FINANCE: Sales increased to £21.3m at storage firm Big Yellow Group in the final quarter of 2014.
Revenue was up 16% from the same quarter in 2013.
The revenue excluding the partnership stores included from 1 December 2014 (which the company acquired during the period) was £20.3m.
In what is always a seasonally weaker quarter for the group, the 68 stores fell in occupancy by 103,000 sq ft compared with a loss of 120,000 sq ft the previous year.
Rents during Q4 remained largely static at £25.31 per sq ft.
At the same time Big Yellow Group completed the shell of a new 60,000 sq ft store in Enfield, north London, and exchanged contracts to acquire the Royal Mail depot adjacent to the Cambridge retail park.
Chief executive James Gibson said: “The seasonal loss of occupancy in the group this quarter is in the normal range of 2% to 3% of MLA, and pleasingly towards the lower end of this range, driven by year-on-year improvement in move-in numbers in the stores. This improving demand is broad based across domestic and business customers.”
