The UK’s largest independent provider of NextGen Self Storage, Flexiss Group, has made two new appointments as it embarks on a period of growth.
Steve Wells joins the company as Director of Operations and Ian Johnson has been recruited as Head of Sales and Resources. The two join the company from Lok’nStore which announced that it had been acquired by Belgian rival, Shurgard, in August in a deal worth £387m. The two new employees boast 28 years of experience at Lok’nStore and were instrumental in building growth there prior to its acquisition. Being recruited by Flexiss Group is seen as a significant coup for the business.
Steve served almost 14 years with Lok’nStore latterly as Head of Operations, with responsibility for 45 UK stores, and before that, as Business Support Manager and Regional Manager. Prior to moving into self-storage, Steve worked in retail for Orange, the telecommunications provider, on their store rollout plans for five years and as a Store Manager for Blacks Leisure Group earlier in his career. Steve will work between Salisbury and the Handforth office in Cheshire.
Ian’s 14 years at Lok’nStore, were eight years as Regional Manager and just under six years as Multi Site Manager. Prior to joining Lok’nStore, Ian worked as a Branch Manager for Lloyds Banking Group. Ian will be based between Northampton and the Handforth office where the company has 15+ professional staff and it employs 80 people in total across the business.
Steve and Ian will work alongside Commercial Director, Paul Whittaker; Finance Director, Jonty Hall and co-founders Mike Wilson and Andy Wood.
Commenting on the appointments, Co-Founder of Flexiss Group, Mike Wilson said;
“Steve and Ian’s combined 28 years in the self-storage industry will significantly support our aspiration to grow our number of stores in the UK to 50 in the next five years. Their agreement to join Flexiss Group is somewhat of a coup for us as our senior leadership team now holds probably the most combined experience of any of our competitors.
“That, combined with our unique approach, young stock and strong investor relationships, provides us with increased confidence in reaching our goals. Our mission is to support investors and property owners with diversity of income and an effectively managed alternative use for their property.”
Commenting on his appointment, Steve Wells, Director of Operations said:
“I’ve watched Flexiss Group’s significant growth over the last five years, and I’ve been very impressed with what they’ve achieved. My goal in joining the company is to bring my expertise and contacts, alongside Ian Johnson who is joining with me, to support their further growth over the next five years. They’re a great, down to earth team with an innovative approach to self-storage. They’ve made us very welcome this week and I’m really looking forward to contributing to what is already an outstanding business.”
Since setting up in 2016, Flexiss Group has made its way to the sixth largest operator in the UK self-storage market. With more than a million square feet of lettable space and a net asset value under management of circa £250m, it is the largest independent operator. Its aspiration is to become the fourth largest in the UK and be operating 50 facilities within five years. It considers itself the “Rolls Royce” of self-storage operators in terms of service and operations. Its modern facilities are all less than ten years old.
As part of its growth plans, Flexiss aims to increase the number of institutional investors it serves, targeting the creation of new facilities in under-supplied markets around UK towns and cities. The group has created and manages 24 assets across the UK with 14 more stores in the pipeline. It works with investors such as Legal & General (14 facilities across three funds), Schroders (six facilities), Barwood (two facilities) and Seneca Partners (two co-owned facilities).
Under its main two brands, SureStore and The Self Storage Company, the Group boasts more than 6,000 customers across its state-of-the-art facilities and handles 2,000+ enquiries a month through its unique software management system. Over the past 12 months the stores under the management of Flexiss have outperformed the top, listed market operators across multiple data points.
Flexiss group is the only independent platform that can take an investment through from site identification, planning, construction, development, management and exit on behalf of a funding institution. Some funds choose long term holds (10 years or more) whilst others work on a short-, medium- or long-term cycle from 12 months up to five years.