EXPLAINER / KNOW HOW
PHOTOGRAPHY: STUART KINLOUGH IKON / ISTOCK
What items should companies store? With an office downsize or a relocation to a similar size space comes a decision on what to move, store, recycle, refurbish or donate. This ranges from office furniture and IT equipment through to artwork and furnishings. These decisions need to be made in advance of any move so create a detailed digital asset list that includes each item and its condition – this is vital to note before an item leaves a site to go into storage. A digital list is easy to update and accessible by multiple people. These platforms are generally provided by a partner and are more advanced than Excel – they will include images, allow designated users to ring-fence items, and update in real-time whenever a change is made. Deciding what to store will differ by company. Key considerations include: ● The cost of storage; ● How long you expect to leave an item in storage; and ● The cost of a new item if you didn’t keep the old one and need to repurchase. The alternatives to keeping or storing an item often come with a cost too. Refurbishment is a great option from a sustainability perspective but has a cost. Donating unwanted furniture or IT equipment is another option and many of our clients do this to support charities in their local communities. It may be tempting to store items in the workplace, perhaps in a spare office or a basement. However, this has drawbacks. Office estates are a lot more expensive per square metre than warehouses – a central London office could be 10 times more expensive than a warehouse on the outskirts
of the city. We’ve seen several examples of items stored in offices without any real inventory or asset list, leading to new items being purchased because someone didn’t realise they were being stored. Items can also degrade and become damaged if not stored properly. Working with a storage partner is a viable solution for many businesses. But it’s not as simple as finding the nearest warehouse and booking space – there are important considerations if you want your storage to become an investment.
What to look for in a storage partner A storage partner should: ● Be on the ball when maintaining your asset list, monitoring item conditions STOR AGE STR AT EG I ES
and the time each individual item has spent in storage. ● Offer a flexible lease as well as a suggested timescale for storage. It’s simply not worth storing something for so long that you pay more in storage than the value of the item(s). We work with our clients to set target dates. Once that date arrives, we contact our client and ask them if they want to continue with storage or look for alternative options. ● Provide security – if you are storing a safe that contains important documentation, make a record of who knows about it and how they will access it in case of an emergency. This may sound obvious, but if only one or two people have the code R ACHEL and both leave HOUGHTON the company is managing while the safe director at is in storage Business then that’s a Moves Group
How to make storage an investment
Donating unwanted furniture or IT equipment is an option problem. Look for a partner with a gated facility, CCTV, and alarm systems. Some will also have physical security. If we have a client with multiple high-value containers, we distribute them across the warehouse to further reduce risk. ● Offer insurance – make sure that your partner is insured and compliant, and request a condition report before anything goes into storage. Storage needs to be treated as a strategic decision. Failure to do so could lead to wasted financial resources and a cluttered inventory. Get it right and you’ll be in total control over your assets.
As companies reconsider the physical footprint of their workplace in the postCovid business landscape, storage becomes an important investment consideration, says Rachel Houghton
FACI L I TAT EM AG A ZI N E .CO M
52-53 KH Talent_Storage_Sep-Oct 2021_FM World.indd 53
53
03/09/2021 13:54
