There is a joke in my family that instead of being English we are really Gypsies. In the past 50 years we have scattered over the entire globe. I can pop in—figuratively speaking—on family members in Australia, Canada, Corfu, New Zealand and South Africa as well as my country of origin.
I relish the international experience and seeing the world from other perspectives. That is why I enjoy the ISS annual Europe/U.K. supplement published every November. By dint of good fortune I am the editor of this issue and get to gather stories from the other side of the large pond. And every year I see the industry over there grow stronger and stronger.
This supplement would not be possible without the support of many. In the past I’ve had some great articles from Carl August-Ameln, who introduced self-storage to Norway in 1993. His is also one of the directors of the newly formed SelStor AB, the newest entrant to the European self-storage market. Phillippe Peyrot with Annexx SAS in France and Sabrina Tordo with Casaforte Self Storage in Italy have often provided their words of wisdom.
For the past couple of years we have been able to feature a survey of European self-storage produced by the folks at Steel Storage U.K. Other U.K. contributors who have risen to the occasion are Gareth Williams and Andrew Donaldson with Active Supply and Design.
There are many, many others too numerous to mention who have written for the supplement since it was launched five years ago. If your name isn’t up here among the lights, it is only because my blog space is limited. But I want to express my deep appreciation to all of you.
You will be hearing from me this year as the success of your industry and this issue continues. Thank you in many languages.