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Big Yellow expands Scottish business with £10m Aberdeen acquisition

The Mugiemoss Road self-storage facility is about to undergo a transformation as part of Big Yellow.
The Mugiemoss Road self-storage facility is about to undergo a transformation as part of Big Yellow.

Self-storage company Big Yellow has acquired a site in Aberdeen for £10 million.

The 53,000sq ft facility on Mugiemoss Road was previously owned and run by Kevin Shand and his Granite City firm Simply Self Storage.

Mr Shand’s former business – which was many years ago a subsidiary of Huntly-based manufacturing company RB Farquhar – is now part of Big Yellow, headquartered in Bagshot, Surrey.

A spokeswoman for the new owner said: “Big Yellow is pleased to announce the acquisition of an existing… self storage centre in Aberdeen.

“The store, currently branded as Simply Self Storage, is the only purpose-built self-storage centre in Aberdeen, and will be rebranded as Big Yellow.”

Third Big Yellow site in Scotland

Big Yellow chief executive Jim Gibson said: “We’re really pleased to open a third Big Yellow Self Storage location in Scotland, with the Aberdeen facility joining existing locations in Edinburgh and Dundee.

“We’re committed to offering flexible storage to local Aberdonians and businesses alike, and look forward to welcoming customers to the store.”

Mr Shand said: “It was a pleasure working with Big Yellow, and we’re pleased to have entrusted the facility to a company who we know will offer a second-to-none service to both customers and staff.”

Kevin Shand at his self-storage site back in 2015.
Kevin Shand at his self-storage site back in 2015.

Founded in 1998, Big Yellow opened its first self-storage facility in Richmond-upon-Thames.

The company now operates 105 storage facilities throughout the UK, including 24 branded as Armadillo Self Storage.

The business employs more than 450 people and is listed on the FTSE 250 London Stock Exchange.

According to market research firm Mordor Intelligence, the global self-storage market was estimated to be worth more than £39 billion in 2020 and is expected to reach a value of nearly £53bn by 2026.

Covid-19 a market growth factor

In a market overview on its website, Mordor says the Covid-19 pandemic has promoted many business owners to use self-storage.

It adds: “Having to work from home for most parts of 2020 drove up the demand for self-storage to cut out on rents on spaces.

“More and more companies have decided to shift toward a remote work model permanently, and hence the need for office rentals is decreasing. Especially in metropolitan Asian cities, where office space can be costly to rent, self-storage is mainly preferred.”

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