying to arbitrage the relationships between a customer and a supplier.
Speaker 1:Right as an entrepreneur, you get stuck between what you promise one person you'll deliver and what someone else promised yeah, you'll deliver, and you're expressing how you. You bridge the gap by just sheer force of character and appetite of risk, isn't it? Exactly. Yeah, can you just take us through how you solved, how you dealt with that practically or emotionally, because I think often people look at entrepreneurs oh well, they, they were there and they got to there, but there's there's a lot of challenges, not just the physical but the financial.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean from a cash flow perspective, what we ask of our customers is 50 up front, so as soon as they book, and then 30 30 days before the event and then 20 seven days after. So we get a large percentage of the cash up front before the event actually happens, which means that we have that cash flow coming in significantly throughout the year and that really helps us sort of prepare for those events and tie us over. But we have raised a second round of investment with from since 2022 till now, and we are currently raising investment around now. So you know we are constantly looking for new investors. So if anyone's listening that wants to back people, please reach out to us, because we always want to start new relationships with new investors. And, yeah, see how we can get Pequil international.
Speaker 1:Okay, that's wonderful, amber. So let's think about investors. Will love the product, yes, and half the world. Let's face it half or over half the world needs what you're offering. But investors also look at the founders and the relationship between the founders. Can we just talk a little bit about how you and Hazel operate, because that can make or break a business.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think well for PQOL, our relationship has made the business happen. So, you know, both of us would say we don't want to do this on our own. This is something that we've entered into together, this is something that we both really believe in, really want to see happen. You know the off the back of the London Marathon. You know we were collecting the urine to turn into fertilizer and we were there on the ground actually collecting the urine ourselves. And you know you have these moments of, like, shared experience. You're like nobody else understands me like you do. No one else gets the grind like you do. And it's this very rare relationship where you challenge each other, where you care for each other, where you really grind and see that strain with each other and try and support each other in the best way you can. Um, I don't know any other relationship in my life that's like this one.
Speaker 2:Um, but yeah, we, we shoulder each other, you know, and you have to be constantly communicating to to let each other know where you're at, even today. You know, communicating where our mood's at in the day, like, oh, I think I need to just have a break, have a drink, get a cup of tea. Um, disclaiming. You know, today I feel a bit rough. You know that kind of thing. It's the day-to-day communication that makes your sort of relationship reliable and steady. And, um, trust, trusting, and I think, yeah, both of us treasure. Treasure it, because I have got friends that are solo founders and it is a big struggle, you know. It's isolating, it means that you don't feel as understood by your peers. There's there's a lot of positives as well, but I know from experience that having a co-founder is significantly better yeah, well, there's old old saying, isn't there?
Speaker 1:if you want to go fast, go alone, but if you want to go further, yeah, go with others. When you look now at people and you know the role that you two have been able to play and the community that you found in the accelerator, yeah you've come both as students yeah and I think not it wasn't from a business studies background.
Speaker 2:No, no, I studied anthropology with innovation, Hazel studied physics with innovation. So you know we both had sort of creativity in our blood.
Speaker 1:You know we've been creating dens and go-karts and small business projects on the side all the time, but no, not like a business background necessarily the side all the time, but, um, no, not like a business background necessarily, and so what are some of the ways that you've got involved with the accelerator and how that's helped to to grow people into the?
Speaker 2:kind of business that it's becoming I think a big thing about the accelerator is sharing in the challenges that you're facing, um, because, like I mentioned, nobody else quite understands you like another founder does. Um, and sharing those struggles is like quite a vulnerable thing to do and if someone can help you in that, in that position, you'll, you know, you feel so grateful, you feel so supported and and backed. You know, I think there's this real feeling of fight. If you're a founder, you're constantly like come on, I want to create something, and it can be really difficult to create something. So if someone's got your back and says, hey, I can connect you with this person or hey, don't worry about it, I've been there and you'll get, you'll get through it.
Speaker 2:That is massive and it's not to be underestimated to have that support system. So. So for us, it was that greater support system underneath Piquil that allowed us to reach out to people and be like what did you do when you hit this wall? How did you get over that hurdle? And then us allowing us to do the same for others. If we could help others, we would pass that on and do the same.
Speaker 1:So would you say that, even if you have a founder, like you and Hazel have?
