WAREHOUSE STORAGE SOLUTIONS UK

Getting More From the Building You Already Have

The cheapest pallet position in the UK is the one you gain in a building you are already paying rent on. On a typical 2,000 m² unit with 8 m to the haunch, racking that stops at 5 m is wasting roughly a third of the cubic capacity. Adding a beam level costs a fraction of taking additional space, and provided the sprinkler design and truck lift height allow it, we can usually do it over a weekend with your stock still in the building.

The second gain is aisle width. Many sites run 3,200 mm aisles because that is what was drawn ten years ago, while the current fleet needs 2,700 mm. Recovering 500 mm across eight aisles in a 60 m deep building is roughly 240 m² of floor handed back — often two extra racking runs.

The third is layout logic. Goods-in, bulk store, pick face and despatch should form a loop, not a maze. We produce a full CAD layout with runs, aisles, clearances and traffic routes so you can see the pallet count before you commit, and we will show you two or three options with the position count and cost for each.

• Free site survey with laser measurement and slab checks
• CAD layout drawings showing pallet positions per option
• Beam level additions to existing racking where sprinklers allow
• Aisle rationalisation to match your current truck fleet
• Mezzanine floors from 350 kg/m² for pick and packing areas
• Phased installation so the warehouse keeps trading

Sprinklers, Fire and Insurance — The Constraints That Bite Late

Nothing derails a storage project faster than a sprinkler issue discovered after installation. As a working rule we keep the top of the highest pallet at least 500 mm below the sprinkler deflectors, and where solid decking is used we flag it early because it obstructs water distribution — mesh decking is often required instead.

Flue spaces between back-to-back runs matter too. Insurers commonly expect a clear transverse flue of around 150 mm through back-to-back racking so water can reach lower levels; run-spacers should set that gap, not chance. We design to it as standard and note it on the layout drawing so your insurer can sign off before the steel is ordered rather than after.

Installation, Handover and Aftercare

Installations run by our own SEIRS-carded installation teams, with £10m public liability, DBS-checked operatives and IPAF and CSCS accreditation. We work weekends, nights and phased sequences because most of our customers cannot stop despatching to have racking fitted.

On completion, each run receives a load notice, a handover certificate and a marked-up layout drawing. After that we cover the whole life of the system: SEMA-approved annual inspections, repairs using compliant repair components, relocations when you move building, and buy-back or clearance when you replace it. Sixty-plus years in racking means we still hold profiles and components for systems that went out of production decades ago.

Budgeting a Storage Project Without Surprises

The racking itself is rarely the whole cost. On a full fit-out you should budget for the steel, installation labour, floor fixings, protection, load notices and drawings, plus the items that catch people out: sprinkler modifications where the top load level moves, lighting re-hung to run down the new aisle centres, floor marking for traffic routes and pedestrian walkways, and any slab remediation if the survey finds it.

Where budget is tight we phase. A common approach on a growing operation is to install the full frame layout at day one and buy beam levels as volumes grow, because frames are the disruptive item and beams can be added in an afternoon. That keeps the aisle geometry right from the start instead of forcing an expensive re-layout in year two.

We quote line by line so you can see what is racking, what is labour and what is builder's work. If part of the scope is better done by your own contractors, we will say so rather than marking it up.