Business Park owner acquires storage business in South Oxfordshire

Published by

Nicky Godding

Jennings, owners of Monument Business Park in Chalgrove in South Oxfordshire, has announced an expansion with the acquisition of Barrett’s Storage Ltd., The business offers containerised storage and small office units on land adjacent to Jennings existing properties, close to Chalgrove airfield.

Mike Jennings, Chairman of the family-run business said: “We see this as a natural extension for us. It broadens the services we offer to businesses and opens up some exciting new opportunities. Many of our tenants are already storage customers and we are always keen to extend the support we can give to small enterprises.”

The business, now called Jennings Containers & Storage, currently has 335 secure containers used by commercial and domestic customers. It has also seen a growth in demand for its containerised offices on the site.

Director Adam Greenhalgh said: “More and more businesses are looking for affordable and flexible accommodation which we provide here. Our container-based offices appeal because they are quick and easy to move into and it is possible to either scale up or down depending on the capacity a business might need. Acquiring the storage business enhances what Jennings is offering to businesses. Tenants have the convenience of locating their operation and storage in close proximity and have further growth options right here on Monument Park where they can benefit from all the other services of the wider business park has to offer.”

There has been a boom in the storage industry in recent years with demand outstripping supply in the UK. The UK Self Storage Association estimates the annual turnover of the industry as a whole in 2019 was £720 million.

Adam Greenhalgh says people want to rent space for all sorts of reasons: “People don’t have so much space at home now and want self-storage. Sometimes it is for a short time because of building work at home, moving abroad or a student needing somewhere to keep things. Businesses too are increasingly using container storage for stock, equipment and to archive documents

Nicky Godding

Nicky Godding is editor of The Business Magazine. Before her journalism career, she worked mainly in public relations moving into writing when she was invited to launch Retail Watch, a publication covering retail and real estate across Europe. After some years of constant travelling, she tucked away her passport and concentrated on business writing, co-founding a successful regional business magazine. She has interviewed some of the UK’s most successful entrepreneurs who have built multi-million-pound businesses and reported on many science and technology firsts. She reports on the region’s thriving business economy from start-ups, family businesses and multi-million-pound corporations, to the professionals that support their growth and the institutions that educate the next generation of business leaders.