Lok'nStore Self Storage Blog

We all know that starting up a new business is tough at the best of times, let alone in this economy, but if part of your business plan means that you’ll need self storage or office space; then Lok’nStore flexibility can help you.  Whatever your business needs, we’ve got the right storage, at the right price.

No hidden extras at Lok’nStore:  Just your storage cost and insurance.

When starting up a new business, keeping your initial outlay as low as possible is very important, and at Lok’nStore we guarantee you the best self storage rate available locally – and our prices include VAT.  Most other storage companies do not charge VAT, but will quote a similar price for their business storage as Lok’nStore – meaning the real cost to your business is less at Lok’nStore because you can claim back the VAT!  We also appreciate at Lok’nStore how any business needs to have a degree of flexibility available: nobody wants to be tied into long term contracts or leases, and so all our storage units can be changed for a larger or smaller space as your new business expands or contracts – ‘you’ are in charge of ‘your’ storage space.  With just 7 days notice you can easily move your stock, pallets or goods to another size storage unit, meaning that you only ever pay for the space you are using.

We care about security at Lok’nStore.

With your storage at Lok’nStore, comes the peace of mind that your goods, stock or documents are locked away safely and securely.  Lok’nStore takes security very seriously – we have 24hr security and CCTV at all our storage facilities, with staff permanently on site during all opening hours.  Your storage unit is ‘safe and secure’ at Lok’nStore: only you have a key to the lock on your storage unit.

How can Lok’nStore help ‘you’ set up your new business?

Lok’nStore can help any business find the right storage solution.  We have multiple types of business storage available including:

• Pallet – store a single pallet or thousands of pallets: whatever you need.

• Mini-warehousing – 500 sq ft to 10,000 sq ft.  Choose Lok’nStore and you’ll get warehousing space that’s tailored to suit your exact requirements. And you’ll get your palletised goods stored for you in steel units or open areas, from as little as £2 per pallet, per week with free handling!

• Archiving, records and document storage.   With our self service archives you get secure private document storage room – racked out – for your important paperwork.

• Individual storage rooms, with steel doors, ranging in sizes from 25 sq ft to 1,000 sq ft.

• National Accounts – Should your new business get so big that you need storage at multiple locations, Lok’nStore can set up a National Account for you, using any of our storage facilities at over 20 locations.

• Low cost office space to rent and let; from just £5 per day! Affordable, flexible office space that suits your business, and doesn’t break the bank.  You won’t need to pay rates or utilities on top, and with weekly, 4 weekly and annual terms available, you can easily change your office space as your business grows.

What next?

For more free, friendly advice on Lok’nStore storage and office rental services; that can help your new business get started – call our facilities 0800 587 3322 or visit us at loknstore.co.uk Regardless of whether your new business is big or small, we’ll help you to choose self storage that suits you, and most importantly; your budget.

Have you ever wondered what the large orange building is; that you can see from the M275 as you approach Portsmouth?  If you were to leave the motorway at the Rudmore Roundabout exit, you would find Lok’nStore’s self storage centre at Rudmore Square.  Lok’nStore have been providing self storage services in Portsmouth since 1999, and moved into this modern, purpose built facility in 2007.  Catering for both homeowners and businesses, Lok’nStore Portsmouth has rapidly filled with customers, providing them with low cost, secure storage solutions.

Customers both household, and business use Lok’nStore’s facilities for a wide range of reasons.  It maybe that a householder is having construction work completed on their property, and they need to store furniture whilst the builders are in.  Or they might be in-between renting, or buying a property that they can’t move into yet, and need somewhere to store all their household belongings. Many local and national businesses also use Lok’nStore for seasonal stock, filing, document archiving or even mini-warehousing and pallet storage.

If you think you need the help of Lok’nStore, for either household or business self storage; then please give us a call:  Lok’nStore has the most knowledgeable and friendly staff in the industry with 21 centres across the south east, and we will be able to help you!  If you would like to discuss self storage, please speak to the centre manager: Erica Gibson, or her staff at our Portsmouth facility by calling:  02392 876783 or drop in for a visit at any time during the centres 7 day opening hours.  Lok’nStore also has storage facilities just down the road in Fareham and Southampton, should they be more convenient for you.  For details on all Lok’nStore services and locations, please visit our website at www.loknstore.co.uk and we hope to see you soon.

The big orange building is: Lok'nStore Self Storage.

So…you have found a nice new house or flat, and are all ready to get in there as soon as possible; but you can’t quite move in yet, and need to store your belongings for a few weeks.  What can you do?  Your Uncle Jeff has offered you the use of his leaky garage for a couple of weeks, but do you really want to leave your valuable belongings and furniture in such a damp, unsecure place; even if it is free?  Can a Lok’nStore self storage facility help bridge the gap between your old – and new home?

Important questions for you to ask might be:

How long does my storage contract have to be?

You can store your household things at Lok’nStore for as long as you need, as there are no contracts or fixed dates. You can book a storage unit for one week, month, year or forever – it’s up to you! Lok’nStore do ask clients to give just 7-days notice that they are moving out beforehand, and this is easy to do. As far as moving into your storage space is concerned, in most cases you can come at any time during centre opening hours. If you plan to arrive at your self storage facility outside usual working hours:  we can do that for you too (just ask at your Lok’nStore).  You can also book and reserve self storage online, out of hours, with Lok’nStore.

How much storage space will I need? At Lok’nStore, our staff are self storage specialists, who can estimate the size needed for your belongings, so that they fit into one single storage unit. Should you book a self storage unit yourself, and later find that it can’t keep all your things, you can ask staff to change a larger or smaller storage unit. Such a change is made for free, and you’ll just pay the usual storage unit price. Also, as time goes on, you might want to store more, or less things. In this case, Lok’nStore will allow you to increase or decrease your storage space.

