Your start-up business: how we can help

[Online PR for Store & Secure self-storage]

Thinking of starting a business in Basingstoke or Bournemouth? We love start-up businesses… the whole buzz and passion of an entrepreneur with a new idea and the whole market entry thing…

So we bend over backwards to help when they come to us for some self-storage and – after working with several start-ups over the last few years – we can help you in a handful of ways.

To start with, self-storage here for your stock, tools and goods is low-cost, whether you’re a company that sells thousands of products each day or a casual trader running a part-time business from the spare room. And it’s easy-in, easy-out, with easy terms and no long, fixed terms.

That’s good, isn’t it? Well there’s more…

• You can have an optional mailbox for a Bournemouth postal address… read more 

• We’ll see goods in for you and despatch your deliveries (without you being here – how handy is that?)…
• You can have as much or little storage space as you need, and can keep changing to suit the ebbs and flows of business… read more
• You can store anything – Stock, office equipment, surplus, tools, returns, archives…
• You can even rent a high-quality, fully-serviced office, ranging from 100 to 1000 sq ft… read more
• 24/7 access to our external lock-ups in our secure compound. Great for tradesmen’s tools, equipment and materials…
• The safety of your stuff is our top priority and take it very seriously. Read more…

So come on… every reason for you to consider Store & Secure to help you build your business. Call us or e-mail us today!

Child of Hope: Party time for our slum children

[Online PR for slum charity Child of Hope]

The annual Christmas party took place at the school on Friday and as usual turned out to be an enormous occasion, full of dancing, song and presentations from the children and their parents. There was a big meal and all the kids received gifts and clothing… and had lots of fun!

You can see lots of pictures from the party in this Facebook album.

Alongside the 490 children we support, there was a parent for each child and a sibling, plus local community VIPs and CoH staff… in total over 1,500 people! The Resident District Commissioner (RDC) was a guest of honour.

We could never have done it without your amazing support, donations just kept pouring in and covered all the costs. Thank you so much!

Christmas… a great time for an office declutter

[Online PR for Store & Secure self storage]

If you’re in Basingstoke or Bournemouth and you find this week that things get quiet in the office before Christmas… ’tis the season to declutter ready for a fresh start in the New Year.

An organised place of work will undoubtedly make you more productive. So, take a look at the different ways you can use self-storage to clear up…

Documents
We all have to keep certain documents for several years, but all that paper can take up lots of space. Could you use that area for better, more profitable use? if so… consider transferring the records to a self-storage unit at Store & Secure.

Furniture
When the number of your staff fluctuates, it can often leave you with more chairs, cabinets and desks than you need. But don’t sell them and risk making a loss… if they’re in good nick, simply self-store them!

Tools
Don’t store your daily-use tools in your garage or (worse) van – minimise the risk of theft by hiring one of our secure 24/7 lock-ups. You can get at your equipment at any time and they’ll always be safe. Might even reduce your insurance.

Stock
Increasing numbers of Basingstoke and Bournemouth businesses are taking space in our expanding self-storage facility – because it’s low-cost, with no rates nor utility charges, it has free parking with 24-hour access – and they can upscale or downscale quickly for seasonal stock requirements. There’s even a free goods-in/out service.

So, clear benefits from self-storage… it’s a great time to e-mail or call us!

Groveley Precision Engineering: Reduced paper consumption

[Online PR for Groveley Precision Engineering]

Groveley’s drive to improve efficiency, reduce costs and work leaner covers every area of our business, so we’re very happy about a recent analysis on paper consumption that has cut costs.

We discovered we were using coloured paper in a hang-on from a previous invoicing and delivery system – and by eliminating that, we have cut the paper cost in that process by around 50%.

Child of Hope: Panya pancake fun

[Online PR for slum charity Child of Hope]

We always like to make learning interesting for our children – and when there’s food involved, they get very excited!

The children in Middle and Top Class of the nursery school recently learned about Mama Panya's Pancakes. It’s a story book about a poor lady living in a village in Kenya who learns how to make pancakes, which she is then able to share with her neighbours. It is a typical African story that teaches the rewards of sharing with others and the children loved it as they could associate themselves with Mama Panya’s children.

But the fun didn't stop there. Once the children had learned all about the story, we decided to teach them how to make the same pancakes that Mama Panya had made in the story. We bought the ingredients and the children helped to mix everything together ready for cooking. They then watched as the pancakes were fried. Finally, they got to eat and enjoy the pancakes they had helped to make.

The children loved the whole thing and, even after classes had finished, they could be heard discussing the story with one another. One child even asked her teacher: "Teacher, when will you take us to visit Mama Panya in her village?"

Store & Secure: Merry Christmas!

[Online PR for Store & Secure self-storage]






A very happy Christmas to all our customers... past, present and future!

Feel free to pop in over the Christmas period – the kettle will always be on... not to mention mince pies and chocolates! Here are our Christmas opening times.

Kirolite: Design enhancements

[Photography and online PR for high-end joinery Kirolite]

Mark Stanway-Obee has joined Kirolite as design/production engineer.

The move comes as part of our company-wide enhancement of production systems and processes – boosting our flexibility with clients and allowing us to react faster.

Mark has worked with Kirolite before; originally for 13 years after starting on the shop floor and moving up to technical manager.

He then spent several years in London and Dubai – also working on high-end furniture – before helping us part-time as a freelance designer on specific projects for the last five years.

Groveley Precision Engineering: Cambridge University lends a hand

[Photography and online PR for Groveley Precision Engineering]

Two post-grad students from the Cambridge University Engineering Department have been based with us for a very helpful 2-week project.

They critically assessed and advised the company on manufacturing and assembly processes for a specific product (including manning and layout), plus finishing processes including engraving and colouring of titanium components.

