Lock Stock, a container-based storage company has opened its first site in Liverpool.
The move is part of a major expansion into the North West by the business which also has 27 storage parks across North and Mid Wales and the border counties.
The new site, just under an acre in size, is on the Chapel Brook Trade Estate on Wilson Road, Huyton, and will have an initial capacity for 116 containers for self-storage.
Regional manager, Mike Trow, said: “This is our first time on Merseyside and we do see a gap in the market there and in the North West between expensive, indoor storage and the cheaper more flexible option of container storage.
“We believe we can fill that gap with our high quality container storage situated on properly surfaced, serviced and secure sites.”
He added: “All our sites are developed to a high, professional standard and this has made us the biggest operator of its kind in the UK. We see ourselves as a premium offer compared to what is there now and we believe we can offer something different.”
Lock Stock, which has its headquarters in Denbigh, North Wales, plans to install up to 116 storage units on the site, ranging in size from 40-footers with a capacity of 2,560 sq ft through 20-foot units to 10-footers of 640 sq ft.
Each unit is painted in the company’s uniform dark green and has been trucked onto the new site by lorry. Lock Stock uses computer-aided design to ensure the layout permits easy, round the clock access to all the units.
The site is surrounded by security fencing fitted with solar-powered lighting and there is 24-hour keyless coded access, while the Huyton storage park also features monitored CCTV and an intercom with a live video link to the office so customers can complete their rental transaction there and then.
Mike Trow said: “It will mean new customers can talk directly to us and complete a self-service rental transaction and have access to their unit within five minutes.
“We are branching out and we see Liverpool and the Wirral as a natural area for us to expand into. They have high population density and key markets for us so we see a real potential for us to expand the business there and we are looking at other sites across the region.”
Lock Stock, founded in 1999, has almost 4,500 units providing more than four million cubic feet of space and many of those units originally arrived in Liverpool by ship on the 12,000 mile sea voyage from China.
The company estimate that 60% of their units are rented by people moving house or keeping treasured possessions, but up to 40%, almost 2,000, are used by small businesses for storing materials.
There is also a growing market from students looking to store possessions outside term time and with a student population of more than 70,000 in Liverpool Lock Stock see this as a growth area.