Speaker 2:being part of a broader community brings some benefits. The perspective, I think, is key. We always talk about perspective. If you're just working on your business and you're working from home quite a lot, you can be quite insulated. You can lose perspective. So when you come into spaces like this and you ask what's your business, what are you going through at the moment? Who are you talking to? So when you come into spaces like this and you ask what? What's your business? You know, what are you going through at the moment, who are you talking to, it kind of opens you up to be a lot more um, grateful. In a way. You sort of understand hey, let's celebrate these wins. You know, the London Marathon just happened, what like? We were dreaming of this three years ago, you know.
Speaker 1:So I think perspective is one of the most important things as a founder and, as you say, you've got the perspective of everyone here supporting you too, haven't you? I think that, uh, even as being on the podcast here, yeah, people are celebrating and in your corner it's wonderful to have you and hazel and, I guess, family and friends. What about the the mindset shift that you two are having to go through now? Because, as the company grows and you've got pitches out to investors and you're going to go for more.
Speaker 1:What are you having to think about differently now as an entrepreneur? Because it's not been that long, in fairness. I mean, you launched the first project in 2020, I think it was 2021. We're in 2025, so you've actually accomplished a huge amount in a short amount of time. Thank you, yeah, it's incredible. What mindset changes have you had to make and how are you making those?
Speaker 2:good question. Um, I think I'll. I want to rephrase it the mindset things I want to keep okay, um, because I think that's what has let, has meant the business continues is to sort of hold on to traits like the passion, the grittiness, these sort of like personal qualities that have actually enabled the business to keep going. Um, that's, those are the mindset qualities that have actually enabled the business to keep going. Um, that's, those are the mindset qualities that have really enabled our business to thrive. Because this grittiness you don't find it in lots of people. The grittiness that it takes to sort of do the really hard work that no one else wants to do. You know to be the last person at the end of the day, to to clear up the cups. You know to do the things nobody sees. I think you need that grit and that conviction, passion, and those are the things I want to have throughout my whole life, not just running this business but in every aspect of life. But, um, those are the things I want to keep. Sorry, I rephrased your question there.
Speaker 1:That's okay. In a way, that's probably, uh, the hallmark of why you're such a great entrepreneur, because you're staying very true to your core values. Right, it needs to be done, and you've got this higher sense of purpose.
Speaker 2:That's right. The purpose point is a really it's what drives us. It's not just clickbait, it's something that we really believe in. It really is what keeps us going and why, when it's so hard, we do keep going. And I think any business founder would agree that if you have purpose at the center of your business, it is that thing that keeps the engine going.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think you're absolutely right, and the people that fall by the wayside are those who didn't really have a mission, but maybe had a motive, maybe self-interest or short-term interest, rather than the bigger picture which you've got, really just equality for women, you know looking at your website and watching the videos. But looking at the website or watching the videos, I can see the enthusiasm that women have for, frankly, the relief, right. I mean, they've been waiting a long time now. They don't have to wait.
Speaker 2:The relief is the right word.
Speaker 1:The relief is the right word.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:How have you been marketing to those event companies? Because you've got some PR. Can I say PR?
Speaker 2:You've got some public relations just to qualify for that, see how many puns we can get in. Yeah, how many puns can we get in?
Speaker 1:one interview. But what about the marketing to those companies that are looking at? They've got an established port cabin provider. They've got a piece of the field that already comes to it. They sell the tickets, whether the women get a better urinal or not. You know people aren't voting with their wallets for that service. How are you getting the proposition for PQAL into the market to get people coming to buy?
Speaker 2:good question. I think we started with events that shared our values so glastonbury, for example. They're always looking to be more innovative, they're always looking to be more sustainable, they're always looking to bring something new, something fun into their event and obviously they set the bar. So we wanted to start the influential events and then it would just triple down into the rest of the industry and that's what we've seen happen. So that that was definitely the right move. But we do sort of angle our pitch to customers sometimes differently. So we do. We obviously create a better experience for the women, but we can also generate a lot more revenue for the events themselves, because when women aren't waiting in the queue, they're getting a drink. So you can see that we generate a lot more revenue for the event themselves and actually peak will pays for itself once it's there. So if a event is struggling to get more money every year, this is something that they can do too that's a good.
