Looking for a Commercial Storage Facility in Plymouth?
Are you an eCommerce or retail business, importer/exporter, manufacturer, or wholesaler, but struggling to find somewhere to safely and securely store your goods? Do you need a space to temporarily store your seasonal products? Perhaps your business is required by law to hold archives and documents for long periods of time, but you have no room at your office premises?
If any of the above sounds like you – it sounds like you could benefit from a Commercial Storage Facility for your business in Plymouth, Devon, Cornwall, or across the South West. But how do you choose the right warehouse space to suit your needs?
Let’s delve into the details of what to look out for when choosing a Warehouse Storage Facility in Plymouth.
Enough Storage Space
First things first, you’ll need to make sure that the Commercial Storage Facility you’re looking at in Plymouth has enough room to store all of your goods, products, and documents, and is, in fact, a warehouse, not just a storage unit.
Typically, smaller warehouse units might start from 1,000 square feet, with the average size being approximately 20,000 square feet. However, you can also find massive storage facilities with up to 100,000 square feet of storage space and beyond!
Depending on your business requirements, you’ll still need to find somewhere large enough where you can increase the amount of storage space you use. Having this flexibility will give you the peace of mind that there’s always plenty of room to keep your goods.
Professional Memberships
Now that you’ve found a Commercial Storage Facility in Plymouth with enough space to suit your business needs, you’ll want to make sure that they are fully qualified and accredited to provide you with the best possible service, keeping up to date with the latest industry regulations. These might include:
UK Warehousing Association (UKWA)
If your Warehouse Storage Facility is a member of the United Kingdom Warehousing Association, you’ll benefit from trusted industry standards, safe and compliant storage, and a partner connected to the UK’s largest logistics network.
UK Material Handling Association (UKMHA)
The UK Material Handling Association is the leading body for safe and compliant forklift and handling operations. This means the team behind the warehouse are fully trained to follow safe forklift operations and industry best practice, giving you peace of mind every time they handle your goods.
Road Haulage Association (RHA)
The Road Haulage Association represents the UK’s trusted logistics and warehousing professionals, meaning the Commercial Storage Facility has received industry recognition and credibility for their 3PL storage services. They’ll provide you with secure, flexible pallet storage solutions, along with the assurance that your goods are handled to trusted standards.
Scalability
In addition to professional memberships and affiliations, you’ll want your Commercial Storage Facility to be fully scalable and flexible for your business needs. This means you don’t get tied into minimum-term contracts – you simply have the freedom to come and go as you wish, with your storage space increasing as necessary when your business grows or decreasing when you don’t need it anymore.
You never know what might be around the corner, and when it comes to your business, you should always expect the unexpected. No matter if you are storing one item or over one thousand items, having the flexibility to pay for the exact amount of space that you use, and for the timeframe, whether that be for one day or ten years, you shouldn’t have to pay over the odds for something that will eat into your business profits.
Plus, make sure you can always add more storage space if you need it! You certainly don’t want the hassle of having to move storage facilities if you have more goods to store, only to find there’s nowhere to store them.
Storage Solutions to Suit Your Business Needs
Last but not least, when choosing a Commercial Storage Facility in Plymouth, don’t forget to find out if their storage solutions and services can suit your business needs. This might include:
Pallet Storage
Pallet Storage is an effective solution for optimising your business’s use of space. This allows you to either stack your goods on top of each other or within pallet racking systems. With unique identifier numbers, you can effortlessly and accurately keep track of your stock around the storage facility.
What’s more, when they have a Lifting Operations & Lifting Equipment Regulations (LOLER)-regulated fleet of forklift trucks and are fully trained and certified operators under the Independent Training Standards Scheme& Register (ITSSAR), you can rest assured your goods are in safe hands.
Archive Storage
Whether you need to keep hold of financial, legal, or historical documents, records, or personnel files, Archive Storage helps you save valuable space on your business premises, allowing you to make the most out of using your space and create more room for productivity.
A dry, pest-controlled, and well-maintained storage facility with high bays provides a safe and secure space to protect all of your archive documents.
Bulk Storage
If you have large and bulky items that are just getting in the way at your commercial premises, such as new or redundant machinery, raw materials, or large finished goods, you’ll want to find a storage facility that can accommodate your Bulk Storage needs.
Make sure you don’t overpay for a room with lots of space you’re not using. Charges on a per-cubic-foot rate means that you’ll only pay for the storage space that you need.
Fulfilment & 3PL Solutions
Whilst a storage facility can simply provide you just that – somewhere to store your goods – it shouldn’t stop there. As a commercial business, you may also need comprehensive Fulfilment Services to pick and pack all your stock, in addition to handling your 3PL operations.
This can be anything ranging from inventory management and vanning and devanning containers to shrink wrapping, stock takes and much more! Let them take care of all of your 3PL, Storage, and Fulfilment needs while you focus on running your business.
ABC Warehouse Plymouth: Your Trusted Commercial Storage Facility for the South West
So, there you have it: How to Choose a Commercial Storage Facility in Plymouth. Please feel free to use the above information as a checklist to make sure you’re choosing the right Storage Facility for your business in Devon, Cornwall, or across the South West.
At ABC Warehouse Plymouth, we tick all of the boxes! Before you take the leap and choose our Commercial Storage Facility, you are more than welcome to contact us to arrange a visit, take a look around our warehouse, see our 3PL operations in action and meet our friendly team.
You can get in touch by calling us on 01752 697000 or sending us a message via our contact form. We look forward to hearing from you!