Given all the doom and gloom, the news is surprising good – or at least not bad.  The Banbury OX16 area, according to www.mouseprice.com, has grown by some 5% over the last 5 years, compared with a national drop in houses prices of -2%.

And the number of transactions in Banbury is higher proportionally than in the country as a whole. Whilst the number of Banbury properties is 0.0007 of UK properties, the number of transactions is 0.001 of all UK transactions, indicating a higher than average activity rate in the area. The ratio of new builds in the area is also significantly higher than the national average at 0.1% compared the national average of 0.06%. Clearly, that’s good news for Fort Locks Storage, and we hope also that we’re good news for all those house-movers!

©Fortlocks Self Storage Ltd

But one of our customers, Patrick von Numers, recently caught my eye, when he revealed that he had stored – wait for it – an entire car in his storage unit. But he didn’t need to drive it in (though potentially, if you were so minded, you could). The car – a Mazda RX-7 Turbo II (FC35) 1991 model –was Patrick’s previous car and he decided that, given his new car is also a Mazda RX-7, he would keep this one for spare parts and possibly even rebuild it. So he dismantled the entire car, bonnet, seats, engine, wheels, lights – the lot – and to start with, he stored it in his grandmother’s back garden. Much as she adores her grandson, this wasn’t quite what she had in mind. So Patrick took a storage unit at Fort Locks Self Storage in Banbury and has been storing it at Fort Locks for the last few months.  Sadly for us, Patrick is moving on, but we’re delighted that he’s made such good use of the storage facilities at Fort Locks. 

….Now that’s what you might call Drive-up Self Storage!

Patrick von Numers in front of his storage unit at Fort Locks Self Storage Banbury

Patrick says of Fort Locks Self Storage:

“Great storage units, friendly and helpful staff. 24/7 access is a huge bonus”

Fort Locks is a great example of a local business which works with a range of partners to generate a win-win situation for both parties.

Storage Partners are primarily those businesses which service customers in the house moving chain – Estate Agents, Solicitors, Removal companies – as these are directly relevant to people in the market for self storage. But Fort Locks Self Storage also works with media partners such as Banbury Cross, The Best of Banbury and The Redworks as well as developing relationships with other businesses at networking events. This week sees the launch of our new website including social media buttons on its website – @BanburyStorage already has some 103 followers on Twitter, all businesses in the local area.

The Fort Locks’ Storage Partners scheme is in essence an introducer’s reward but with a big difference – it’s not just a one off flat fee, or entry in a prize draw, like so many other referral schemes, but an opportunity for like-minded local firms to share in our self storage business and generate a healthy supplementary profit stream for themselves.

Partners can also choose to pass some or all of the benefit to their own customers, giving their business a terrific additional marketing advantage – a major discount on a practical, relevant service just when they need it.

If you’re interested in discussing the opportunity, contact Nick at Fort Locks Self Storage on 01295 277 477

Fort Locks Self Storage, like many other successful storage businesses around the UK, operates storage units which are adapted from ocean going containers.

Sometimes we’re asked if they’re waterproof – the answer is a resounding ‘Yes they are’. But some are just a little unbelieving or even surprised, so here’s the full answer – in the hope of reassuring even the most skeptical doubters – or even if you’re just secretly a little worried…

Waterproof with a big W

Our storage units are manufactured to top industry specifications for a long and testing life in service, normally shipping cargo around the world. They are made to resist water ingress with durable rubber seals on the double doors. They’re fitted with vents on the top of each side panel to ensure that there is sufficient ventilation. Doors, sides and roofs are made of rust resistance corten steel to ensure maximum durability.

M&S, Sony and probably every blue chip brand name you can think of trusts their goods to storage units like ours for the 5000 mile journey from China to the UK! If you can ship electrical items and teddy bears in them, that’s surely QED?

