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Matt Hawkins, TwentyCi Removals and Storage Sales Manager, recently attended the European Self Storage Conference in Barcelona. We caught up with Matt to find out how the event went and more about the latest news in the European self storage industry.
Matt, tell us about this year’s event...
I really enjoyed this year’s conference, it took place in Barcelona over two days earlier this month. Spain has a large self storage market, so it was an ideal place to host the event. With over 430 delegates registered to attend, and several more last-minute arrivals, it was a well-attended conference and even bigger than last year. The organisers, the UK Self Storage Association, even provided translator headphones at the back of the room so that everyone could appreciate the presentations. There were presentations, an exhibition area for networking and two evening events: a networking evening meal and an Awards Dinner.
What was the stand out presentation for you and why?
I actually didn’t manage to attend any of the presentations – I was caught up chatting to prospects and clients at our stand, which of course is never a bad thing! However, the presentation I particularly wanted to attend was ‘Marketing at a Local Level’. This is a topic of real interest and relevance to me as it’s essentially what we do at TwentyCi; our MoverAlerts service allows our clients to access removal and storage home mover leads within chosen target areas throughout the UK.
What were some of your key takeaways from the event?
From speaking to attendees, business seems to be booming in the storage industry. Pretty much everyone I spoke to commented that their businesses were growing, or that expansion was on the cards for the near future. It seems that self storage in Europe is beginning to catch up with the huge American market. This is potentially because a lot of people have found themselves in rented accommodation, and of course self storage provides a great solution for when people need some extra space. Otherwise, it seemed that many delegates felt the conference so good, they believed it could benefit from an extra day to fully appreciate all that was there!
What’s the next industry event you’ll be attending?
The Movers and Storers Show on the 1st and 2nd November in Leicestershire. Hopefully we’ll see many more of our clients there, as well as meeting some new faces!
We’ll catch up with Matt again soon to get the latest from the Movers and Storers Show, so keep an eye on our Insights page after the event.