Speakers
Paul Fahey
Session
In June Storage World in Middleton was devastated by a fire that destroyed this 47,000 square foot lettable store over 2 levels. Managing the impact of this disaster took significant resources from both the business and the SSA UK. Paul and Rennie will be sharing the lessons learnt from this experience, what the business did well, where they could have improved and lessons learnt that can help operators deal with future disasters. Including social media management, managing misinformation, customers salvage expectations, unexpected issues with insurance, the impact of lithium ion batteries on the fire and how this impacted the business. An essential session for you to improve your own disaster management plan.
Paul joined the moving and storage business as a teenager in 1981 and soon found the movers trade association in the UK, a valuable source of information about best practice and methods. In 1999 Paul joined the Self-Storage Industry, which in Europe and the UK was approximately 10% of the size it is today. Paul was a director of the UK SSA for 11 years including 3 years as Chairman, a director of FEDESSA for 10 years including 3 years as President. Paul has established four different small self storage businesses including one in Italy, three of which he has since sold and one which he still has an ownership stake in and his family operates. As a side “hobby” Paul has advised operators, or would be operators, in a consultancy capacity, in several Middle eastern countries and most European countries over the last 20 years.
Rennie is the current CEO of FEDESSA and the Self Storage Association UK, having previously been the CEO of the Australasian Self Storage Association for over 9 years. Rennie has extensive knowledge of the self storage industry across the world, from the developing Asian markets through to the birthplace of self storage in the USA. He has over 27 years of association management experience, 21 at CEO level. Rennie has an MBA from Deakin University and completed the Oxford University High performance leadership programme.