Heraclitus once said: “There is nothing permanent except change”.

That's particularly true of young businesses. easyStorage started in 2017, and has since become a national brand. Well, almost. Today the company has franchisees across 70-80% of the UK.

The other 20-30% tends to be in harder to reach areas like North Wales or remote areas of Yorkshire. Yet there are customers in those areas who desperately want the easyStorage deals and service that they’ve heard about.

Sometimes a neighbouring franchise will be able to help customers out but too often easyStorage would find itself with nothing to offer customers. Consequently, over the past five years, the company has built up a good network of trusted partners in some of those areas. Many have already been able to help with storage space, primarily removal companies which already operate vehicles with the capacity to carry easyPods.

Whilst easyStorage continues to recruit for an appropriate franchisee in many uncovered areas, it made sense to ask those existing storage partners to deliver not just the space, but the easyStorage service.

The easyStorage licensed operator model was born.

Newcastle was one of the first areas to join the programme, along with Halesowen (North of Birmingham), West Leeds and Hull. There were a disproportionate number of unserved requests from customers in these areas which can now be properly looked after. 

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Customers deserve a service that collects goods and delivers back, even does the packing for them, and the new scheme ensures that they are happy.  Partners that easyStorage already knows and trusts benefit from the extra work (and cash). This new easyStorage model ensures that no-one feels let down.

The customer experience is almost identical to the standard easyStorage service - same pricing, same level of service, a crew coming to their home in a van with a pod on the van. The pod then goes to a local storage facility, and the customer can access it. 

As these licensed partners are existing operators, licensed for easyStorage, the vehicle collecting customers’ belongings carry that firm's own branding. For example, the van may be branded Britannia or Doree Bonner, rather than carrying easyStorage’s bright easyOrange ‘livery’. And they have their own uniforms rather than the distinctive easyStorage ones.

However, all licensed operators’ vehicles will carry easyStorage logos and approved easyStorage branding in order to identify themselves to customers as approved licensed operators. Customers can consequently relax regarding who they are entrusting with their belongings. Additionally, the units where belongings are stored will carry easyStorage branding so that customers collecting their belongings or visiting the unit will know that they are in the right place.

Removal companies are a relatively close community - all are members of trade associations. On the back of initial trials, a number of new easyStorage partners were referred by existing partners. If they have existing infrastructure, people and warehousing, why would they turn down a mutually beneficial, flexible stream of work?

There are, of course, some conditions. A partner has to be a company that easyStorage has vetted. It must be a professional operation with trained, fully insured staff and fully insured premises. Their warehouses are vetted to ensure that they are safe, secure, and dry, and that they meet or beat easyStorage minimum standards. Another part of our standards is that we partner with companies who meet, match and abide by our values of Empathy, Trust & Transparency, Fairness, Efficiency and One Team.

As all of the partners that easyStorage works with are extremely professional, established removal businesses that also provide storage, it would have been shocking had they not met the standard. 

To date, easyStorage has been absolutely delighted by both the professionalism and quality of the licensed partners already ‘on board’. Despite being a new concept, licensed partners have already become a key part of the easyStorage ‘family’. In the same way as existing easyStorage franchisees already help support the franchisees that they neighbour, franchisees know they can trust pre-vetted licensed partners with customers' belongings if extra space is needed. 

Since the licenced operators are primarily removal companies, an additional benefit has accrued for customers who need their belongings shipped further. For example, a customer moving from London to Manchester recently was served by a licensed partner. The partner’s truck is capable of carrying six pods saving, at an already busy time, two runs of easyStorage vehicles, which would only carry three.

It's not risk free, of course for easyStorage. The company is proud of its fabulous reviews and teams. If licensed partners were to let down customers, this reputation would be put at risk. So far there has been nothing of the sort, but the business monitors constantly for customer complaints and would immediately take action.

easyStorage is already expanding the licensed partner scheme following the success of initial trials.

Cornwall is a prime example of where easyStorage would like to licence partners. It's unlikely that easyStorage will ever franchise the area: it's spread out and sparse of people  in some areas. Falmouth and Bude, for example, are very different places, miles from each other. Removal firms could help easyStorage serve customers in those areas without incurring additional costs for themselves, and making some additional income in the process. And easyStorage wouldn’t need to risk investing in a franchise that couldn’t scale to reach full potential.

The licensed partner scheme is clearly a ‘win-win’ all round! The best part is that there is no cost for any partner to join us!

Anyone interested in partnering with easyStorage as a licensed operator should send an email to info@easystorage.com.

And you can find out more about easyStorage franchises here: Franchise with easyStorage