Author: Nick Grant

As companies slowly return to work post lockdown, social distancing rules means that many will be looking at new ways of conducting business. With the rapidly changing nature of the COVID-19 outbreak, it is still too early to estimate how badly the pandemic will affect the UK economy and over the next few months small business in particular will face a whole range of new challenges. Many can only guess at the impact this will have on their day to day running and with so many new protocols to consider it may even make recovery feel almost impossible.

Business storage

Whilst people were advised not leave their homes for unnecessary journeys, some businesses were no longer able to operate from their usual premises and offices and shops were locked up. Leases and all the associated bills still had to be paid, which left many owners facing the difficult decision whether to keep paying for buildings they were longer using or to move out. Moving in to business storage gives business owners a lower cost alternative to keeping their premises going indefinitely.

Equipment and document storage

If continuing to pay rent on work premises stopped being a viable option for your business, you may have been left wondering where to securely store all of your office furniture, accounts files, machinery and existing stock. Wigwam Self Storage can provide storage solutions for all of your office equipment and documents and can even offer a secure document disposal service.

Man and Van / Van Hire

Our Man and Van service in Chipping Norton can help move your items from your old premises to our storage facility, or you can use the self van hire option for an even more cost effective solution.

Operate from our premises

Wigwam can provide a professional business address and full virtual office services to help you build your business back up again. Many entrepreneurs already use Wigwam as an operational base and this could also be the perfect solution for many local businesses.

For more information on any of our products or services please contact: hello@wigwamstorage.co.uk or call 01608 656 300.

Please note, to protect both our customers and colleagues throughout the coronavirus crisis, we provide PPE and hand sanitizer throughout our facility, however, we can do the check in process on line as well as helping move your goods in using our man and van service so you don’t even need to visit our store.

Self storage is growing in popularity throughout the UK. While many people think of personal self storage as the main driving force, there are plenty of benefits for commercial customers. Businesses can benefit from self storage containers in many ways, and some of them are pretty unexpected.

We are proud to provide self storage to several businesses in Chipping Norton and the surrounding areas. These are just some of the ways you could make commercial self storage work for you.

Store excess stock

Business owners know that purchasing stock in bulk will allow you to enjoy huge savings and better profit margins. But this only works if you have somewhere to store it. Keeping it in your home is one option, but who wants giant boxes of stock cluttering up their living space?

Business storage allows you to purchase stock in bulk and then keep it safe and secure until you need it. This could give you the confidence to expand your business without the stress of moving to larger premises.

If you require drive up access to your self storage unit, our storage containers in Chipping Norton could be ideal. These converted shipping containers measure 20ft x 8ft, which is about the same size as a large single garage. Starting at just £100 +VAT, these are incredibly cost-effective for business owners in need of secure storage space.

Create a showroom

Leasing a commercial showroom is expensive business. If you run a niche company with lower levels of foot traffic, using a self storage unit as a showroom can be a great way to keep costs down.

A self storage unit might not be the first place you would think to set up your showroom, but it can be incredibly cost-effective. When you want your products to take centre stage, a minimalist storage unit can be ideal. And parking will never be an issue for your customers, so it’s a win-win!

Store large equipment

If you work with large equipment and need a secure place to store it, commercial self storage will offer peace of mind. Large equipment is often expensive and therefore a target to thieves. Rather than storing it at your home, your business premises, or even in your van, commercial self storage is a much safer option.

Storing large equipment with Wigwam Self Storage is easy. With wide corridors and pallet trucks available to help you move items, you can easily access your equipment as required. It could even help to lower your insurance premiums.

Archive storage

Archives are a necessary but inconvenient part of running a business. Every year, your archives will keep expanding, and you may find that you are losing valuable office space as a result. Moving your archives to a commercial self storage unit can help you to regain office space and offer added peace of mind.

You might not need to delve into the archives often, but when you do, you want to know that everything is safe, dry and secure. Keeping your archives separate from your main business premises is also more secure.

Office moves

Moving to a different office will inevitably mean rearranging the furniture. Rather than piling everything into your new office space and feeling overwhelmed, why not break down your move into smaller steps?

Start with the essentials, and keep everything else in a secure storage unit until you have decided if you want or need the extra furniture. And if you are moving to a smaller office, self storage will allow you to hang on to your furniture for the future.

Seasonal business

A florist or chocolatier might see their business boom around Mother’s Day and Valentine’s Day. But a short-term boom in business might not be enough to warrant moving to larger premises. In this situation, you could use a self storage unit to temporarily increase operations.

The space could be used to store excess stock, or you could even use it as your workspace. With flexible leases available, you won’t have to see your profit margins eroded by a permanent premises.

If you’re interested in growing your business with Wigwam Self Storage, get in touch today.

Moving home has got to be one of the most stressful events you will face in your adult life. From the moment you pack the first item in a box, your life is turned upside down. Organising movers, cleaners and essential deliveries can feel like a balancing act. But the good news is there are steps you can take to minimise your stress.

