Fire-hit Firms Seeking Refuge at K2 Storage Solutions

Following a major fire at a key distribution & warehousing industrial estate in Leyland Lancashire, K2 storage solutions are currently in talks with a number of affected businesses to help assist them with their ongoing warehouse and storage requirements.

K2 Storage Solutions in Padiham, Burnley are hoping to help these businesses get back up on their feet quickly and help the local economy grow further.

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K2 Business Storage Solutions and Chorltons Transport

K2 Storage Solutions have had a long and mutually beneficial business storage  relationship for over 25 years with Chorlton Express Transport.

Based on Heywood Distribution Park close to Manchester, Chorlton Express Transport take care of a significant amount of transport requirements for K2’s many business storage customers. As a gesture of appreciation they have kindly recently allowed one of their fleet of 40’ trailers to advertise K2 Storage Solutions.

We think that it looks splendid!

K2 Storage Solutions are always pro-active in searching for mutual partnerships within the business storage and warehousing sectors.

David Wilson – K2 Storage Solutions –  (January 17th 2012)

Good Business Storage housekeeping is key!

The phrase ‘you never get a second chance to make a first impression’ rings true in every aspect of life – none more so than in a warehouse storage environment.

It was once said to me ‘why do we have to tidy up as we go? Can we not just leave it and tidy up once a week on a Friday?’ I asked him that when he was at home did he leave washing the pots, pans, plates and cutlery until Friday or did he keep on top of the washing up. I was glad that he didn’t reply that his mum cleans up after him but I think that I got my point across!

In addition to being important to all things Health and Safety, workers in general much prefer a clean, tidy and organised workplace. They perform better, they enjoy their work more and they adopt an attitude of pride which extends to their individual work performance and therefore increases productivity.

The following basics are not an attempt to re-create the wheel, but are simple pointers which any business storage warehouse manager can adopt:

• Lead by example – Be seen to pick up any litter, discarded shrink-wrap or splintered pallets and deposit in bin. Every employee is far more likely to ‘buy in’ to good housekeeping if they see senior employees respecting their warehouse facilities.

• Ensure there are plenty of bins available – Cloth sacks at the end of fixtures or on walls are both versatile and do not take up much space. These can be emptied periodically into a large skip as a designated job for one storage person. If there is nowhere to place discarded rubbish, people will soon get into the habit of leaving it where it is – leaving the problem to fester!

• Ensure that there are brushes available – Designate areas where brushes are kept when not on use. Place brackets on walls for them to be housed in a safe manner. There will be many occasions when an employee will be in-between tasks or awaiting instruction from a storage supervisor. Make it an un-written rule that if this occurs, spend the time sweeping up – in time, this will become a good habit for all the warehouse workforce.

• Ensure that there are shovels available – These must be housed in the same area as brushes. If they are not available workers will sweep up and leave ‘mounds’ of dust and debris which will eventually be spread underfoot and by pump trucks and fork lift trucks. This is both unsightly and dangerous especially in a warehouse environment.

Generally speaking, you can judge the standards of various workplaces by the housekeeping. It is natural to assume that visual standards mirror the standards of work expected and achieved by any particular organisation.

Here at K2 Storage Solutions, we like to lead by example and good housekeeping is a priority in our business storage warehouse facilities.

David Wilson – K2 Storage Solutions – (December 12th 2011)

Nationwide companies choose Burnley’s K2 for their storage & logistics solutions

K2 Storage Solutions, on Burnley’s Shuttleworth Mead Business Park, is a modern, 110,000 sq ft world class warehouse facility, handling the warehousing and distribution needs of companies across the UK – and as its name suggests it’s a mountain of a modern warehousing facility.

Companies from as far as London and the South of England and overseas companies from Ireland and the USA are using K2 Storage Solutions as the base from which to store and distribute their stock throughout the UK and across Europe.

David Wilson (Group Property Manager – K2 Storage Solutions) 10.11.11

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Mr. Gordon Birtwistle, Member of Parliament for Burnley and Padiham, visited K2 Storage Solutions on Friday September 23rd 2011.

The Liberal Democrat MP was on a series of visits to successful local businesses, discovering first hand what his constituency has to offer in the commercial world.

K2 has invested heavily in its ‘state of the art’ business storage warehousing facilities in Padiham, nr Burnley. In turn this investment has helped K2 Storage Solutions significantly grow its customer base in recent years with its leading North West business storage and warehousing facilities.

