Access Self Storage hosts an inspirational networking events to champion local businesses

Access Self Storage hosted their largest ever local Business networking Expo on the 3rd November 2010. Apprentice star Claire Young (also known by her nickname 'The Roitweiler') joined series 5 contestant Kimberley Davis and former England rugby player Gareth Chilcott to offer their advice and expertise to around 300 representatives of local businesses in attendance.

45 exhibitors ranging from The Surrey Wildlife Trust to DHL and over 300 attendees from local businesses in the area attended the Expo at the Twickenham store. The event was supported by Richmond, Surrey, Hounslow and the Kingston Chambers of Commerce, the Richmond and Twickenham Times, South London Business and thebestof Richmond.

The event was a fantastic way for growing businesses to showcase their services, swap advice and form strong relationships with potential customers and fellow entrepreneurs. All in addition to a great lunch and some very amusing behind the scenes tales from one of TV’s most popular TV programmes!

ACCESS SELF STORAGE ROMFORD CHAMPIONS LOCAL BUSINESS

Leading storage company to host local Business Expo

Access Self Storage, one of the UK’s leading storage operators, will host an exciting Business Expo at its Romford store later this month to encourage local businesses to link up and inspire them to make the most of their counterparts in the Essex region.

With over 30 stands, taken by a vast array of businesses including letting agencies, debt management companies, taxis & couriers, builders, financial services, accountants and creative agencies, the Access Self Storage Business Expo, in partnership with bestofhavering will provide the perfect opportunity for small businesses in the area to build new relationships and explore new ways to promote themselves to the local community and beyond. With over 300 businesses expected to pass through the event, the Expo is a ‘must attend’ date for the business calendar in September 2010. Stands and tickets are still currently available.

The Access Self Storage Business Expo in partnership with bestofhavering will take place on Thursday 23rd September 2010 from 5pm to 8pm at the Access Self Storage site on Southend Arterial Road. Canapes and beverages will be available for all businesses attending.

David Fletcher, Store Manager at Access Self Storage Romford, said “The diverse mix of small businesses that use self storage makes Access the ideal location in which to host a networking event for the local business community. By providing an opportunity for businesses to network we hope to highlight the potential growth they can make by helping other non competitive businesses in the area”.

Julie Marriott from bestofhavering said; “thebestofhavering is passionate about finding the best businesses in the area and promoting them. The Access Self Storage Business Expo is one of many ways we do this.”

Access Self Storage as a service provider to many local businesses is ideally positioned to provide a forum where they can come together to network and explore opportunities.

ACCESS DISCOVERS THAT GUYS ARE MORE SENTIMENTAL THAN GIRLS

The results of an Access Self Storage survey suggest that guys are more nostalgic and sentimental than women, when it comes to the possessions they treasure most.


We asked students to name the three things they would keep forever. Of those surveyed 67% of men said they would keep photographs of friends and family compared to just 49% of women. Men were also more likely to say they would keep a gift they were given, 24%, compared to just 11% of women.

Maybe unsurprisingly however, 36% of women compared to just 9% of men wanted to keep an item of clothing forever with 13% of women listing a favourite pair of jeans as a must keep. However, when it came to technology 37% of men listed a computer as one of their top 3 valuables compared to 23% of women. Ultimately, when both groups were given the choice between giving up their laptop and mobile phone over all their furniture, both men and women overwhelmingly chose technology with 78% of women and 81% of men.

Our Marketing Manager Jill Martin said:

“This is quite an interesting insight into the world of students. The end of the summer terms is the time of year when many students are moving back home and are considering the things they want to keep but can’t easily transport, and those they want to throw away. At Access we wanted to find out more about the different priorities students have when making those decisions as students make up an important part of the Access customer base.”

Students were also asked what item of their partner’s they would put away in storage forever. The survey revealed 37% of women would hide away their partner’s electrical gadgets, with games getting a particularly high mention, and 45% of men wanted to hide their partner’s fashion accessories, with make-up and shoes both being singled out as annoyances.

See a video of what other interesting things people were interested in keeping . The clip reveals whether it was a man or a woman whose three essentials were ‘string, a blanket and cigarettes’!