The key to a stress-free move is planning. Once you have a plan in place, you’ll know that everything is going to progress smoothly. And if something unexpected happens, you’ll be better placed to handle it because everything else will be under control. Here are our top tips for keeping stress to a minimum and making sure your move goes smoothly.

1. Accept that it’s a stressful process

While we’d all love for moving to be a fun experience, the upheaval is always going to come with an element of stress. Make peace with the fact that moving house is stressful and then commit to doing everything you can to make it go smoothly. If you’re losing sleep over things that might never even happen, you’re only going to find moving house even harder.

2. Declutter

Do you still have that one box filled with odds and ends from the last time you moved? Moving items that you no longer need is a futile task. Start the moving process by having a declutter. Donate items that you no longer want or need and then try to recycle everything else. If there are items that you don’t really need but you don’t want to get rid of just yet, consider self storage as an interim solution.

3. Organise and pack

Try to pack your items by room and always mark what is in the box before sealing it. When the time comes to unpack your boxes, you will know exactly where everything is and where it needs to be. By organising as you go, you can make light work of unpacking as you won’t be sorting through things at the other end. This can be a great opportunity to declutter if you haven’t already done so.

4. Put items in storage

If you’re downsizing to a smaller place, there is no sense in moving all of your possessions straight away. Get a self storage unit so that you can get non-essential items out of the way while you get settled. Once you have a better idea of how much storage space you have, you can either move things out of your storage unit, or keep the storage unit so that your home doesn’t become too cluttered.

5. Hire professionals

Professional movers will make life so much easier. They will handle all of the heavy lifting and transportation. No more hiring a van and asking friends and family to help you move heavy boxes. With professional movers, such as our man & van service in Chipping Norton, you can sit back and relax on moving day. This will also mean you can get started unpacking straight away as you won’t be exhausted from moving.

6. Pack an “essentials” bag

When you’re moving house, you’ll quickly get used to saying “where on earth is the…” On moving day, make your life a little less stressful by making up a bag of essentials that you can move from one house to the next. This might include tea bags, milk and your favourite mug. Or you might want to include some healthy snacks to keep hunger at bay. Also things like towels, washing up liquid, toilet paper and soap can be useful to have at both properties.

These are just some of the ways you can take some of the stress out of moving house. Remember that the stress won’t last forever and you will soon be settled into your new home.

If you’re feeling cramped in your current environment, you might start dreaming about moving to a bigger home or even building an extension. The good news is that there are plenty of steps you can take before any kind of drastic measures. From being selective with your possessions to putting seldom used items in storage, there’s always something you can do to make your home feel more spacious and inviting.

Here are our top five tips for keeping the clutter under control and discovering more space in your existing home.

Choose multi-tasking furniture

Think about all the wasted space in your home. When you’re a child, the space under the bed is just where the monsters hide, but when you’re a grown up, it’s storage space waiting to be discovered. Using under-bed storage boxes, you can hide away items which are rarely used. You could also store bedding, towels and anything that is cluttering up space in your home. Multi-tasking furniture with clever storage solutions will help you to hide things away when they aren’t needed. Storage ottomans and even storage sofas can help to uncover plenty of space in your home.

Cut the clutter

Marie Kondo recently popularised the idea of decluttering on a mass scale. While you don’t have to go quite as extreme as some of her suggestions, there may be ways you can cut back on the clutter in your life. Clear out your wardrobe to get rid of items you no longer wear. Be honest about the items in your home and decide if you really need to hang on to them. If you can’t give them away without guilt, consider moving them into one of our Chipping Norton storage units or our Bromsgrove self storage facility. This will allow you to free up space in your home without getting rid of all of your possessions.

Think vertical

When we try to store items, we often think horizontally. Bookcases, drawers and cupboards keep everything at eye level or below. But what if you look up? Using hooks on walls and ceilings can help you to discover more storage space which cleans up floors and surfaces at eye level. Bookcases can be added around the top portion of your walls or peg boards can be used in the kitchen to store pots, pans and utensils. 

Store seasonally

You likely have a whole section of your wardrobe that you don’t touch in winter, and likewise in summer. By storing your items by season, you can free up space in your closet and streamline your morning routine. You could place items you won’t wear in vacuum bags to shrink them down to a more manageable size and then keep them under your bed. Or you could place these items in your self storage unit to clear out even more space in your home.

Update your rooms

When your children have left home, there’s really no need to keep their bedrooms exactly the same as when they left. Convert old bedrooms into a multi-use guest room. A trundle bed will give you versatile options for when visitors come to stay, while also freeing up space in your home. Think about what you’ve always wanted to do with the extra space. It could become a home office, a craft and hobby room, or even a home gym. This is one way a storage unit can be particularly helpful for clearing out the clutter.