Tested and passed to International standards

Well, it doesn’t stop there. The units are built to the highest international specifications for marine use. To prove it, they are inspected and certified by either Lloyds Register (LR) or Bureau Veritas (BV) who are the two main certification and inspection bodies for ensuring that containers are built to exacting specifications and are totally sea worthy. Finally they are CSC plated which means that the container complies with the rules set out in the International Convention for Safe Containers.

We are totally confident of our storage units and indeed have never had a problem with any storage unit in 7 years of trading – during which time, as we all know in Banbury, floods have come and gone. But we have remained DRY DRY DRY, not wet , wet, wet !

(Sometimes we wonder why we pay for £5m liability insurance – it seems like we’re never going to use it! But that’s the last resort – and it’s important you know that we’re insured for every eventuality.)

Clean, Dry and Secure

As mentioned above, each container comes with ventilators fitted in each side and at the front to ensure adequate ventilation. The floors are made of treated marine ply and subsequently painted by us using heavy duty floor paint to ensure clean, hard wearing floors. We also further adapt the containers to include ventilation at the front and install inch thick polystyrene ceilings to insulate the unit so that’s its 100% ready to store your belongings.

Each unit has locking bars made of galvanised steel with lockable handles and we then go the extra mile by fitting a lock box to protect the padlock for added security.

General Specification

Cubic capacity: 33.10cu m / 1,170cu ft
Max Gross weight: 30480kgs / 67208lbs
Tare Weight: 2230kgs / 4917lbs
Structure: Corten steel doors, sides, frame and understructure, with marine ply flooring, industrial rubber seal
Certification: Lloyds register or BV certified to ISO standard and CSC plate
Vents: Normally a minimum of 4 vents on each side and one at the front
Internal Insulation: Polystyrene ceilings

And after all that, if you you’re still just slightly worried, well, come in and have a look for yourself – we welcome the most rigorous inspections from the most important people – our customers!

Five star hotel versus real life

Of course, whilst your belongings will appreciate staying a five star hotel, just remember it’s you that has to carry them there! One removal company recently told us that to store in ‘warehouse’ self storage, meant they had to ‘double handle’ all their customers’ belongings with the result that ‘a mover could add up to 90mins loading time if the customer is allocated at the other side of the building’.

Ugh! ..so much easier just to drive up to your storage unit.

Perhaps you are moving house or emigrating? You could want to free up some more space in your home or office, or you could be planning a sale of some of the items you’ve accumulated over the years. Maybe you need somewhere to store important documents or office equipment, or you own a store and need somewhere to keep surplus or seasonal stock.

Whatever your reasons, if you need more space, then a self-storage unit could be the answer to all your problems. However, so many people get it wrong when filling their self-storage unit and don’t make the most of the space they have.

If that sounds like you, then follow these handy hints and tips to make sure that you make the most of your self-storage unit:

• Make sure everything you store is in boxes. Don’t leave any loose items and tape your boxes securely both top and bottom.
• Label or number all your boxes and keep an inventory so you know exactly what’s inside each one.
• Don’t leave empty spaces in your boxes, this could cause them to tip when they’re being stored. Fill any gaps with bubble wrap or polystyrene.
• Wrap any fragile items like glass or crockery individually in bubble wrap.
• If you have clothes to store, you can buy wardrobe boxes where you can hang them, helping them keep their shape.
• If you have heavy items to pack, don’t overload your boxes or they’ll be too heavy to lift. Pack the bottom with heavier items and the top with lighter items.
• If you’re storing fridges, freezers or washing machines make sure to drain them first and store them with the door open.
• Any bikes or garden equipment should be cleaned and treated with WD40 before you place them into storage.
• If you’re storing anything that takes batteries, make sure you remove them.
• Remove the legs from tables, wrap the table top in blankets and stand it on end. Then wrap the legs in bubble wrap.
• If you have large furniture like beds to store, make sure you disassemble them first. They’re less likely to be damaged and will take up less space in your storage facility.
• If you’re storing furniture with drawers, you can use the drawers to pack other items.