The Secret to SME Storage Space Amidst National Shortage

The pandemic has created a shift in consumer behaviour which has had great impact on logistics networks for most industries in the UK and worldwide, notably causing huge supply chain backlogs. An increase in e-commerce – with December experiencing a growth in sales by 21.6% compared to the same month pre-pandemic in 2019 – has created a huge scarcity of storage space with only 18.1 million sq ft of available industrial space available nationally.

A glaring vacuum of storage facilities has had a significant knock-on effect for SME’s, many of whom have been adversely affected from the increase in storage costs due to increased demand for space. Many users of warehouse facilities have seen the price of their storage units quadruple in 2021, a good portion of them being small business owners. However, Stashbee – the UK’s first peer-to-peer marketplace for space – provides a solution for over 2.2 million SME’s in the UK’s retail and wholesale sector thanks to their cutting edge technology, ensuring an affordable and safe way of storing items that you can’t typically afford the space for, with countless choices for location, size, and price.

How Does Stashbee Work?

Search by postcode – Get started by typing in the postcode of the area you’re looking for storage in. This will most likely be your own postcode, allowing you to find storage space for rent nearby.
Tailor your search – Next, you can filter your search by selecting any features you want the space to have, by size, or by price.
Pick a date – Choose when you’d like to start your booking and that’s exactly when your rolling monthly booking will start.
Get booking – Some Hosts might have Instant Book on, meaning your booking will be confirmed right away. In cases where you can’t instantly book, you’ll need to wait 24 hours for the Host to confirm your booking.
Stash your stuff – And there you go! Message your Host if you have any questions or just show up and start using the storage space.
Self-storage facilities contain unit’s which are normally rented out on a per-square-foot basis, usually range in size from a few square feet to well over 1,000 square feet – roughly the size of a three-bedroom house. There’s no getting around the fact that, despite rising demand for warehouse space, the ability to provide it isn’t keeping up with shifting consumer patterns. By using Stashbee, unused lockups, garages, outhouses and other such secure spaces can be sourced, providing a pivotal resource for Britain’s SMEs and one-man-band micro-businesses.

Anthony Paine, co-founder and CEO of Stashbee comments on the benefits of peer-to-peer space for SMEs:

“Whilst the UK’s storage industry is growing, we are still well behind many other countries in terms of the amount of storage space available per person. What’s more, most of this space is dominated by a small number of companies, concentrated in clusters that most people can’t access, and it’s costly. There are clear trends to show that people simply don’t have access to the space they need.

“Meanwhile there are at least 2.5 billion square feet of unused storage and parking space in this country that could be put to work. That’s the same amount of space as a huge square going from Wembley, to Wimbledon, to Lewisham, to Walthamstow, and back again.”