Welcome to the Easistore Self Storage Blog

For those of us who’ve experienced it, moving house can cause a whole array of feelings. You feel that thrill of a new start and change of scenery, combined with uncontrollable stress of planning a seamless transition.

At Easistore we help thousands of people each year with their big move, and although reliable storage solutions are an essential part of the moving process, we also appreciate that there a numerous factors you need to consider and prepare before even packing a box.

The key to a stress-free move is organisation, and your ‘moving calendar’ needs to be mapped out at least two month before the move. By following our simple but fundamental tips, you can be confident that your move will be straightforward – and maybe even enjoyable!

Two months before your move

1) Legal assistance – Ensure that you a reputable surveyor has done a full inventory of your new property, as well as appointing a solicitor to manage all conveyancing issues.
2) Explore – Thoroughly investigate the area you’re moving to. For example, check out the local schools, doctors, dentists and retail outlets to familiarise yourself.
3) Out with the old – By planning where your possessions can go in your new home, moving house is a great opportunity to get rid of any old items or junk, or use reliable storage solutions to look after excess items.

One month before your move:

1) This way up – In order to avoid tears on the day, make sure you separate and label valuable or essential items ready for removal.
2) Streets ahead – It would be sensible to find out whether you and the removals van can park for long periods outside or near your property.
3) Make the call – We strongly recommend booking your removals in advance. Surprisingly people leave it to the last minute and have to find alternate ways to transport their belongings.

One to two weeks before your move:

1) Food for thought – Pack all food items that have longevity, and in particular empty and defrost your freezer.
2) Bills, bills, bills – Contact your bank, building society, insurance companies, TV licence and council tax to notify them of the change of address. Also, all utilities will need to be consolidated ready for the new owners.
3) Reduce the load – If you have children or animals, you may wish to arrange for them to be looked after for the day.

Finally it’s here! The day of the move:

1) One last check – Inspect the house again to see whether you’ve got everything, and gather your essential items ready for transit.
2) Have the energy to read- So many people forget to take final meter readings for gas, electricity and water on the day, so don’t forget!
3) Goodbye – It’s time to say farewell to your home, but try to remember all the good times and look forward to a new, exciting beginning.
For a more detailed moving checklist – look at our guide to moving house want your next move to go according to plan, so why not see how Easistore Self Storage can help you.

Now here’s an interesting fact for you: according to a recent report, there are now as many storage facilities in the UK as there are McDonald’s restaurants. Fact.

The research highlighted that 1189 self storage businesses currently operate in the UK, versus the 1200 or so of the fast food giant’s restaurants. However, this figure could potentially be higher as some storage companies don’t have a website or online presence.

The industry body for UK self storage, The Self Storage Association (SSA), had previously estimated that approx 800 self storage facilities existed across the UK. The majority of the 400 supplementary businesses are small-scale container storage units that do not belong to the SSA, although there are a small number of independent warehouse set-ups that don’t either.

The SSA also states that an average storage unit is approximately 80 sq ft in area, and an average independent facility will have 311 of them. If these figures are accurate, then the additional companies unearthed by the research should add over nine and half million square feet to the total amount of rentable storage space in this country. In McDonald’s terms, that’s a lot of burgers.

However, here at Easistore we acknowledge that storage space has an undoubtedly different appeal to that of a Big Mac and fries. In fact, the attraction is pretty much incomparable. The positive point worth highlighting is that self storage has clearly progressed and expanded as an industry over the last twenty years. We’ve helped thousands of customers during our time in business, all with something different to store and often with an interesting or personal story attached to their treasured belongings.

We have also noticed that the reasons why people now use self storage have changed. For example; modern home owners, particularly in major cities or built up areas, don’t have a great deal of storage space within their properties, so there is more reliance on “creating space” today. Fluctuating divorce rates, as well as consumers buying more and more since the turn of the millennia, ultimately makes our market more fruitful and competitive. And along the way we’ve seen our customers bring anything from rare and expensive oil paintings, to a full size operational Dalek.

So, for all you storage geeks out there (yes, we are a little bit too) collectively our industry offers over 40 million sq feet of storage space, or in other words; 0.66 sq ft per person! Plenty to go around and not a greasy burger in sight….

If you want to find out more about our self storage solutions, with over 60 different room sizes and open 7 days a week, or fancy popping in on the off chance that our resident Dalek is around, then please do get in touch.