A STATE-of-the-art new £2 million self-storage facility has been created in Colchester.

Development company Hills Building Group has created the 50,000 sq ft facility at Brook Street Business Centre, in the former East of England Co-op furniture warehouse on the estate.

Hills Self Store features top-of-the-range facilities for entrepreneurs, traders and people on the move and the firm has invested £2 million in bringing the facility up to scratch.

Jonathan Hills, who is the managing director of Hills Building Group, said: “As housebuilders we naturally set out to provide the best service to our homeowners.

“Increasingly, we were being asked to help with self storage provision to support our customers moving in, moving out, moving away, or starting up a business.

“When a building became available on the estate it was a perfect opportunity to provide a bespoke, independent service for our purchasers and the wider community.

“Being less than a mile from Colchester town centre, and the University of Essex, the facility is conveniently situated just off Brook Street – one of the main arterial routes.”

The facility is commercial property experts’ Hills Building Group first storage premises.

Three new jobs have been created but Mr Hills said it would create dozens of indirect job opportunities through its business space provision

He continued: ”Alongside the more conventional self storage offer, we have built a number of much larger units, ranging from 500 sq ft to 1,300 sq ft, to give local business owners a flexible, clean, safe, and secure place to store their stock and grow their business.

“We have ensured all units are protected by a state-of-the-art CCTV recording and monitoring system, and are individually alarmed for peace of mind.”

The self-storage industry is estimated to be worth in excess of £720 million a year to the UK economy.

Last year alone, a million sq ft of extra storage space was built to meet demand.

For more information, visit hills-selfstorage.co.uk.