Newport Entrepreneur Expands Business Thanks To Pet Ownership Boom

We are delighted to see a Newport entrepreneur expand her fledgling pet supplies business that she started under the Storage Giant roof.

Donna Poole first set up Pure Pets in July 2021, running the healthy pet treat business from a Storage Giant facility in the city, and she has now grown the business into a unit in Newport Market, thanks to the boom in pet ownership during the pandemic.

Donna says: “I set up Pure Pets after deciding to leave my job as a debt advisor. I have been in that line of work for many years and it takes a big emotional toll, supporting people who are struggling to meet their debts and pay their bills. Like a lot of people I relied very heavily on my own dogs during the pandemic and I decided to set up this business, first at the Storage Giant site, and then moving into Newport Market in March. It is the best thing I have ever done. Staff at Storage Giant were fantastic – when I enquired about renting a space and told them about my new venture they were very positive and they continue to support me however they can. It was great at the time, especially with so much uncertainty, to have the team at Storage Giant being so positive.”

Donna’s business is part of a national trend, with the growth in pet ownership during the pandemic prompting the big dogs of the UK pet industry to post record profits. In March 2021, the Pet Food Manufactures’ Association said a total of 3.2 million households in the UK had bought a new pet since the start of the pandemic. 

Simon Williams, MD of Storage Giant, which has its headquarters in Newport, said: “Donna is one of many small businesses we incubate and host across our UK sites. What is particularly interesting about her story – and it is something we see mirrored by many of the start-ups under our roof, is that setting up a business during a downturn might seem counter-intuitive, but, if you are savvy about your financing and if you have done sound research and planning, it can be a time of great opportunity. For my part, I established Storage Giant as the recession of the early 2000s was biting, and now we are the largest independent self-storage business in the UK.”