In Your Shoes - Keith Roberts

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As part of the Castlecroft Group, Keepsafe Storage Centres have been providing the Perthshire, Tayside and Angus areas with modern, secure storage facilities for over 25 years and built the first ever purpose built drive up storage centre in Scotland.

Area Manager, Keith Roberts is responsible for the smooth running of all three Keepsafe facilities, at Camperdown, Claypotts and Friarton. He keeps staff up to date with all policies and procedures and ensures that sites are run to the highest standards, delivering a first-class experience to every customer that comes through the door.

Keith started working for Keepsafe over eight years ago, following a successful career in retail management which included being recognised with an award at the Savoy Hotel in London. His skills include planning and coaching, and he’s particularly proud of the great team spirit and ‘can-do’ attitude that the team at Keepsafe has.

Salty start to the week

The first day of my working week starts with a visit to our Claypotts facility in Dundee.  There’s been a hard frost overnight and with no handyman in, the priority is to help the Site Manager salt the paths, car park and storage centre roads for safe customer access.

Each centre is attended six days a week and CCTV monitoring and recording is in use 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Staff also do a regular walk round and on a Monday morning, we check for any problems or changes that could have occurred over the busy weekend i.e. spillages, faulty lights, empty units without padlocks (sometimes people move out and don’t give notice), blocked exits or abandoned rubbish.

Then it’s on to Camperdown (thankfully, their handy man has already got the salt down!) to collate the weekly report information from all sites, send report out to Head Office and site managers, and review individual site performance to budget, month and year to date targets. I also check and update the weekly timesheets for all staff, sign off and send to Head Office for processing. It’s then time to review the account balances and any overdue accounts for all sites, these are also sent to Head Office for processing.

After a long hard day at the office I thought I would get home, get fed, and get my feet up for a couple of hours. Unfortunately, my other half has better ideas! We invested in some new kitchen flooring in the January sales and it turns out today’s day that investment starts doing its job.

Fortunately, I did have a means of escape - first game of the week at 5 a side football kicked off at 9 pm - tools down at 8.30.

Extension talks

Today began with a 9.30am meeting with AMCA architectsto discuss the planned extension to our Claypotts site. AMCA Architects are based at our Castlecroft Business Centre, so they know the site well and have some fantastic ideas to make the most of our space.

The site was already extended by over 8000 square feet two years ago, but demand for secure storage space is high, and we will reach capacity this year if we don’t increase our units.

We’ve been working with Icon signs to produce new signage for our Perth site at Friarton Road, so I give them a call. I also check on the progress of our new Taxi POS advertising in Dundee. As part of the Castlecroft Group’s Community Commitment, we choose to work with local Dundee and Perth businesses and suppliers wherever we can, to help benefit the local economy.

About once a year the police bring their sniffer dogs to the Camperdown facility for training. This involves placing some “packages” around the site then letting the dogs sniff around to find them. Last year, a customer arrived and went into his unit, which just happened to be next to the planted package. He was a little surprised when the police dog got excited, but had a good laugh when we explained what was going on!

Work done and time for my second football game of the week - but not the last! 6 pm kick off. I do wonder for a moment if I should save myself for the kitchen floor, but after I get my senses back, I decide to give my team 100% and leave nothing on the pitch. 

can't escape the kitchen floor this time

I am at Camperdown first thing to do a lock check and walk round Camperdown site, making sure that all rented units have a customer lock on them and all unrented units have a green Keepsafe lock on them. It’s also a chance to visually check that everything matches Spaceman, the industry software that we use to maintain our bookings.

The afternoon is spent at Friarton in Perth, where staff are being trained on a new gate entrance system that has been installed over the past two days. We aim to maintain the highest standards of security and technology at Keepsafe and are constantly investing in our site facilities. Perth has also taken delivery of a new sweeper, and I take the opportunity to see it in action before investing in another couple for the Dundee sites.

With no football planned for tonight, I’ve no excuses and get working on the kitchen floor again!

Warehouse inventory & Annual survey

Today’s the day to complete our warehouse inventory, where we match actual stock to book stock and make sure we have enough of everything we sell on sites. Our sites have everything you could possibly need to make packing and moving easy - including all shapes and sizes of boxes, tape, bubble wrap and furniture covers.

As members of the Self-Storage Association (SSA) we complete an annual survey, for each site and as an overall business. This requires to be completed every January for the calendar year before, so I take some time to make a start on this. It’s a lengthy and detailed process, so I schedule some more time in the diary for next week as there is quite a lot information needed. Each site is responsible for completing their own section, so I send these out so that they will return by the end of the week. 

Last game of 5 a side for the week, and my wife is beginning to think she is a football widow. With all the football I play, I should have the perfect physique, she says. Then asks if I play in goal? What is she trying to say?!

a friday treat - no football physique

I visit all three sites on the way to my weekly 11.30am meeting with Keepsafe’s Managing Director, Anne Smith picking up any mail or accounts for Head Office. At our meeting, in Castlecroft’s King James VI Business Centre, we review all current performance and plan immediate action, requirements and needs for the company.

Accounts from all three sites for the current week are reviewed against the bank statements from Head Office. All the payments have been posted, nothing missed, so we are up to date and everything looks good for our end of month balance.

With the kitchen floor finished at last, it’s time for a reward, so I take my wife out for a meal at the Cambustay Hotel in Broughty Ferry. There goes my Ronaldo physique for another week!

keeping it local

The working week finishes for me at 1pm, then it’s off to watch my son play (more) football for the local Junior team. Their result can often make or break my weekend! Thankfully they win, so everything is good. Supporting local sports teams is another Community Commitment for Keepsafe, and we regularly contribute funds to local ice hockey, volleyball and football teams, through sponsorship of players, kits and pitch-side advertising.

day of rest

Day of rest has finally arrived. I get my feet up, just before my son and daughter arrive with their families - two young grandchildren that want to play games and watch CBeebies on the telly!

 

 

To find out more about Keepsafe Storage Centres, visit www.keepsafe-storage.co.uk

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