Archive

“As a general rule, the most successful man in life is the man who has the best information”   Benjamin Disraeli

It depends on your business but can be files, maps, models, pictures, drawings, plans, accounts records, tender documentation, official notices, purchase orders, invoices, credit notes, bank statements, invoices, sales ledgers, receipts, paying-in books, cancelled cheques, payroll records, personnel files, redundancy papers, pension scheme administration books, insurance documents, tax records, investment / treasury records, estate management deeds, licences, leases, planning applications, tapes, films, crates, filing cabinets etc.

Frequency of use for different records varies, please see our Document Retention Guidelines. Some records need to be physically close at hand, others referenced only infrequently. Sometimes you cannot determine when you will require the records but keep them as a matter of good house-keeping, prudence, a valuable resource in litigation either for or against your company and / or regulatory compliance. Some records may have a limited lifespan and may be disposed of when no longer required. Other records may have intrinsic, financial, personal, legal or historic value. At our Bedfordshire file storage or our Hertfordshire file storage facility, archive storage is a specialty.

It is an unsavoury fact that exposure to litigation is drifting inexorably towards the American model. Prompt analysis of your records schedule will not only provide you or your lawyers the confidence of knowing crucial information is easily to hand and can be retrieved quickly but will almost certainly save you unnecessary legal bills as your lawyers scuttle around trying to salvage a poor situation for you. (Bedfordshire document storage Hertfordshire document storage Buckinghamshire document storage)

Possibly the most important reason why companies might create archive storage is so as not to fall foul of the authorities. All businesses must comply with a plethora of rules and regulations, both U.K and European, as well as possibly U.S. or others if the company has a U.S office or foreign office or interests. Recent examples being the 2006 Companies Act or The Companies (Registrar, Languages and Trading Disclosures) Regulations 2006 issued on 20 December 2006. We would always recommend you seek expert advice as the rules and regulations are constantly changing but the Leighton Buzzard archive storage unit and Hitchin, Baldock, Letchworth archive storage facilities provide a useful Document Retention Guidelines.

80% of organisations that have failed to plan for disaster fail within 6 months of the event (source: KPMG). Many companies never recover from major set backs such as fire, flood or terrorist outrage and the failure to maintain off-site records is often a major cause of this breakdown as many people under-estimate the importance of certain records until they lose them. Risk management and continuity planning is important for small businesses but essential for larger businesses. Bedfordshire disaster recovery Hertfordshire & Buckinghamshire.

A carefully designed integrated schedule of all records can allow your staff to quickly determine which category their particular records should be allotted to. If you prefer our Letchworth / Hitchin / Baldock or Leighton Buzzard archive storage staff can create document storage records for you.

By outsourcing your storage process, you can concentrate your expertise into what you do best as a company, channel your energies into your core business, seize real competitive advantages, create sales opportunities and maximise profitability.

Good records will show not only what documents are being stored but should show why. This will mean that records are not stored unnecessarily and can be destroyed once their lifespan has been exceeded. It also will mean that pertinent records are not mistakenly destroyed. Our Leighton Buzzard and Letchworth / Baldock / Hitchin archive storage facilities can provide specialist document retention advice.

Accurate records with known lifecycles and scheduled disposals, also means you can accurately budget for this element of your business.

A scheduled disposal of records minimises business risk and provides a simple database to ensure you comply with regulations, avoid costly fines or penalties and mitigate expensive or unnecessary litigation.

Well structured records allow your staff to not only determine whether specific records exist but where to quickly locate them. Time is money and maybe essential in responding quickly to a valued customer or warding off a competitor.