Our storage is not self-storage. You do not drive to a yard and let yourself into a unit. We use individual wooden storage containers held inside our own warehouse at Great Wakering. Your belongings are loaded into a container by our team, sealed, and kept inside the warehouse until you need them returned.
Because the container stays sealed from the moment it leaves your home to the moment it is delivered back, your items are handled once going in and once coming out. That single-handling approach reduces the risk of damage compared with moving items in and out of an open bay. For a fuller comparison of the two models, see our guide on how containerised storage differs from self storage.
Storage is common on long-haul moves, for example removals to Dubai or removals to Canada or timing of a move does not run cleanly. The realistic scenarios include:
In each case, having storage as part of the same service means one team handles the whole job. We collect, store, and deliver when the time is right.
The difference matters, particularly for longer storage periods. Outdoor metal units sit in a yard exposed to the weather. Metal conducts temperature changes rapidly, so your belongings go from cold to warm and back again with each season. That cycle encourages condensation inside the unit, which over several months can affect wood furniture, fabrics and paper.
Our wooden containers are held inside the warehouse at Great Wakering, where the environment stays more stable across the year, and wooden construction absorbs minor humidity changes rather than amplifying them. For furniture, soft furnishings and household contents stored over weeks or months, the indoor wooden unit is the more protective option.
We put this honestly. We do not publish specific humidity or temperature figures because we do not monitor to that specification. What we can say is that indoor wooden storage is the standard professional removal companies use for good reason, and it is what we use for every job.
Access to your stored goods is by arrangement with our team at Great Wakering. This is staffed access, not 24-hour self-service. You contact us, we arrange a time, and a member of our team retrieves what you need.
For most customers storing during a move, this is not a practical limitation. You are not nipping in to grab a single box on a Tuesday evening, you are waiting for the new property to be ready, and when it is, we deliver everything back in one go. If you expect to need frequent access to specific items, tell us when you enquire and we can structure your container to make retrieval straightforward.
Storage works best when it is part of the same service rather than arranged separately. On a standard job where storage is needed, our crew collects from your current address, loads directly into the storage container, brings it to the warehouse at Great Wakering, and delivers to your new address when you are ready.
This is particularly common on international moves. Shipping dates slip, properties abroad are not always ready on the expected date, and buyers occasionally need the UK property vacated before the overseas destination is confirmed. Having storage available through the same team that handles your international removals means you are not coordinating two separate companies with two sets of paperwork.
For UK moves, storage bridges the gap between exchange and completion, or covers a renovation period, without introducing a third party. For more on the move itself, see our house removals page.
We collect for storage from across Essex and deliver back to the same areas when you are ready. Our primary service area includes Southend-on-Sea, Great Wakering, Rayleigh, Leigh-on-Sea, Basildon, Chelmsford, Brentwood, Rochford, Canvey Island and Wickford.
If your collection or delivery address is outside this list, call 01268 783244 and we will confirm whether we can cover it.
