Self-managed Archive Storage

Even though so much business is conducted electronically these days, paperwork is and always will be a common feature of our daily working lives. Bills, invoices, sales records, receipts and files of notes build up over time and can make your working environment feel cluttered or disorganised. 

Various laws govern how long different types of records have to be kept, so it’s vital that you’re familiar with these and keep your paperwork for however long is necessary for tax, audit or legal purposes. It’s important, though, to be able to access those documents at any time, so organisation and secure storage are key to keeping your papers archived safely.
 

How long should you keep your archives?

This depends on the nature of your business — different rules apply to sole traders (5 years) and limited companies (6 years) for example — and on the type of records. If the nature of your business means that there is a possibility that a claim will be brought against you for breach of contract, you’ll need to keep your files for at least 6 years, and if there’s any risk of a claim being brought for professional negligence, you should retain your files indefinitely for your own protection.
 

Where should you keep your archives?

Most of your archiving can be kept safely in clearly-labelled boxes (perhaps organised by year, or contents depending on how your business is organised). If your offices lack space, you can store your archives with Safestore in one of our indoor storage units, the buildings are monitored by CCTV and intruder alarms and to which you will be the only key holder. Our storage units are clean and dry, so your documents will be kept safe until you need them again. 

If there are sensitive or legal documents that could not be recreated, these should be kept in a specialist fireproof, waterproof storage room.
 

Safestore archive storage features

If you decide to store your archives with Safestore, we have stores all over the UK, close to major road and rail networks so we’re easy to reach. 

Our rooms range in size from 10 sq ft lockers to 500 sq ft+. You can also buy boxes, packaging, protectors and racking from our stores to keep your documents organised and ensure that you can find them quickly and easily in your unit.

Several of our stores offer discounts of up to 20% for long-term storage of over a year — to find your nearest store that offers this discount, speak with one of our helpful team by phone or online chat today.
 

More on archive storage

We have a team of professional advisers just waiting to help you with any stage of the archiving process. So if you're looking for self-archiving talk to the team today to find out how we can help you.

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Award winning customer service at Safestore

We put customer service at the heart of all that we do, and we’re thrilled to have been recognised for this commitment by Feefo, an independent customer rating service.
 
In 2024, we were awarded the prestigious Feefo Platinum Trusted Service Award for the fifth year in a row, as well as the first ever exclusive accolade in customer service – the Feefo 10 Year of Excellence Award!

The independent recognition from Feefo that we’re delivering such a high level of customer service is something we’re really proud of. The fact that so many of our customers are happy to leave us such positive reviews online is the icing on the cake, and we’re determined to maintain that level of service.

We’re also delighted that our customers have rated us as Excellent on Trustpilot, giving us 5 (4.8) stars from over 8,500 customer reviews.

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