A brand new state-of-the-art self storage centre powered by the latest technology will open in the Black Country on Tuesday 28 January.
Wolverhampton-based Westbeech Group Ltd is opening its first Nest Storage centre at Old Hall Industrial Estate, Revival Street, Bloxwich, Walsall.
Cllr Louise Harrison, Deputy Mayor of Walsall, will officially declare the new centre open at a ceremony on the Tuesday morning.
Ian Houghton, managing director of Westbeech Group Ltd, said they had researched the self storage market for the past 18 months before electing to partner with Engage, a Birmingham-based business which runs and manages 22 similar units for 15 different brands across the UK.
“Self storage is a well developed industry but most of the big players in the market constructed their dedicated units in the past 5-10 years,” he said.
“Since then, technology has changed dramatically what we can do and, particularly in the last 18 months, has taken giant strides forward.
“We believe we are launching with a cutting edge product that is designed for today’s tech-savvy customers. Our first unit has been custom designed with new technology inbuilt, whereas retrofitting can cost between £50,000 and £100,000 per site.”
The first Nest Storage unit is available 24×7 across 365 days of the year. Entry and storage can be fully online and automated via a dedicated app that allows the client renting the unit to come and go as they please.
Mr Houghton added: “But while this technology can be utilised fully automatically, we have chosen to staff our first unit in order to facilitate our early users and ensure they feel comfortable with the technology. We will have a manager at the site from 9am-5.30pm Monday to Friday and help available by phone in the evenings and on weekends.”
Sizes available range from a 10 sq ft locker to a 200 sq ft storage unit, the size of a standard double garage and capable of housing the contents of a four bedroom family home.
The site has 24 hour CCTV monitoring and security.
Nest Storage in Bloxwich is housed in what used to be a bowling alley on an industrial estate that also used to be home to a snooker hall and gym.
Mr Houghton’s company Westbeech Group owns a number of industrial estates across the West Midlands and he said they were always looking for innovative ways of using established space.
Already, Westbeech Group is negotiating for a second site in Wolverhampton.
Westbeech Group owns upwards of 300,000 sq ft of commercial space across the Black Country and Birmingham and also acquires sites for new buildings.
It also has a residential division which acquires sites and builds from one home to 30 for the discerning buyer looking for a luxury family home.