Due to his engineering background, he was particularly interested in the highly technical wire guided Toyota fork lift trucks that provide the logistical solutions for a facility the size and scope of K2’s business storage facilities.

We were delighted that he took time out of his busy schedule to visit us at our warehouse facility and hear our views on both a local and national level.

David Wilson (Group Property Manager – K2 Storage Solutions) 05.10.11

K2 storage solutions has recently invested in energy efficient lighting, helping the planet and saving money at the same time!

The cost of lighting a 110,000 sq ft warehousing storage facility such as K2 is naturally a big drain on resources so projected savings of up to 75% per annum was a very tempting proposition. As with any ‘state of the art’, modern warehousing storage facility, energy efficiency is very important to help reduce our overall carbon footprint.

The decision to finance the replacing of existing 400W fittings with EWL 454 fittings was made easier with a payback timescale of just 20 months!

The new fittings produce a crisp, clear light in a ‘very narrow aisle’ (VNA) environment from a height of 13 metres, making working conditions better for reading, writing and scanning, thus helping improve speed and efficiency within our business storage warehouse facility here in Padiham, nr Burnley.

A logistical operation such as K2 Storage Solutions has many different working aisles. Fitting photocell / presence detection sensors means that we only light up the storage aisles that are occupied – a simple yet logical theory.

Greatly reducing CO2 emissions and subsequently our carbon footprint is a good enough reason to install energy efficient lighting in our North West warehouse facility, however in these harsh economic times when company accountants are looking to make savings across the board, it becomes a rather obvious decision to make.

David Wilson (Group Property Manager – K2 Storage Solutions) 26.09.11

‘Online retail sector…19% annual growth’

DW: – We have found a demand for online retailers who still want control over their pick & pack operations and the day to day contact with their customer base.  Typically, what they expect from us is to take in their large volume deliveries and store their bulk backing stock.

They then request smaller more manageable quantities to be drip-fed into their small units for picking & packing. This works great for K2 because ‘volume’ is what K2 do best allowing our customers to do what they do best!

As our reputation has grown more and more enquiries have been forthcoming. An example of this is the American supplier to one of our customers who visited K2 Storage Solutions son a recent visit to the UK and as a result are currently in advanced negotiations with us for them to utilise K2 Storage Solutions as their main European business storage hub!

The growth of K2 Storage Solutions since it was founded at the beginning of the global recession back in 2007 has been meteoric. Expansion due to good working practices, highly trained and motivated staff in addition to embracing modern day social media techniques have left them potentially outgrowing their 17,000 pallet location facility and searching for additional sites to further develop the K2 Storage Solutions brand.

For further business storage information please contact us directly or email info@k2storagaesolutions.co.uk thank you.

David Wilson (Group Property Manager – K2 Storage Solutions) 15.07.11

‘Activity in the manufacturing sector 5% higher than a year ago’

DW: This is naturally a good thing for third party logistics companies such as K2 Storage Solutions as manufacturing should increase and yet customers are demanding that they receive the stock under a ‘just in time’ (JIT) strategy”.

This therefore means that the business storage products need to be held in third party storage until they are required by the customer.

K2 Storage Solutions naturally reap the rewards for this as our pricing structure is probably the most competitive on the market.

‘With high inflation eroding disposable income…households are feeling the pinch’

DW: Retailers need to predict their sales forecasts and back their judgement up to 9 months earlier than when their products hit the shelves to allow for design, manufacture and shipping.

The burden of extra costs for the customer due to fuel price hikes, rising basic grocery prices rising in addition to the political uncertainty leaving employees, particularly in the public sector, feeling extremely vulnerable, the demand for the products may fall. This in turn leads to large volumes of stock held indefinitely in third party warehouses.

‘The warehousing sector…outlook is cautiously positive’

DW: K2 Storage Solutions is on target for a 41% year on year increase following on from the 91% increase the previous year! This is largely due to the quality of our staff that are both highly experienced and knowledgeable about all aspects of business storage and logistics.

Once new customers have spoken to our people, they are totally at ease with the whole system – which is new to them but second nature to us!

The personable nature of our staff makes the transition for new customers very easy and problem free.

David Wilson (Group Property Manager – K2 Storage Solutions) 08.07.11