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A man in Banners Gate who started a small business from home eight years ago has recently secured a massive contract with Halfords Auto Centres, providing 450 branches around the UK with roller shutters, industrial doors, and door systems.

Currently employing 25 local people in a business worth more than £3.5 million, Paul Campbell (52), together with fellow director, Steve Bendon (55), and sons Ryan (23) and Thomas (20), now heads a group of complementary companies alongside the Wellingborough Door Company (WDC) including WDC Service Solutions, WDC Property Solutions and Architectural Glazing Services.  The group works nationwide for blue chip operators including Holiday Inn, Screwfix, Bensons, Argos, and Tool Station.

Said Paul: “I branched out on my own in 2011, having been in the door access and security business since leaving school at 16. Working from home gave us a great start, but the catalyst to our exponential growth rests on our decision to rent office and stock space in a self storage unit in Maybrook Business Park. The move into Cookes Storage Service has given us the flexibility to scale up and, equally importantly, scale back according to the fluctuating needs of the business. It has proved to be one of the most astute and cost-effective business decisions we have made.”

WDC is not alone in recognising the commercial benefits of working from a self storage unit, as Rennie Schafer, chief executive of the Self Storage Association UK (SSA UK), explained: “There are currently almost 1 million businesses using self storage across the UK. Over 600,000 of these consider their self storage unit a crucial part of their enterprise.  While some use self storage to store stock or archive materials, we are finding that more and more entrepreneurs and business owners are now choosing to run their entire operation from within their storage space creating local employment for their growing businesses.”

Cookes Storage Service is the latest business initiative from parent company Cookes Furniture. Retailing in the area for more than 70 years, Cookes first ventured into the self storage industry at the end of 2015, creating 97 units in a former furniture warehouse.  Since then, demand has outstripped supply and the company has steadily increased its initial 7000 sq ft offer to more than 26, 589 sq ft.

Said Andrew Davies, director of Cookes Storage Service: “Nationwide, it is estimated that up to half of the 45 million sq ft self storage provision is used by businesses, creating new jobs, boosting the local economy, and underpinning future investment potential. Self storage facilities are increasingly becoming hubs for business incubation and expansion, alongside their more traditional use as secure places to store personal belongings.”

What is the secret to marital bliss? It’s a question as old as – well, marriage. We all hear plenty of advice from well-intentioned family and friends on the lead up to the wedding – ‘Don’t go to sleep angry’ or ‘Make a list for household chores’.

One of the common themes to marital advice is about giving each other space. Just because you’re in a relationship, you don’t have to be together 24×7. If you happen to have a home with his and her bathrooms, separate wardrobes and a personal office each, you likely have all the space you need.

If not, you might want to make your own. It’s a concept as old as time. As the family grows and children take over the spare bedroom, the husband retreats to his garage or the garden shed. The idea of turning the garage into your man-cave or building a home office in the garden is not a new one, but it’s certainly growing in popularity – there’s even a Shed of the Year competition.

Clearing the way for a bolt-hole of your own

If you or your partner are hoping to turn the garage or shed into a bolt hole – there’s just one dilemma. What will you do with all of the clutter that’s already in there?

Just think about the average garden store – you can imagine the piles of paint pots and brushes, rollers and painting trays waiting for their next use. There’ll be an assortment of tools – hammers, screwdrivers, saws, pots of screws and spare planking, for that ‘I’ll sort the shelves out one day’ job, and the car jack, spanner set and spare tires – just in case.

Piled on top of the ‘I’ll try and grow my own this year’ flower pots and seedling trays, blocking access to the garden essentials – wheelbarrows, rakes, hedge trimmers and fork – will be all of the clutter that’s found its way from the house. Picture frames, dining chairs, grandmother’s china, carefully protected in plastic boxes, and a spare bedframe – things that are too good to get rid of, or that we might need one day, or the children will want when they have a home of their own – but that we don’t need right this minute.

As many long suffering husbands will know, you can clear a space in amongst the family detritus. But by the time you have planned where you’ll position the accompaniments to your new bolt-hole, someone else will have discovered that the garage magically made some room – and filled it with another pile off-loaded from the house.

The self-storage solution

So, you need a new shed, or a second garage perhaps. Somewhere to store the spare furniture, the seasonal gear and the specialist equipment needed for occasional use. But who has a garden large enough to cram in more buildings – and what’s to stop the overflow spreading into that new space?

The solution, of course, is self-storage. You can rent a space that fits to the size you need – no paying for unneeded floor – and expand as your family does, over time. Grandmother’s china will be secure in a dry, locked storage space, out of your way until it’s needed and you are left with an empty garage and plenty of room to design your man-cave.

Are you a hobbyist, or looking for your own workshop? Perhaps you want to turn your shed into an art studio, or actually use it as a traditional potting shed. Whether it’s a home office, a games room or your very own garden pub, there’s just one more dilemma – how will you keep the kids out?