Real Storage Wars

The four-part series ‘Business Boomers,’ broadcast last month on the BBC, delved into areas of business that are still thriving despite the recent recession.

The second episode entitled ‘Real Storage Wars’ discovers how and why Britain came to have the biggest self-storage industry in Europe, when just thirty years ago, the idea of storing items anywhere other than your house was unheard of.

The entertaining BBC documentary went up and down the country to meet the self-storage bosses, compulsive collectors and observers who all make the self-storage industry what it is today.

The programme also looked into the way self-storage has provided flexible, temporary premises for a multitude of small business start-ups, as firms abandon the sinking high street.

The BBC revealed: “This is the entertaining tale of canny entrepreneurs who grew rich selling empty space, of the garish multi-coloured monster sheds that have sprung up around our towns and cities and – above all – of our national predilection for buying stuff and hoarding it.”

Academics explained throughout the show how modern households now have around six times the amount of stuff that our parents had, while booming house prices meant that we only had half the home to store it in.

It was also discussed how traditional storage areas such as attics, cellars and garages are now increasingly used as converted accommodation, leaving homes with nowhere to store their growing possessions.

Entertaining and informative, Real Storage Wars had a great deal to say about the multi-million-pound self-storage industry and the values that reflect modern society.

“Real Storage Wars”, the second episode of Business Boomers, is available to view on BBC iPlayer until Monday 2nd June 2014, you can watch it here – BBC iPlayer.