SHORTER QUEUES
That’s right, they’re here to stay!
the genie is
out the bottle!
Queues for the women’s toilets are swiftly becoming a thing of the past, with the UK’s first ‘squat and go’ urinals now a “permanent fixture” at UK events.
Last year, our start-up helped relieve tens of thousands of women at over 15 large events – including Glastonbury, the London Marathon, Wilderness and WOMAD.
Now PEEQUAL founders Hazel, 26, and Amber, 25, have declared that shorter queues are here to stay, as their queue-slashing urinals become the gold standard for UK events.
Amber said: “The genie is out the bottle. Why wouldn’t events that claim they are inclusive, sustainable and gender equal also have PEEQUAL urinals? They are becoming must haves.
“When we went to festivals, Hazel and I had to decide between joining a ridiculously long toilet queue or getting food. Now that women’s urinals are a normal part of festival life, we no longer have to choose.
“Women’s urinals are finally creating pee equality and that makes us very happy!”
OUR BIGGEST YEAR YET!
This year, PEEQUAL will be at 30 UK events, and they have plans to trial the urinals abroad. Women can expect shorter queues at Glastonbury, Greenman and We Out Here.
Hazel, who met Amber when they were both studying at the University of Bristol, said: “We’ve been overwhelmed by the support we’ve had from women wherever we go.
“Changing engrained habits can be hard, but women gave us a chance. Without so many supporting the product we would be in a different place. It takes an army to make a change.
“We’re really proud that women’s urinals are now a permanent fixture at UK events. PEEQUAL has enabled thousands of women to experience a freeing, peeing experience. Shorter queues are here to stay!”
WHAT people think
Hazel and Amber learnt to drive forklift trucks and to weld as they built PEEQUAL into a business that has seen investment from the likes of Tom Blomfield, the founder of Monzo, and Sarah Jones, the former chief operating officer of Gü Pud.
PEEQUAL has also had rave reviews from users.
One woman at Download festival said: “I’ve been waiting my whole life for this. I’m in my 40s and I could never imagine that this could be a possibility.”
Another at WOMAD said: “I went to this festival last year and queued 45 minutes for the loos, went back to the same festival and PEEQUAL were there and they changed my life! I didn’t have a single queue.”
Amber and Hazel have so far raised £500,000 in investment and £50,000 in grants. Remarkably for a young start-up, they have already won eight awards, including two at the recent Event Production Show.
PEEQUAL began life as Amber and Hazel’s final-year project at the University of Bristol’s Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship.
Senior Lecturer Mark Neild, who runs the University’s student start-up incubator Runway, said: “Hazel and Amber’s success underscores the power young people have to change the world for the better when passion meets process.
“My hope is that they will continue to inspire other female founders to take the leap.”
