Member News
Leading North East shipping containers firm Parsons Containers Group has opened a new U Hold The Key self-storage site in South Tyneside. Situated on an industrial site on Wilson Street, South Shields, the location will enable the company to meet increasing demand for container self-storage from businesses and customers in the area. The development represents the latest stage of delivering the company’s growth strategy - U Hold The Key now operates on 12 sites in the North East, and 13 in total.
The new U Hold The Key site, which is almost 0.75 acres in size, has the capacity for around 100 self-storage containers ranging in size from 6ft mini, 8ft handy, 10ft standard and 20ft large containers, suitable for a wide range of storage requirements. The facility offers 24/7 access for customers and benefits from key fob access via electronic security gates and CCTV security cameras.
Founded by North East entrepreneur Ean Parsons in 2001, U Hold The Key has grown into one of the UK’s leading self-storage firms, and is a division of the Parsons Containers Group. The company currently has over 1550 container stores on 12 sites in the North East and a thirteenth in Grantham, Lincolnshire, and has continued to experience year on year growth with a 10% increase in occupied stores since 2021 and a 35% increase over the past five years.
Ean Parsons, CEO of the Parsons Containers Group, comments: “We have opened the new U Hold The Key South Shields site at a time when there is a continued surge in demand for container self-storage. We identified the site as a key strategic location to serve customers across South Tyneside some time ago and I am delighted that it is now open.
Wilson Street is ideally placed for trades people needing a secure storage container for stock and equipment, and this need is reflected in the advance bookings that we took ahead of opening. We look forward to replicating the success of our other U Hold The Key self-storage sites at our new home in South Tyneside.”
In 2018, the Parsons Containers Group secured investment of £825,000 from Maven investment to support the expansion of its operations across the UK. Opening the new South Shields site is the latest step towards achieving the strategic growth objectives outlined in the strategy that secured the financial support.
Over the past 12 months the company has opened a new self-storage site at Gateshead’s Derwenthaugh Industrial Estate, close to the Metrocentre, and has expanded a number of existing sites including in Stockton and Darlington. The business intends to continue to expand on its existing sites with the addition of new stores, and further grow the U Hold The Key brand as new facilities develop throughout 2022.
U Hold The Key currently offers self-storage containers for a variety of commercial and domestic needs ranging from 6ft mini up to 40ft mega containers.
To find out more about U Hold The Key, visit www.uholdthekey.co.uk, call 0800 389 4319 or email enquiries@uholdthekey.co.uk.
