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21 April 09 - Bleak Economy is the Key to Success of Devon Self Storage Company

As businesses fold and unemployment rates rise throughout the country, describing anything as "recession proof" might be considered a little presumptuous. However, judging by the activity at Quick Store, it's hard for Managing Director Andy Patrick not to make that statement.

"Self storage facilities in UK have grown by more than 10% in the past 12 months.” says Andy. “With a marked upswing in the number of people committed to moving house this spring, business is looking even healthier.”

A report commissioned by the UK’s Self Storage Association, and undertaken by Mintel, shows that the UK’s self-storage industry continues to remain resilient - despite the economic slowdown; the findings from the report estimate that the number of self storage sites has grown by more than 10% to 750 primary facilities in the past year, generating revenues of approximately £360 million and employment for 2,700 people.

Quickstore Storage Limited has been providing value for money storage solutions for hundreds of businesses and domestic customers across Devon since starting in 1989.

One of the first self storage companies in the UK, they are now the major space provider in the county offering over 125,000 sq feet of secure storage divided into self contained units varying from 16 to 500 sq feet. Their head office is in Plymouth, with storage centres in 4 locations – two in Plymouth, one in Exeter and one in Torquay.

Despite obvious economic pressures this local company has seen continuing growth and success, and only a few weeks ago improved their services once again by opening on Sundays at their Torquay branch to provide easy access to all customers.

The report also highlights that the key opportunities for growth in the UK market are presented by increasing awareness of self storage as well and socio-economic influences such as moving house, and trends towards people living alone or divorce. According to the report, last year awareness of self storage in the UK grew by 72% with half (50%) of the population now aware of self storage compared to less than a third (29%) only two years ago.

David Vernon from Plymouth’s Falcon Estate Agents says; “House prices won’t start to rise for a while yet, but I believe they’ve have hit the bottom of the curve, and for those with deposits now is a great time to invest in property. People are at last being able to sell their house, and some choose move into temporary accommodation prior to finding their next home. People who have been waiting until the market picks up before they move have realised that they can benefit from keeping their belongings in safe storage, and this movement in the market invariably means having to do that for periods of six months or more."

Self storage was a phenomenon that arrived in the UK from the States having started in the late 1960s, growing substantially during the 70s due to increased consumer purchasing power and access to an ever-increasing array of consumer goods. This put pressure on household storage, combined with the fact that new builds had very limited storage capacity.

Self storage didn’t start in the UK until the 1980s. However, since then has seen substantial growth with average growth rates of around 25-30% per annum and a total market estimated to be worth over £280 million. The market is still relatively young in the UK, although the potential immense; currently one out of 170 households use self storage in the UK compared to one out of 11 in the USA.

The growth levels in 2008/09 have remained consistent with the previous five years which have seen growth rates of between 8% - 15%. Despite an increase of more than two million square foot of new rentable space in the UK, as penetration levels remain only a fraction of those in mature markets such as the US – it suggests significant opportunity for new facilities over the next ten years.

Other emerging areas of growth highlighted in the report include the increase in demand from start-up businesses looking for flexible and economic storage facilities, which now accounts for 30% of self storage usage in the UK.

Andy Patrick from Quickstore says; “With forecasts predicting that the self-storage industry is set to expand even more in the future – it makes it a very exciting and rewarding time to be involved.”