Growing storage business provides the space for other businesses to grow and shine

The Brentford branch is the newest addition to the Access Self Storage chain which now has 61 stores nationwide.

Located on the corner close to where the old Gillette Building stands, the Brentford office and storage space opened in October 2021.

All the newer buildings are “much bigger” than the older ones, as Gareth Morris, head of operations, explains.

“We have owned the land for quite some time,” said Gareth.

“I have looked at a number of different sites near there. We appropriated additional land there as well. We decided to open a big centre there as it’s a very prominent location right on the M4 and near the historic old Gillette building.

“Our new sites are generally much bigger than our existing portfolio. We generally offer a mix of storage and office space.”

Secure storage units range in size from the size of a locker to a football pitch. Parking, mailboxes, records management, and storage by the box services with free delivery and collection are also available services across the UK.

“Businesses can start with us and grow over a number of years,” added Gareth.

“You can take a mailbox, you can take an office and you can grow into a bigger office. Some people start with a small square footage then a bigger square footage and then a warehouse. We have so many success stories within these walls.”

Brentford is one of three new branches to open in the last two years. The others are in Streatham and Sydenham. More new branches are in the pipeline.

Gareth started his career at Access Self Storage 20 years ago in March. He was looking at a recruitment job post when the Access Self Storage advert for an assistant store manager caught his eye.

He soon moved up the ranks taking on the progressive roles of store manager, regional manager, operations manager and now head of operations. In his role, he looks at developing the systems and processes to make the business “more streamlined and efficient”.

“Storage industry is quite archaic in some ways and some of the business has been behind the times, but we have been able to develop the systems and processes to make it more streamlined and efficient and that’s what I have been highly involved in,” he said.

“We have been able to improve services and reduce costs and continue to drive the business forward.

“A key change now in the business world is data and working with the data. We have tens of thousands of customers. We have thousands of enquiries every year. Across all our sites we churn over 100% of the customer base. We will get some people who stay there for a number of years. I use that data to help improve customer experience and the systems and processes.”

Access Self Storage has been in business for nearly 30 years and hails from a time when everyone who started a business chose a name beginning with ‘A’ so it was first in the phone book.

It now has 250 employees across the storage sites and head office and is recruiting for more.

“We continue to grow,” said Gareth. “We have new site acquisitions ongoing to further grow the business.

“We continue to recruit, it’s always a challenge, particularly for the entry level customer service assistant roles. We have increased our salaries across the board with a considerable uplift, which are exceptionally competitive.

“We have expanded our training team to make sure we can focus on our customer service too.”

The firm also holds it own Access Business Awards with the first one held in 2014. Open to all the company’s customers, the award winner receives a prize worth just under £20,000 – storage value worth £14,000 and a marketing package worth £5,200.

Giving back to their loyal customers is something Gareth and his team are passionate about. During the Covid pandemic, the business provided a lot of credit to help customers through the crisis.

“If it was a business such as a pub or restaurant (who really struggled during the pandemic) we gave them credit and gave payment plans to others,” he said. “It was our way to pay back to our most loyal customers.”