Is my stuff going to be safe if I leave it with you?

When using a Lok’nStore self storage unit or centre, you can be sure that no unauthorised people can access your self storage. ‘You’ have the only key to your storage unit, and even storage company staff can’t open the unit without you. When you visit your storage unit you will need to sign in at reception. Storage companies ask clients to do this for security reasons. You can come at any time during normal centre opening hours, as access is free and unlimited for customers.

OK… this all sounds good: how do I reserve a storage unit or room?

It’s easy!  Just reserve or book your storage unit online now or call us on 0800 587 332

If you’re going travelling for a year, or taking some time out of your work to explore the world, there are lots of practical considerations to be looked at before you jet off. The first thing that you did, was probably to look at brochures and travel websites, and book your plane tickets (essentially, the exciting bits!), but now you need to think about what will happen to everything you are leaving behind. If you live in rented accommodation, you only need to worry about your possessions, and making sure that you give your landlord an adequate period of notice before you leave.

If you own your own house or flat, you will probably need to rent it out whilst you are away to make sure that you meet your mortgage payments every month. Whatever your situation, you will need to move your furniture and personal belongings into a self storage space whilst you are away to keep them safe until you return, and want them back. Using a Lok’nStore self storage space is extremely easy – there are locations all over the south east, and you should easily be able to find one that is close to you. Look online to view our modern facilities – we have a wide range of self storage spaces available that vary in size and height, depending on what you need. Visit us at loknstore.co.uk for a self storage space near you, but call us on 0800 587 3322 for advice if you’re not sure what size space you will need.

At Lok’nStore, we can also sell you low cost packing materials to protect your precious items. We sell a selection of boxes and bubble wrap (amongst others) and remember to buy a big roll of parcel tape and a marker pen! Try and fill each box as full as you can, to prevent the contents rattling around and being damaged when it is loaded and unloaded from the van. Label each box clearly with its contents, and write on more than one side – if your boxes are stacked with the labels facing away, you’ll have no idea what’s in them if you just want to remove a couple later on!

So that’s it.  You’re all packed and ready to go; what more is there to say… Oh yes.  Have fun!

Putting your household or personal belongings into a self storage space is a great way to make some room in your home or flat, and for lots of people it’s an easy way to de-clutter. If you have a young family for example, there maybe a gap between having children – you will be left with lots of toys and items that your first child has grown out of, but you might want to save them for a second child. If you don’t have enough room in your house (and with a young child and all their accoutrements, this is often likely!) then a self storage facility is a good way of keeping everything until you are ready to use it again.

If you have recently inherited furniture from a friend or family member, you may wish to sell it or keep it in storage until you decide what to do with it. You might need to clear a deceased relative’s home, and self storage can be great for keeping hold of their possessions – going through everything carefully; deciding what to keep can be a very emotional process (you might even be clearing a house and packing everything away on behalf of a friend or partner who can’t face it at the moment). Keeping everything safe and packed away in a storage room is a good option, and you can then go back to it when you’re ready, and decide what you will keep and what you’re prepared to sell or pass on.

Seasonal items area also ideal for putting into self storage – windsurfing, surfboarding or sailing kit can take up a lot of room, and if you don’t have the space at home then self storage is the perfect solution. Similarly, skis and winter clothing (or summer clothing during the winter) can be put into self storage, to give you extra room at home.

Moving home can often be a drawn out process, and many people find that they need to rent out a home or flat to bridge the gap between leaving their old home, and moving into their new one. This can often occur if you are waiting for building works or renovations to be completed on your new home, and you may just need a month or two in rented accommodation until your new place is finished. Self storage is great in this situation – you will probably rent a small house or flat, so you’ll need to put the majority of your furniture into storage until you can get it into your new house.

When you’re packing furniture and items up for self storage, make sure you have plenty of boxes and bubble wrap to protect delicate items. To protect the corners and edges of furniture, such as tables, see if you can get hold of cardboard shapes that will fit neatly over the corners and stop any damage during your move. Look for a self storage facility near you, and see if they can provide van hire as well, to keep everything as simple as possible for you.

Many businesses use self storage space as an extension to their premises, so if your business premises, or offices are getting too crowded, have a think about what you could  put into a Lok’nStore facility to free up some space.

Offices can often get clogged up with an excess of paperwork – files that need to be kept for a certain amount of time, research into old projects, accounts, and so on. Even when these are stored properly in files and folders, they can still quickly mount up. You may have been forced to keep these in filing cabinets and on book shelves, but why not box them up and put them into self storage at Lok’nStore?  Ask a trusted member of staff to be responsible to boxing everything up – try and get it into some sort of order, by customer, project, or date for example. Make sure every box is clearly labelled, so that if you do need to access the documents again you can get to the one you need quickly, and easily. It is also worth putting the date of the documents onto the outside of each box. If you are required by law to keep documents for five years for example, you will then be able to go to your self storage room annually for a clear out. Clear dates on the side of each box will allow you to do this very quickly, and get rid of the things that you no longer need to keep (making way for more boxes no doubt!).

If you have excess stock, marketing materials or seasonal items, then you might also want to put these into self storage.  As with folders and files, you will need to make sure that everything is packed up safely and securely, so that when you come to use your items again they are in good condition.

When you are getting your excess items ready for storage, make sure that you don’t include anything that is perishable (such as plants or food), flammable or illegal. Find a Lok’nStore  storage centre near you, and give them a call so that they can advise you how much space you will need. Self storage spaces can range from 25 square feet, up to 10,000.

The right self storage space for you will depend completely on how much you need to store, and how often you want to be able to access your items. Get in touch with your local Lok’nStore to get some help and advice – explain your needs fully; they will have the experience to advise you on what kind of space would suit your needs.