BUSINESS
LOGISTICS
HIGH-TECH DEPOT Streff is building a robot-run storage site near the Belgian border.
M
ost people know Streff as a moving company, overtaking their green logo lorries on Luxembourg motorways. Lesser known is that one main part of Streff’s business is the storage and archiving of everything from companies’ financial data to priceless family heirlooms. Earlier this year the firm started building a new high-tech storage facility in Windhof with a total capacity of 70,000 cubic metres. When completed, it will be possible to stack up six shipping containers on top of one another with enough room for around 700 individual containers, with no space for human entry. Utilising a new computer controlled crane, storage containers will be delivered directly to owners in their own private viewing room, to collect or inspect what’s within. Streff says it will be the only company in Luxembourg and in Europe with this type of system, which will “complement other specialist storage facilities, such as
the Freeport at Findel” and add to its customers’ sense of privacy and trust. Trust is an important issue when it comes to storing extremely valuable goods, reckons Streff’s managing director, Stefan Chorus. When talking about his new warehouse, he argues that it would be “interesting for people to store anything that needs to be protected on a very flexible basis in a very secure environment.” He also stresses the importance of a client’s needs being achieved in a personal way, ensuring that they are offered the most pleasant experience possible whilst knowing their possessions are in safe hands. With Luxembourg real estate prices continuing to soar (see page 38), space has become a precious commodity. So Streff expects that this new storage centre will be in high demand. It plans to open the facility in February 2015.
LUXEMBOURG FREEPORT: LUXFREEPORT.LU
SUPER WAREHOUSE
Text by JAMES WALKER STEFAN CHORUS Expects strong demand for storage site
MORE LOGISTICS NEWS: DELANO.LU
The 22,000 square metre Luxembourg Freeport opened last month at Findel airport, offering everything from small boxes and vaults to enormous safe rooms. “This is not an exterritorial zone, however, and if the goods leave the Freeport, a 6% VAT applies,” says finance minister Pierre Gramegna. “All other Luxembourgish laws are equally in place and we have put an extremely strong focus on transparency.” For this reason only certified companies, and not individuals, can rent space in the facility. Additional safety measures include screening of all incoming objects, constant monitoring, as well as 24-hour customs service accessibility to all rooms. ZR-J
ALREADY HALF FULL
“We see a huge demand for our service. Already 60% of the Freeport is rented,” David Arendt, head of the Luxembourg Freeport, said during Deloitte 2014 Art & Finance conference on 18 September (see page 24). The value of objects stored at the Luxembourg Freeport may amount to several billion euros, he told Delano during Q&A with conference attendees. October 2014
Stefan Chorus: Steve Eastwood > Inside secure zone: Luxembourg Freeport > David Arendt: Benjamin Champenois
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