Access Self Storage Islington turns 10!

Access Self Storage Islington celebrates its ten year anniversary this month. The store opened in April 2000, offering approximately 16,000 sq ft of storage space spread over 2 floors. In 2006 a three storey extension building was completed, taking capacity to 66,567 sq ft of storage units, big enough to house the main exhibition hall of Islington’s Business Design Centre!

The team have been marking the store’s 10 years in the Eagle Wharf area of Islington by offering Islington Chamber of Commerce members 10% off storage, and reminiscing with current customers, some of whom have been with Access since the Islington branch opened!

Access Self Storage Islington Manager, Martin Cottmore, also recently reached his 10 year anniversary with the company, though he hasn’t been at our Islington store all that time. Martin began his career in our Kings Cross store, then crossed the river leaving central London behind for South London, and our Woolwich store. After a couple of years commuting to Charlton, Martin then headed for North London, where he has happily remained since.

We look forward to organising a joint 21st for Martin and the Access Islington store in 2021!

And our winner is…

…after much deliberation over which of our fantastic store teams should get the Access Self Storage Blue Peter badge, a decision has been made.


Did we go for Access Harrow, where a donation of 180 gowns from local Stag Lane Primary School was covered in the local Harrow Observer newspaper? Or Access Self Storage Southampton, who had 367 gowns dropped off by a school who we desperately tried to trace so we could let Blue Peter know who they were? Was it Access Kingston where 400 gowns from Grand Avenue Primary were donated?

Whilst all of these stores accepted some impressively large donations from local schools, and all of our stores entered into the Send-a-Smile appeal with gusto, we have decided that the Blue Peter badge should live at our Wandsworth store, where all of the appeal gowns have been stored. Manager Alison Clark and her team have supported the appeal enthusiastically throughout the campaign, from being a drop off point, acting as the central storage location, hosting Blue Peter presenters and children from local schools during filming, to stepping in with cardboard boxes to pack-up gowns when Operation Smile were let down by their suppler – nothing has been too much trouble for Al and her team.

And don’t the team look chuffed with Al wearing the badge in the picture above?

Enjoy guys – you deserve it!

Blue Peter thanks Access Self Storage – with one of their highly coveted Blue Peter badges

Excitement swept through the Access Self Storage Marketing Department today, upon the arrival of every child’s (and many adult’s) coveted possession – a Blue Peter badge!

How we wracked our brains as kids trying to think of the interesting letter, story, poem or good idea for the programme that could earn us a badge (and okay yes, we may have actually submitted some unsuccessful attempts). Whilst badges aren’t awarded for taking part in Blue Peter appeals, the team were happy to reward Access Self Storage for being an Appeal Partner.

We think we might just spend the day taking turns to wear it, before deciding which of our stores should get to wear the badge with pride every day.

Blue Peter ‘Send-a-Smile’ appeal announcement

Yesterday the Blue Peter team announced the results of their 2009/10 ‘Send-a-Smile’ appeal, in support of Operation Smile. The initial target of 20,000 gowns was well and truly smashed, with over 92,000 gowns collected!

The saving this equates to for Operation Smile means an additional 1,800 children can be given life changing surgery.

Blue Peter have tagged this appeal as their most successful campaign ever! All 54 Access Self Storage stores were drop off points for the appeal, allowing every child in the UK to easily access a local donation site. Our flagship Wandsworth store has also been home to ALL the gowns which have been donated, prior to them being sent overseas for use. The first storage unit donated to Operation Smile quickly became full, so another 200 sq ft of space was made available to the organisation.

The whole Access Self Storage team has been delighted to do a little to help a wonderful charity in this amazing appeal. We hope to be able to build on the relationships developed with Operation Smile and Blue Peter and look forward to being able to support them in the future.

Access Self Storage up for another award!

Hot on the heels of winning bronze in Transform 2010’s Best National Rebrand category, Access Self Storage has now been shortlisted for Best Large Business in the South London Business Awards 2010.

