Three enterprising North Otago and South Canterbury couples have joined together to cater for what they saw as a gap in the market for luxury portable toilet hire.
It was Johnny and Jo Sutherland, of Centrewood Estate, a Waimate-based boutique marquee hire company, who originally had a set of luxury loos made, having seen them in the United Kingdom.
They believed there was nothing similar in the South Island and, as they wanted their business to be at the high end of the market, they felt that everyday portable toilets were not good enough.
They soon found that the set of loos complemented their business and they were getting a lot of work because of them.
Mr Sutherland had always been keen to expand that side of the business but did not have the time to do it by himself.
A chance meeting with Shane Carter, of Laser Plumbing in Oamaru, followed.
That led to Mr and Mrs Sutherland going into business with Mr Carter, his wife Hayley, and another North Otago couple, Jason and Lee-Anne Mavor, who all brought different dynamics to the enterprise.
Mr and Mrs Sutherland described the units as ''like going to a loo in a hotel'', with porcelain sinks and flush toilets, running water, mirrors and lighting.
They planned to have a set of luxury loos based in Queenstown-Wanaka for next summer and one in Christchurch, slowly building up the business.
When it came to events, toilets were often something that was forgotten about, yet it was important to have ''that finishing touch''.
''[When] everyone's dressed up, who wants to go and sit in a Portaloo?'' Mrs Sutherland said.
They were getting great feedback about the luxury toilets, she said.