Speaker 1:yeah, that's good. So if they're not peeing're shopping, that's right. Which? With two daughters, and you know three sisters I think you're absolutely right. So maybe I don't want to have people. It costs me even more money when I take my daughters to it. But you said you got into Glastonbury, but there's a little bit missing that I do want to talk about, because, as an entrepreneur going, ok, you got to Glastonbury, but how did you get into Glastonbury? Because it's a huge event. They must have so many vendors pitching them, everything. So I would just love for someone to hear that might be listening to this. Ok, that is the practical step I would need to take to get the dream client. That would make the cascade of customers full. Yeah, the dream client.
Speaker 2:That would make the cascade of customers full. Yeah, so the way we approached Glastonbury was we were still students at the time and we reached out to them as, like research. We were like, can we get your advice, can we get your opinion on this design? We would love to provide this for you. What sort of size tank capacity would you like? What kind of colorful walls would you like?
Speaker 2:And actually involving them in the development process, enlisted them on the journey, and so we weren't, we weren't selling to them from the start. We were constantly keeping in touch with them and and sort of showing them the new design that we'd come up with what about this? What are your thoughts on this? And we were talking to the head of sanitation at the time and so, yeah, it was like a constant feedback loop and they gained more and more interest in Pequil and it meant that when we did have something to sell, they felt a part of ownership. They felt like, yeah, I want to see this, how this goes? I've fed into it. You know I've said that this tank should be this size. I've said that you know, women would want this kind of dimension. So that was definitely the way of getting the our first customer across the line. Um, and yeah, we, we really love our relationship with glastonbury. They, they always get all our stock every year and women absolutely love it at their events. So, yeah, that was how we sort of got that customer.
Speaker 1:It was just through relationship and through being keen okay constantly knocking on the door, and was that actually physically going down to see them, or we just found them on a website?
Speaker 2:In COVID, so it was just over the channels that we had, so it was email, phone, that kind of thing, great.
Speaker 1:So it's so important, I think, to go through the detail of how these deals get done, because for someone starting a business. It's often just that first step. That's the hardest and no one writes about.
Speaker 2:Yeah so true, I mean a lot of it is just calling people up, it's just doing the small bits and you just never know where it will go. I've got so many stories of like taxi drivers that knew an investor that they made an intro, or someone at the pub knew a manufacturer that linked me to another manufacturer that we went with. There's just so many ways of leads that you need to follow up on you have no idea where they can go.
Speaker 1:Exactly, and I think that's one of the joys of an accelerator program that you have mentors and people here. Are there any examples of how people within the accelerator community have supported you?
Speaker 2:Good question Definitely have had so many founders share their investor-like spreadsheets, A lot of them sharing networks, being like oh, I think I know this competition might be suitable for you or I know this mentor that could help tackle this problem. The network is definitely the huge advantage with this and we've benefited significantly from that. I think it's the openness founders have towards each other. It's like, if I can help you, I will, and yeah, I really love that.
Speaker 1:Okay, and I think also within NatWest, because everyone's kind of joined this community of people under the umbrella of NatWest. There's a sort of a security. People's guards are not up right. They feel like they're all part of a community. No one's trying to sell anybody anything. It's not a commercial arrangement. It's really a supportive arrangement?
Speaker 2:Absolutely, there's a lot of respect towards each other. Everyone's very respectful. Everyone knows people are working towards something or creating something that brings something good into the world, and I think you know. Can you ask for?
Speaker 1:yeah, to be surrounded by people that inspire you, motivate you and support you. Yeah, uh, that's a real dream as an entrepreneur. Speaking of dreams, amber, where in you? Where have you and hazel got in your mind for the next five years? For piqua?
Speaker 2:five years, um, so we've got lots of different potential options. Um, that will just be curious and, like we've done so far, just testing and seeing and seeing how it goes and if that's what we want to do. So there's no like hard plan but, um, we are hoping to go international. This is the next big thing. Uh, we've got so much inbound requests from the us, australia, the eu, like there's just so much possibility. So once we've manufactured the v5, we will be going to events in germany, in the netherlands, um, and so that will be where we'd be scaling up in the eu.
Speaker 2:So manufacturers in poland will be very well suited to international expansion and also working with toilet distributors to actually reach women much faster. So we could scale up in-house, we could do all the logistics ourselves and that's what we've done up till now. So, hazel and I, we've got forklift tickets. You know we've been driving the stock around site in forklifts, we've been doing the cleaning, we've been leading the teams. But actually, if we want to reach women as quickly as we want to reach them, we want this facility to be available for all. We need to start distributing with other people.