The award not only recognises our branches based in the South London boroughs of Croydon, Merton, Sutton, Kingston, Richmond, Bromley Wandsworth, Lambeth and Southwark, but all 53 of our UK stores.

Access’s Director of Operations, Fred Taylor commented “Being shortlisted for the Best Large Business award is wonderful news. Access Self Storage has been operating for over twenty years, and the last year has been incredibly exciting with 6 new stores launched as well as our successful rebranding project. We strive to be the very best so being acknowledged by South London Business is a fitting tribute to the hard work of all the team”.

The South London Business Awards 2010 in association with HSBC will take place on May 19th at Selhurst Park Stadium. Whilst we’re obviously hoping for a great result on the night for now we’re pleased just to have been shortlisted alongside some fantastic companies.

Access Self Storage wins bronze award for rebrand!

The Access Self Storage Marketing team and their agency 300 million are both delighted to have won the bronze award in the ‘Best national rebrand’ category at Communicate Magazine’s Transform 2010 awards.


The award ceremony, held last night at the spectacular Tabernacle in Notting Hill, was a fabulous evening and a great opportunity to celebrate some fantastic brands and their achievements over the last year.

Jill Martin, Access Self Storage’s Marketing Manager said “Winning the Bronze award for our rebrand was a wonderful result. As an SME we simply don't have the same resources as the larger brands, so achieving this just goes to show what can be accomplished with the right agency and internal team combination”.

Access would also like to congratulate gold and silver winners, The Co-operative and Aviva, on their success.

Access Head Office in CO2 offsetting mission

The environmentally conscious team at Access Self Storage Head Office have been fastidiously recycling paper, to ensure their carbon footprint is as light as possible.


In the year March 2009 to February 2010 we recycled 2230 kg of paper, saving the equivalent of 35 trees and 3,100 kg of C02. Whilst we’d like to say we intend to improve on this next year, we can best achieve this by recycling LESS.

That’s not how it sounds! We already know that we recycle all newspapers, magazines and printed paper throughout the building (we’re practically militant about it), so our aim for this year is to use significantly less paper in the first place. We’re not sure if as a business an entirely paper free office is achievable for us, but we’ve all pledged to think twice before printing anything.

So, we will continue to aim for recycling 100% of paper, but using much lower volumes. Watch this space for our 2010-2011 results. In the meantime the certificate (as above) hangs proudly on out wall as a reminder to us all of the great things we’ve achieved this year and to help inspire us to be even more environmentally friendly going forward.

Access Self Storage shortlisted for rebranding award

Access Self Storage are delighted to have been short listed for Communicate Magazine’s Transform 2010 ‘Best national rebrand’ award. The awards recognize excellence in rebranding and also create a best practice benchmark.
Access appointed 300million to work on their re-brand and, even prior to the awards nomination, were delighted with the results. The new Access brand style conveys what the company is all about: simple, hassle-free storage at excellent value prices, with great customer service.

The whole team is keeping their fingers crossed for a great result when winners are announced on 2nd March 2010, but are also ecstatic to have just been nominated alongside Aviva and The Co-operative for this prestigious award.

A Musician’s Mecca

Today BBC Nottingham aired their interview with Access Self Storage Nottingham customer - and well known 60s musician - Rob Senton. Rob uses his storage until to house his audio equipment between gigs and also merchandise, including CDs. He also stores excess household goods, following a move from London to a smaller property in Nottingham. Rob is one of a number of Access customers who find self storage a great solution to keeping all of their possessions after downsizing properties.

Uncovering Nottingham’s Hidden Treasures

This week, Access Self Storage Nottingham opened its doors to the BBC for a feature entitled Nottingham’s Hidden Treasures. The piece looks behind the doors of our storage facility and introduces three of our customers who each have unique items in store.

We can’t give too much away now, but listen in to BBC Radio Nottingham’s Breakfast Show on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday to hear more or log on to www.bbc.co.uk/nottingham for a sneaky peak.

Access Self Storage searches for mystery school donor

Always willing to lend a hand to a brilliant cause, Access Self Storage is currently supporting Blue Peter’s Operation Smile Campaign which will see the lives of hundreds of children born with facial deformities transformed thanks to pioneering surgery.

