Industry News

KENNARDS NEW FACILITY

Kennards opened a new facility in July, situated on 332 Leakes Road Truganina in the western suburbs of Melbourne. It was purpose-built by Regis Constructions. Stage one consists of two separate buildings of two levels each with approx. 7,200 sqm and 496 storage spaces. Kennards Storage purchased the adjoining vacant land which will allow the site to double in size and the final development will have 13,000sqm and 760 storage spaces. The facility has 24/7 access with a driveway, ground floor and first floor spaces and 1sqm lockers up to 30sqm warehouses. There are individual pin code security access gates, with individually alarmed units with back to base monitoring and CCTV surveillance throughout the centre with 8 cameras.

STORABLE WINS AWARD AGAIN!

Inside Self Storage, the self storage industry’s most widely read magazine and online directory has announced the winners of the ‘Best of Business’ awards for 2020. The votes are solicited from users and industry professionals globally, voting in 40 categories. Voting took place in March with the announcement of winners last week. Storable, who own SiteLink Web Edition, used by the leading self storage operators across Australia, New Zealand and Asia, were awarded ‘Best Management software’ an award SiteLink has won for nearly 10 years. SiteLink remains the most awarded self storage software globally. Storable were also awarded ‘Best Online directory’ for their Sparefoot product. Dallas Dogger, Chairman of the Centreforce Technology Group representing SiteLink in Australia, New Zealand and Asia said, “The award for Storable underpins the continuing commitment to software excellence and innovation by Storable. Having customers and peers judge your product to be the best is humbling and testament to the hard work of all of our sales, support and development staff both here in Brisbane, Australia, Raleigh, North Carolina and Austin, Texas USA. SiteLink remains the clear choice for progressive self storage operators large and small. Our commitment to security, data accuracy and even more development of contactless move ins continues, with our users reporting a massive uptake of online move ins”. “The COVID-19 pandemic has increased the focus on move ins to a contactless model and we led the world with the first truly online move in over 8 years ago. Since then, many thousands of ‘Online contactless’ move ins have been completed, many at full price, many after hours and many on weekends. SiteLink and RapidStor, our online move in tool are responsible for over 30% of all move ins and has been an essential tool through these tough times for the majority of our customers. There is no doubt that ‘contactless move ins’ are part of the self storage daily playbook and we will continue to innovate, with more features and the best service.”

StoreLocal welcomes Peter Camphin as Head of Growth

Peter’s whole career has lead him on the path to work in self storage. He has experience in residential and commercial property management, residential and retail sales. He has been a multi-business owner, worked in franchisor growth and franchisee development. He has business training and coaching experience along with building profitable businesses. Peter’s goals in StoreLocal are to utilise his franchising experience to: l Continue the growth in the third party facility management space l To provide business partners in this area with high quality resources in technology, training, marketing and recruitment to build strong profitable businesses l To provide options in succession planning, so owners receive returns on their investment in retirement. Peter’s first career was in real estate /property development. For over ten years he owned and operated two real estate businesses on Sydney’s North Shore. He was CEO of Ray White and Blackburn & Lockwood franchise groups in Victoria which evolved to him becoming CEO of Ray White/United Realty franchise group in New Zealand, followed by CEO of Ray White Queensland franchise group. Then his career path changed, and he became Director Loan Market Queensland and National Director of Strategic Partnerships Ray White/Loan Market.

MARK DOLDISSEN MOVES ON

After 22 years at Southwell Lifts and Hoists, Mark Doldissen joins his wife Jacki in their RAMS Home Loans business. He has been working for both companies for the past five months but is now full time at RAMS Sutherland. Mark has met many great people in the storage industry over the years and hopes to stay in contact with as many people as possible. He would love the opportunity to continue to do business with you and is happy to offer mates rates to all of his self storage contacts, regardless of where you live. Please contact Mark at any time on 0488 488 255 or mark.doldissen@rams.com.au www.rams.com.au/rams-sutherland At a time when COVID-19 is imposing a significant strain on operations at Special Olympics Australia, Kennards Storage stepped in and displayed outstanding community responsibility by donating storage spaces in New South Wales, South Australia, Queensland and Victoria to help Special Olympics Australia store sporting equipment. If you think you can help Special Olympics Australia too, visit their ‘Ways to Give’ page www.specialolympics.com.au/give

National Storage Robina becomes first fully automated self storage centre in Australia

National Storage (NSR) is at the forefront of innovation. Bluetooth Smart Access is the most recent addition to their arsenal. Implemented at their brand-new build at Robina, this new technology takes the highly topical contact-free sales process to a whole other level. Inspired by a visit to the Inside Self-Storage World Expo, NSR’s Heads of Technology and Development fast-tracked a plan to integrate new-age technology into their newest development project. Gone are the days of losing your keys or punching in a pin code. With the touch of a button, National Storage customers can now access their units through their smartphone. Key features include key-less entry and digital key sharing, all available through an app. When asked, “Why Robina?” General Manager – Development Nick Crang said “Our customer experience, the building type, even the design language is very leading edge for the sector, so it made sense to integrate the new technology in one of our flagship construction projects.” “We wanted to create a customer experience unmatched in our market and be the game changers of the Australian self storage industry,” explained General Manager – IT Marcus Barron.