On the box for 20 years with 4,000 customers

Feb 12 2008 By The Journal

ONE of Tyneside’s largest and most established self storage firms celebrates its 20th anniversary this week and welcomes its 4,000th customer.

Lock N Store, located on Hoults Estate in the Ouseburn area of Newcastle, was set up in 1988 with 28 units and has steadily increased in size as demand has grown.

It now houses 840 flexible do-it-yourself storage units and this week celebrates with its 4,000th customer, Kidd & Spoor, a North-East firm of solicitors.

Carol Nattrass, practice manager at Kidd & Spoor, said: “We have around 600 archive boxes stored at Lock N Store. There is not enough space in the office for all of our files and Lock N Store seemed the perfect place to store our documents as it is very safe and easy to access. It is close to our offices and my home so I can get to the information I need outside of work and at weekends.”

Lock N Store offers storage solutions starting from £5 per week in sizes ranging from 16sqft lockers to 1,250sqft warehouse units. They are popular with businesses looking for extra storage space, either through moving, downsizing or expansion as well as domestic customers looking to move home or free more space. The company offers 24-hour access to units, 365 days a year, with CCTV in every warehouse and on-site security guards outside office hours. The firm also has a forklift truck and operator for use by customers with heavy goods.

Lock N Store managing director Fred Hoult said: “The self storage concept arrived in the UK in the early 1980s in the London area. We were one of the first storage companies in the North East and we have seen a significant growth in demand for storage solutions over the past 20 years. As one of the oldest storage firms in Newcastle, we have perfected our offices and now offer state of the art storage facilities.”

The storage industry is continuing to grow, and the 4,500 padlocks, 7,000 boxes and 14km of bubble wrap Lock N Store has sold is proof of this. With 82 additional units created last year, Lock N Store looks set for another 20 years of business.

Lock N Store is based at Hoults Estate, Walker Road, Newcastle NE6 2HL. Tel: (0191) 224-3411. www.lock-n-store.co.uk