Blue Peter’s unique campaign invites viewers to help the charity save costs by assisting with the production of surgical gowns.

The team at Access have been busy clearing space for some of these VIDs, (that’s Very Important Deliveries to you and I) and we’ve not been disappointed. In fact, the Southampton store took delivery of a huge 367 from one source. It is understood that the delivery came from a local Primary school, unfortunately however, the person who delivered the gowns didn’t provide a name or contact number.

We’re really keen to find out who the school is so that we can say a very big thank you here on our blog and pass on your details to Blue Peter. If anyone reading this knows which local school made this huge donation then please email accessselfstorage@goldengoosepr.com

If you would like to donate a gown to the appeal simply follow the instructions below:

Gowns can be made from a new or used children’s t-shirts by following these simple steps:

1. Mark a line down the centre of the t.shirt
2. Mark three locations for ties
3. Cut along the line central line
4. Stitch ribbon ties into place


More info on the campaign

Access Self Storage is providing storage for all the gowns made by viewers. Drop off points will be positioned at each of the 53 stores across Great Britain including their 36 London stores, and the public will be invited to drop in their donations during opening hours (which can be found on www.AccessStorage.com). The campaign runs from November through December.

Operation Smile has chosen a site is Guwahati in India where hundreds of patients are known to need surgery. It costs Operation Smile £3.00 to produce 1 child’s gown, and 20,000 children receive gowns. If Blue Peter viewers produce these 20,000 gowns, this will result in a cost saving of £60,000, which will pay for all the medical equipment, supplies and resources needed to provide more than 300 children with life changing surgery.

Access Self Storage tips for packing up Christmas decorations

With twelfth night looming, Brits are often in a rush to take down decorations resulting in precious ornaments, keep sakes, lights and baubles being shoved into the bottom of a box til next year. However, dedicating a little extra time and imagination when stowing decorations can drastically reduce the headache and frustration of decorating next Christmas.

Helen Brennan, Access Self Storage clutter consultant comments:
“We’ve all been there, unravelling the Christmas lights from the tinsel before finding the angel at the bottom of a box looking dishevelled since last Christmas and making a vow to take more care when undressing the tree this year. However these good intentions often go awry in the post Christmas fog.”

Access Self Storage suggests the following tips for packing up your decorations:

1. Take your decorations down and lay them out on the floor this way you can group them before packing them away.

2. Use clear plastic boxes so that you can see the contents. Label each one either by room or by decoration type, it will make unpacking next year much easier

3. Take the tube from the inside of a roll of wrapping paper, cut a slit in one end. Thread the plug end of your Christmas lights through the tube and then wrap the remaining cord round the length of tube. Cut a second slit at the other end of the tube and tuck in the end of the cord.

4. Use an old pair of tights to store precious baubles. Drop one into the toe and then twist tights twice before dropping in a second and so on.

5. Use old egg boxes to store smaller baubles.

6. Keep Christmas cards as these can be cut down and used as name tags on next year’s gifts

7. Wine boxes are another good thing to keep hold of. These can be used to store long candles to stop them getting scratched

8. Use old wrapping paper to pack up between layers and give your precious ornaments more padding


Notes to editors
Access Self Storage is one of the UK’s leading self storage businesses with a focus on best value and hassle-free storage solutions. It is widely known for its safe, friendly and personal approach when it comes to storing possessions. Whether individuals, families or businesses wish to store their keepsakes, excess goods or products with Access, they can be assured that their possessions are secure and that they are paying the best prices in the market.

As well as providing unbeatably priced storage space, Access Self Storage is a one-stop-shop for storage accessories, including plastic boxes, storage boxes, wardrobe boxes and tape (for additional packaging materials visit www.AccessStorage.com/box-shop). High quality and great value are always guaranteed, as well as easy parking and access. With over 50 stores across England including over 30 in London, many with free 24 hour access, Access offer complete convenience.

Further press information about Access Self Storage may be requested by contacting laura.hind@goldengoosepr.com or telephoning 0207 376 0070 / 07917108187

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