Off-site document storage can be a bit of an unknown quantity at times. For some people, its just a place to store paperwork away from their office. For other people the mindset is totally different, and its a secure location where important documents can be safely stored for a number of years.

In many industries it is a legal requirement that paper records are kept for a certain period of time, so having a reliable document storage company is a weight of the mind of the business owners or directors if they know that the documents will be a) stored safely and b) easily retrievable.

There are many different document storage server providers out there all after your business, and the British mindset over the last few years has been to automatically go with the cheapest price, however, common sense would tell you that this isn't always the right way to go. It's not the cheapest price that should win your business, but the best value for money.

So what does value for money mean? Well, putting it simply, it means you are getting the best service for the money you are spending. Is it better to pay a little bit more to get extra security of your documents, or are you prepared to risk the cheapest option and lose everything?

Value for money document storage would offer you a number of services which should really be considered a base standard. For example, retrieval of your documents at any given time is a must. It is not uncommon for a document storage service provider to ask you to book in a time slot to retrieve your documents, but how fast can they fit you in? Ideally it should be same day / next day rather than next week, as sometimes you just don't know when you might need access to your archives. Also, is the storage facility easy to get to via vehicle?

The next most important factor is security of your documents. And I don't just mean security from theft, but also from fire, flood and humidity damage.

Is your proposed document storage facility equipped with the latest technology in CCTV and secured by actual personnel? Do they provide fire and flood protection whilst keeping the humidity of the storage area at the right levels to prevent premature aging of your documents?

What additional extras does the archive facility provide? Do they offer to scan and email documents to you? Or can you access your archives over the internet? These are all things to think about when deciding which Document Storage provider is going to offer you the best value for money.