Self Storage Hire Killingworth
Furniture & Interiors Entrepreneur Works from a Self Storage Unit
There are many inspiring stories in which self storage plays a key role, and here are a few nuggets. An article in the Knutsford Guardian a few years ago, detailed one of these, and featured a former auctioneer and his gratitude to the humble storage container. James Broad, a 22 year old from north west UK, decided to retire his gavel and set up an ambitious furniture and interiors business.
He started out working from a self storage container, and business is now booming for this entrepreneur. James said: “I began my love affair with antiques as an auctioneer before moving on to work at a furniture company. I knew I wouldn’t be satisfied until I was my own boss but wanted to follow my vintage passion. I run my own enterprise, restoring pre-loved furniture so it can be cherished by new owners from as far afield as London and Edinburgh.”
‘Labour of Love’ Vintage Business has Self Storage to Thank
The ‘Bradford Zone’ reported on a local pioneer of the famous, state-of-the art Nutribullet, Trudy Fielding, who turned to all things vintage. Based in Little Germany, Bradford, her new fashion studio Vintage-Beau sells shoes, top hats and everything in between. Her customers rub shoulders with the most discerning, vintage loving trend-setters. Talking about her labour of love, Trudy Fielding said, “As national account manager for various high-profile companies, the hours were long, roles demanding, but financially rewarding, (my comfort blanket), yet I yearned for a better quality of life in the longer term.
“Then came Vintage Beau. The business started small, buying and selling vintage clothes and accessories within a group of friends from my home in Bradford. However, it wasn’t long before I found myself selling timeless fashion pieces at specialist events, stores and other vintage-inspired fairs.
Trudy says her biggest challenge is meeting increased demand for vintage items [it isn’t infinite!]. Before opening her own shop front she rented a self storage unit, a safe place to keep her valuable stock. Available space when needed is crucial, as stock must be purchased immediately or she may miss out. Without this storage space Trudy feels she would have really struggled to build her business.
Self Storage Statistics
According to the Self Storage Association, annual turnover for the self storage industry increased to £766 million in 2019 and the next few years look good. Start up businesses or established companies rented 42% of self storage units in the UK. Commonly accepted as the most flexible, affordable, safe, accessible and secure solutions, self storage is many people’s ‘go to’ fix. Much easier on the pocket than premium business or office space, self storage is a solve all. It is estimated that up to 20 per cent of all 605,000 storage units in the UK are used by successful online retailers. These retailers make a substantial contribution to the forecasted £77 billion worth of online sales being delivered to customers throughout the UK. That is more than Spain, the Netherlands, Italy, Austria, Belgium, Switzerland, Sweden and Poland put together.
There are now an estimated 1,900 self storage sites in the UK, offering rental of approx 49 million sq ft of space with an average store size of 25,700 sq ft. These are predominantly container-based storage, typically converted shipping containers, designed for protection from sea water.
T-Shirt Business Grows & Helps Others from Storage Containers
In Altringham, 30 year old Rick Chebrika, started his t-shirt printing business the ‘Monthly Tee Club’, from his garage, the Messenger Newspaper reports. His thriving company, is not all about profit though, as he caters to customers from rented self storage units in the day and helps the less fortunate at night. Said Rick: “The Monthly Tee Club is not your average business, focused exclusively on profit. “Instead, our main driver is to establish a global network of people who want to express their individuality while doing some good in the world. We like to think that we are providing a model for businesses of the future whereby they can satisfy their profit requirements while also engaging with their local community in a meaningful way.”
He added: “As a start-up business, we were reluctant to take on an inflexible and costly office lease. Instead, we decided to make the move into self storage. Now, we sign, seal and deliver all of our bespoke t-shirts from the comfort of our two storage units”. Rick believes that the UK’s successful online retail market owes a lot to the self storage industry.
For a cost effective storage solution in Killingworth check out what we offer at Cubic Storage.