Effectively Control Your Archived Documents with Self Storage

Many predicted the dawn of the paperless office due to the evolution of digitalisation: the evidence, however is very much the opposite.  With the increased use of the internet and volume of data being processed by businesses, the amount of paper for filing and storage has also multiplied.  This increase in data, coupled with legislative obligations requiring businesses to retain hard copies of nearly every document produced has resulted in a significant increase in the volume of paper handled by businesses.


Different industries in the UK have different legislative requirements with regards to document retention. In response, a range of services have been developed to support businesses with large amounts of paper to organise.

The spectrum ranges from a fully outsourced archive service where a company is contracted to maintain, manage and store the entire archived records of a company, off site. This requires a substantial investment by the business and can be expensive particularly if files need to be recalled out of storage.  At the other end of the spectrum, a company can continue to manage their archived documents in-house and store them within their business premises.

As time goes by, and the volume of filing increases, continuing to store documents in-house can cause several issues within the working environment: valuable workspace gets taken up by mountains of paper, as well as the process of locating specific documents becoming troublesome due to increased levels of disorganisation.

One very simple solution to the management of archived documents, whilst retaining control of the paperwork and cost, is the utilisation of a self storage facility.  As self storage operators have developed facilities in most UK towns and cities, all businesses can now take advantage of this service to help control their ever increasing levels of archive documentation

6 steps to creating effective archive storage within a self storage centre:

• Contact your local self storage operator and discuss the volume of documents you wish to store; any reputable operator will help estimate the space required. Another consideration is how often you anticipate access to the files will be required: if this is regularly, make sure this is factored in when deciding how your room will be laid out.

• Once a size has been identified, you need to plan the layout of the unit to best suit your usage requirements.  Again, the storage operator will help advise you on the best options to meet your business’ needs.

• If racking (shelving) is required to allow you to easily access your archived documents, your self storage provider will be able to calculate the correct amount for your needs.

• You also need to consider how the documents will be moved – are they individual files, or are they already in boxes? Most storage operators can provide boxes which are specially designed for archiving documents.

• You then need to organise the transportation of the documents from your business premises to the self storage centre.  The storage operator should have a list of options to allow this process to run as smoothly as possible, such as a full removal service, or van hire recommendations depending on the volume of documents being moved and your own preferences.

• When the items are moved-in, make sure you have allocated sufficient time to ensure the archive storage room is well organised, and there is room for you to manage documents in the future.  The major benefit is the ability to replicate your own filing system which enables the easy retrieval of documents in the future.

Self storage operators have extensive experience in estimating space required, as well as providing business support to those who want to take advantage of the benefits associated with archive and document storage.  Not only is archive storage much more cost effective than document management, full control over what can sometimes be sensitive documents is retained by the business storing them.  

So, until the dawn of the paperless office materialises, self storage is one of the most efficient and cost effective solutions for the storage of business documents in the UK.