Covid-19 conditions lead to surge in demand for North East self-storage firm

A North East self-storage company has experienced a 15 per cent year-on-year growth, which it puts down to extenuating circumstances from the Covid-19 pandemic.

U Hold The Key has seen a sharp rise in enquiries and bookings since April, with 1,118 of its 1,500 currently occupied. That compares with 976 at the same time last year. Its largest self-storage sites in Newcastle, Sunderland and Birtley have been completely full at periods over the last six months

It says changes to patterns in the housing market caused by Covid-19 have seen moves taking longer to complete and the peak house-moving season lasting longer, both of which have led to more need for self-storage.

Additionally, it says, there has been an increase in the number of businesses requiring extra temporary storage space to house furniture removed from offices to allow for social distancing, or while staff work from home.

Meanwhile, several of U Hold The Key’s customers have booked self-storage in order to declutter their homes and create suitable working space.

The company offers secure 24/7 access for users on its sites in Mainsforth near Ferryhill; Bishop Auckland; Middlesbrough; Stockton-on-Tees; under the Tees flyover on the A19 on the A66 near Darlington; Sunderland; Birtley; Newcastle upon Tyne and Alnwick. Its units range from 6ft by 4ft, to 40ft by 8ft

Damien Murphy, managing director of the Parsons Containers Group, owners of U Hold The Key, said: “The coronavirus pandemic has brought its challenges for the Parsons Group, but the strong growth we have experienced in storage unit rentals throughout lockdown and beyond has been a silver lining.

“We have continued to reach significant milestones, and this upward trend does not appear to be slowing. Thankfully, we had already been planning for self-storage growth and have been building capacity across our extensive network of sites throughout the region.

“We have invested in additional stores across a wide range of sizes to meet demand and in response to COVID, we have also introduced a fully contactless system that allows customers to book and access their storage containers without any face to face contact.”