“Twelve years ago, when we had only one office, we kept track of our records ourselves through a system of marked-up spreadsheets. We kept the records off site, but they were spread over a number of locations that lacked the modern standards of pest, humidity and security control we required. As the number of offices and volume of records increased we tried to stay on top of our system even though it meant spending increasing amounts of time away from the office checking inventories and conditions at the warehouses.

If we needed active files, organising collection and delivery was not a simple task, and disposal at the end of a document’s shelf life was not so easy to flag up without an electronic management system. “Eventually, of course, we reached ‘peak volume’ where storage space ran out and the retrievals and returns schedule was more than one person could handle. Working on a recommendation from archivist, Karen Crawford, we asked Restore Records Management to quote.”

“Straight away we noticed the difference. Restore took on large volumes of merged company records and transferred them into storage in an orderly and timely fashion, creating a ready database of items for us to retrieve whenever we need them. We keep recently closed documents and files at their Redhill facility, while long-term boxes are at their exstone mine storage at Monkton Farleigh in Wiltshire and deep store documents are at a site in Cornwall. Over the years we have truly appreciated the fact that we have dedicated, experienced people caring for our records and always providing excellent service.

“We currently have around 17,000 boxes stored across the Redhill site and two sites in the West Country. We collect from the local depot twice a week and deliver new intake once a week. All in all, it was a relief to hand the logistics and management over to Restore.

“In fact, it’s our experience with Restore’s Records Management people, who always provide a brilliant service, always know what they are doing and are helpful and friendly, is what prompted Michela James, our HR Assistant, to contact Restore’s relocations business, Harrow Green, when a move into new, prestigious offices in Redhill was on the cards.”

Michela James says: “Right at the beginning of our move process we put the tender out to three different companies. Straight away, Harrow Green felt the most comfortable, largely down to us already knowing Restore and having faith and confidence that they would deliver by their professional, knowledgeable and friendly approach. And their price was better, so that clinched it for us.

“The whole process was smooth and easy, helped by a face-to-face meeting two weeks before the move date to make sure everyone knew what was moving, how, where it was, what it entailed. We are very fortunate in that the new offices in Prospero House have entirely new suites of furniture, so we needed all IT hardware, stationery, kitchen equipment, phones, desk contents and client files moved. The fact that the lift was out of order, meaning there were three storeys of stairs to negotiate, did not seem to faze the Harrow Green team.”

“We pride ourselves on being a forward-looking firm,” continues Debbie Dolan. “This is reflected in our new headquarters in Redhill, which include open-plan offices, break-out rooms for meetings, a client area, café with relaxation areas, and a couple of balconies. We also bought and customised a practice management system, which functions across all departments, including records management.

“Restore’s archiving and deep storage facilities give safety and security for us and for our clients. Their systems and processes are easy to use and the whole service is priced competitively. I particularly like the bulk destroy service where our system flags up obsolete files, we put in a call, and very swiftly receive a Certificate of Destruction proving compliant disposal. We trust Restore to operate as tightly managed a ship, and to the same principles, as we do in-house so that we and our clients are never exposed.”

And how about the outcome from the Harrow Green relocation? “Imagine, after an office move, the only complaint on the Monday morning being ‘I can’t find… the kitchen’!” comments Michela. “It was all achieved with no fuss and no grumbles. Harrow Green took the stress out of moving – so much so that, one afternoon during the process, I left an hour and a half early, which is simply unheard of!”