Welcome to the Easistore Self Storage Blog

You may not think that Self Storage and car washing go together! However, many of our recent customers at Easistore have benefited from the new car washing facility’s that are present in the car park area’s of the Tunbridge Wells and Crawley store’s.

So when your next driving by, pop in for a tea or coffee in either our reception or outside seating area and relax while you car is hand cleaned by the experts.

Chris the Manager at Tunbridge Wells says ” My car has never been so clean, the guys do a fantastic job inside and out. The removal of this chore means I have got my Sunday afternoon’s back to spend time with my daughter and its always nice when a special car turns up to be cleaned like the Maserati here today”.

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.

I will be cycling the Southdown’s Way on Sat 29th May hoping to complete it in 1 day.

13,600 feet, 3x Mount Snowdon!

We will start from Winchester at 2am and will hope to finish at Eastbourne about 10pm before pubs shut!!!. Many people such as myself think you climb up onto the Southdowns at Winchester then come down in Eastbourne in fact there are over 100 miles to cover with 13600ft in climbs that’s equivalent to 3 times up Mount Snowdon from sea level!

Myself, Phil Robbins and Tony Theophane will make up the 3 man crew.

We did this last year in 2 days and it took 19 hours to complete so should be ok!!! (That was with a stop over in Washington a few pints, evening meal, nights sleep and huge man stopper breakfast).

Why? I hear you say, well partly due to us still thinking were twenty somthing’s but mainly because we are trying to raise money for the new Cothorne Sports Pavilion in our local village.

After this I will be putting my bike away in storage for a while but not for long as were also going to do the London to Brighton race in June.

I will keep you posted on my progress.

Adam lacey

Warm weather was welcomed by the 51 boys and 6 staff from Tonbridge School sleeping out on a Saturday night in april with just storage boxes for shelter from the elements. The Sleep Out is an annual one, organised to raise funds for the Bridge Trust, a local charity, and to give the boys some awareness of what it is like to be homeless and sleeping rough. The boys were certainly appreciative on Sunday morning of the fact that they could return to their houses for a cooked breakfast and hot shower and with the knowledge that they, unlike many of the homeless, would be sleeping in a comfortable bed that night.

The Sleep Out was supported by Easistore self storage who provided the storage boxes and Resolve who ensured that the boxes were recycled.

From the outside it would appear that Easistore Tunbridge Wells has got a bad case of spots! This was no April fools joke it was our way of supporting the Demelza Hospice Care for Children.

With the dots supplied from the staff at The Demelza team Chris and the team set about putting them up in the free space of the windows.

There were many other organizations and businesses supporting the day please visit there web site to see how you can help.

Http://www.demelza.org.uk/

After heavy overnight snow falls the Easistore team had to clear about 6″  of snow so the customers could use the carpark at Crawley, putting the fork truck to good use with some empty pallets proved the most effective way.

The finshed product

Almost half of homeowners can’t get their car into their garage because it’s full of clutter.

A recent survey by Ecclesiastical Insurance highlighted the problems of low storage space in modern houses.

It estimated that the average British garage now houses more than £2,400 worth of objects. Some of the items kept there by the 2113 Britons who were surveyed included beehives, a tiger’s head, a model solar system and an ex-wife’s wedding dress. Men were identified as the main culprits, because they are increasingly using garages as gym space.

If you would like to clear your garage and free up some space in your home, why not contact Easistore and speak to one of our self storage experts now on 0800 980 2959.