Andrew Flynn, a graduate of The Glasgow School of Art, is the co-founder of POTR, a Scottish design company whose flat-pack, self-watering planters have attracted international attention for combining technical ingenuity with environmental responsibility. Their latest product development ‘Helix’ on Kickstarter recently smashed its £4000 target within minutes, generating over £30,000 of support on the first day, and at time of writing currently sits close to £62,000.
Founded in 2019 by Andrew Flynn, Martin Keane (both graduates from Product Design Engineering 2014) and Flynn’s wife Eilidh Cunningham, POTR’s defining idea emerged from a practical frustration: the waste, fragility and inefficiency of f conventional plant products such as plant pots and vases. From that starting point, POTR developed a product system that could be flat-packed, delivered through a letterbox and assembled into a self-watering planter made from recycled materials.
POTR has emphasised the use of 100% recycled material and 100% recyclability for their products end of use life, while its origami-based structure improves shipping density, reduces breakage and lowers the carbon footprint associated with transport and packaging.
The company’s remarkable growth was accelerated by early crowdfunding success. In August 2019, they launched a Kickstarter campaign that exceeded its target by more than 4,250%, generating £25,512. A breakthrough moment for the product came through a chance encounter at Chelsea Flower Show, where American investors Steve and Julie Chapin of JARS Capital backed the business with $670,000 (£500,000 sterling). The same event brought further visibility when Dragons’ Den investor Deborah Meaden named POTR’s origami self-watering plant pot the Chelsea Flower Show’s Sustainable Product of the Year.
“The design thinking philosophy and problem-solving approach which lies at the heart of POTR ultimately stems from and is inspired by much of my experiences at GSA.” Says POTR co-founder Andrew Flynn.
“I’ve always found there is a sense of magic which comes from the creative freedom and endless possibilities which are created when people are given the time and space to think outside the box. That is secret ingredient I believe has driven success at both POTR and the brilliant Product Design Engineering course at GSA. Being able to bring learnings from POTR directly to students at GSA (in real time) is a real privilege and I look forward to seeing the many more innovations which stem from GSA in the years to come.”
POTR has received multiple awards including ‘Sustainable product of the year’ (2024) and ‘Sustainable Business of the year’ (2025) at the Royal Horticultural Society Chelsea Flower Show. They have also received Scotland’s Start-up of the Year’, ‘Scotland’s Green Start Up of the Year’, a Zero Waste Scotland Award for ‘Most Circular Business’ and picked up the prestigious Scottish EDGE award in 2022.
Flynn’s own relationship with GSA is not merely a historical one. He returned to GSA as a lecturer in Product Design Engineering in 2023, and this combination of academic teaching and enterprise leadership gives him a distinctive role within the School’s wider culture of making, prototyping and innovation. In recent years POTR’s team has expanded to include fellow GSA graduate and Product Designer, Joe D. (M.Eng Product Design Engineering 2024) and Marketing Executive Tara Harcombe (Product Design Engineering 2026).
Flynn and his colleagues work offers a clear example of the impact GSA graduates can have when design thinking is applied to real-world problems. Through a combination of experimentation, material intelligence and entrepreneurial focus, POTR has become a model of how contemporary product design can generate cultural relevance, commercial success and measurable environmental benefit.
For further information on POTR and their products, please visit potr.co/
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About The Glasgow School of Art
The Glasgow School of Art (GSA) is internationally recognised as one of Europe’s leading independent university-level institutions for education and research in the visual creative disciplines – ranking 8th in the world and 5th in Europe in the QS World University Rankings 2026. Our studio-based, specialist, practice-led teaching, learning and research draw talented individuals with a shared passion for visual culture and creative production from all over the world.
Originally founded in 1845 as one of the first Government Schools of Design, the School’s history can be traced back to 1753 and the establishment of the Foulis Academy delivering a European-style art education. Today, the GSA is an international community of over 3,500 students and staff across architecture, design, digital, fine art and innovation in our campuses in Glasgow and Altyre (in the Scottish Highlands) and a thriving Open Studio programme delivering non-degree provision to over 1,500 students annually.