The students, both on the MPhil in Industrial Systems Manufacturing and Management (ISMM) reviewed the design and identified process improvements and layout of assembly operations.

There was also a comprehensive review of finishing processes and providers for titanium, with cost and time implications for production.

ISMM is a one-year postgraduate programme designed to equip numerate graduates, primarily from science, technology, engineering or maths backgrounds, with the skills, personal development and industrial experience to be immediately effective in their early careers in industry.

Child of Hope: Beautiful crafts from the vocational class

[Online PR for slum charity Child of Hope]

Earlier this year we started a new vocational programme for those of our slum children that have significant learning difficulties. Well, they're getting really good at their practical projects!

In the morning, these children follow a different style of syllabus, which focuses on the simple basics of reading, writing and maths. Then, in the afternoon, the children have practical lessons in carpentry, tailoring or craft-making.

Over the last few months, we have been so excited to see the children really get to grips with their new skills. Those children in the craft-making class are now producing some really beautiful items, including ladies tote bags and jewellery.

The standard of design and workmanship is now very high and the children take great pride in their work. The children in the small group also often spur one another on and can be quick to point out, in an entirely constructive way, any errors that they see in each other’s work! More pics...

Go2 Business Loans: Did we see you there?

[Photography and online PR for Go2 Business Loans]

Great to meet everyone at the ‘Meet the Chamber and Business Exhibition’ this week, a networking event organised by the Hampshire Chamber of Commerce, of which we are members.

We had a stand at the exhibition and Go2 director Rob Bennet did a short ‘elevator speech’ about the great benefits of crowdfunded business loans to both borrowers and investors.

And it was good to see such a large and diverse range of businesses in an event that is open to all businesses, not just chamber members… and free to attend!

Groveley Precision Engineering: SC21 Silver renewal for 4th time

[Online PR for Groveley Precision Engineering]

Groveley’s SC21 Silver accreditation has been renewed for the fourth time – and the process to attain the accreditation is more rigorous because of an inbuilt relationship management module.

The award comes in recognition of independently-ratified internal process excellence, quality and on-time delivery to the aerospace and defence industries. Our current SC21 Silver rating is 100% on time delivery and 99.99% quality.

And now, of course, it includes indicators of enhanced relationships between customers and supplier and a demonstration of the supplier’s long-term sustainable benefits to its customers.

Groveley has supplied precision-engineered components to the aerospace and defence markets for over 50 years and is committed to the implementation of best manufacturing practice.

Thanks for saying such nice things

[Photography and online PR for Store & Secure self-storage]

Thanks everyone who posted on social media about our being finalists again this year in the UK self-storage industry ceremonies. You said such nice things!

We agree… just because we won best in UK and Europe in 2014, that doesn’t mean we can’t win again… maybe in 2017?

Self-storage companies entering the SSA awards are judged on various aspects, including what makes this business stand out from the rest and how it meets the needs of its local market. Plus things like how well the business is performing and what investments have been made for its future.

Child of Hope: New homes for needy slum families

[Online PR for slum charity Child of Hope]

One of the challenges faced by families of our school children is the ever-increasing cost of rent in Namatala – and it’s forcing some of our children to drop out of school and move away. But thanks to a generous grant, this new project will provide affordable homes for the families involved.

Our business start-up programme has been a huge benefit to many parents and enabled them to cope with the constant increases in costs of living. However, some of our children are looked after by elderly grandmothers (and even great-grandmothers!) who find it very difficult to work. In the UK, such elderly women would be receiving benefits. Here, however, there is no help at all.

Many of these elderly women feel that they have no choice now but to go back and live in their rural villages. This would mean that, if they wanted their children to remain at the school, then Child of Hope would have to try and find foster families for their children or, alternatively, bring the children into our Children’s Home. Of course, this means separating the family, which is something that we really want to avoid.

So, we have bought some land and have started to build some basic accommodation, which we will rent to ten small families at an extremely reasonable. This will enable the families to stay together and the children to remain at home with their other family members, with one of the families employed as caretaker of the plot.

Building work began last week of ten rooms, two pit latrines, and three bathrooms, being constructed using metal poles as columns, local bricks and mud, cement plastering of walls and floor, and timber and iron sheets. Each room will be 12 feet by 8 feet in size.

Store & Secure: Christmas opening times

[Online PR for Store & Secure self-storage]

Here are the dates and times we are open over the Christmas period. The kettle will always be on… there may even be mince pies and chocolates!

A very merry Christmas to all our customers… past present and future!

Saturday 24th Dec    Xmas Eve           8.00 till 14.00
Sunday 25th Dec      Xmas Day           Closed
Monday 26th Dec     Boxing Day         Closed
Tuesday 27th Dec    Bank Holiday      Closed
Saturday 31st Dec   New year’s Eve   8.00 till 14.00
Sunday 1st Jan        New Year’s Day  Closed
Monday 2nd Jan      Bank Holiday      Closed

Help us put on a fantastic Christmas party for slum children!

[Online PR for slum charity Child of Hope]

Today is the start of our Christmas Party Appeal 2016. Last year was a great success with our children (and their mums and a sibling), all having a fantastic time... this year we want to do the same, but of course, now we have 490 children including the ones at secondary school.

So, today we’re launching our appeal; it costs just £4 to provide each Child of Hope pupil with a present, party food AND a new pair of shoes! Please donate to help us give the kids a day to remember. You could buy it for yourself, or pay for a friend.

Any donations would be helpful, small or large, and we'll e-mail you a ‘thankyou’ card to print out and pop on your mantlepiece with all your other Christmas cards!

And you can even donate by text! Simply text SLUM37 £…. (an amount of £1, £2, £3, £4, £5 or £10) to 70070.

If you'd like to help us with fundraising for the event, you can link in with our appeal page on Justgiving.