Speaker 1:So that's how we're looking at scaling up I will ask you the million dollar question, which is about ip protection. And there I go. I've got another p in there, sorry sorry, not sorry sorry ip protection, because one might think that that there's no software code, it's a design. How are you going to protect PQOL from being copied?
Speaker 2:We have multiple patents granted and filed. So from year one we filed a patent on our design, on the functionality of how it fits together, and that's been granted. That was in 2021. So that sort of you know, that sort of held us over from from the beginning and then, as our design has been developed, we've continuously filed more and more patents that have sort of broadened the umbrella of ip for peakwell, um, and that spans the uk, the EU, the US, china and Australia. So we're in a good position for IP and it's an important question because, you know, that is the next obvious thing copycats and what's the window of time before other people follow in our footsteps and yeah, that is very much on our brains to be like there is this window of time that we want to actually leap into and land grab there is this window of time that we want to actually leap into and land grab.
Speaker 1:That's great. I want to ask that question because there's been many an entrepreneur that has a great idea, commercialized it to some degree and a larger company an Armitage Shanks or someone could come along and, because they've got that heft, could steal it. So this idea of IP protection, either locally, regionally or internationally, is really important if you've got something that could be copied and actually it's remarkably low cost for the protection it gives you, even if it just creates a speed bump for anybody else, doesn't it?
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's right, that sort of barrier of protection is there. We're also building our brand. So that is another way we're protecting people. We're also building our brand. So that is another way we're protecting PQOL. We're becoming the go-to woman's urinal provider you know, the trustworthy, established provider out there and we're building relationships, not just with events but also the toilet distributors that would have fleets of toilet blocks, things like that. We're building those relationships. So, actually, when we do want to go international, we have these fully formed relationships that we trust and that we want to work together in an effective way.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, the brand, the IP and the relationships are the key to that of the company now growing and the sort of environment that you're in shaping, how you and hazel think of yourselves and where you see yourselves in the next few years um, I think we, we know that people has made an impact in the event industry, which is crazy to say and I, you know, pat yourself on the back for that. That that is something to celebrate.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so we 100% know that PQAL has made an impact already. I think in the future we are ambitious and we want to see policy change. So we want to make PQAL make women's urinals a standard facility for all events. So when you go to an event, you need to have X, Y and Z and women's urinals needs to be there everywhere. Toilets are everywhere. Male urinals are. Women's urinals need to be there too.
Speaker 1:Um, so, yeah, we're we're excited to be trying to tackle that challenge and try and change policy and guidelines around that yeah, and you're doing that, I think, with the support of hazel, both of you, together with investors, new investors and and, of course, this amazing community in the Accelerator program. Final question Amber, if there's an entrepreneur out there thinking about how to grow their business, thinking about whether to join an Accelerator or not, what would be your experience that you'd share?
Speaker 2:I think one quality hazel and I both have is using, being really resourceful and being really resourceful with our networks. So, like always thinking, who do I know that might know somebody else as a graphic designer, who you know? I wonder if this person would be able to do something for free, I wonder, you know? And and sort of utilizing the people in our network is the in the best way possible. You know, from the beginning our families have helped us out big time. You know we've got family, creative families that would sort of help us model some sort of part of the product and be able to, yeah, draw on their contacts and just sort of think creatively about the networks that we have touch points within. And just sort of think creatively about the networks that we have touch points within. So always think who do you know? And look there first before thinking I need to make a stranger become my best friend before I can do anything. Just think, oh no, I know someone that knows someone else.
Speaker 1:And what about an entrepreneur that's looking at the accelerator and going well, is that for me or not? Maybe I can go alone. What would be your advice to someone thinking about joining an accelerator?
Speaker 2:I think there's no harm in it. Hey, you know, like what? What have you got to lose? I think that's my attitude. It's like what could you gain? You know, there's either you continue doing what you're doing or you could continue and have this incredible support system. So why not?
Speaker 1:Amber Probin. Thank you so much. It's such an inspirational story and you're changing the lives of so many people. From here in Bristol, you're changing the world. Thank you so much for joining me today.
Speaker 2:No, thank you for having me. It's been really fun. Cheers, it's my pleasure.
