Currently a rapidly expanding industry, new Self Storage facilities seem to be springing up at an alarming rate throughout the country. In North Tyneside alone, there have been at least two self storage facilities built in the last 6 months and many of the facilities that I know about, have expanded in size.

So, at what point do we reach saturation and how do we compete?

Indications point towards saturation point being very close. Already there are storage facilities that have expanded vertically, building storage rooms on second and even third floors. These facilities have found it difficult to fill those spaces. Customers are now in a position whereby they can pick and choose which local facility they use, based on not only price, but how easy it is to move their goods in and out.

I am aware of one company that had to convert their upper storage floor into offices, because customers preferred not to use the stairs and lifts, and therefore going elsewhere with their goods.

Because self storage is very basic, there are very few options available to us. Two, in fact. We can only really compete on price and access. Unless, of course the storage is an added service to a removals business.

A-Z Removals and Storage have always managed to be very competitive on price, and access has always been as good as, or better than most of their competitors. Being primarily a removals company, they can offer a competitive price to move the goods in and/or out of storage for the customer. They can even pack and unpack all the customer's possessions for them.

This gives them, as well as all the other removals and storage businesses, a competitive edge. Maybe, when saturation point is reached in the UK, it will help to put the storage industry back where it belongs - in the capable hands of the professional removals companies.

Being found on the internet is critical to us, to this end you may be interested to see the spreadsheet reults from a recent internet marketing campaign of ours. Here's what you may have found us under :