Brand, platform, and customer service

Our strategy from the outset has been to develop Big Yellow into the market-leading self storage brand, delivering excellent customer service, investing in sustainability and our market-leading operating platform and digital channels, with a great culture and highly motivated employees.  We concentrate on developing our stores in main road locations with high visibility, where our distinctive branding generates high awareness of Big Yellow. 

Creating shareholder value

We continue to believe that the medium-term opportunity to create shareholder value consists of driving revenue and cash flow from our existing portfolio through continued investment in sustainability, our people, culture, and digital operating and marketing platforms.  In addition, we aim to deliver external growth as new stores open through continued investment in our development pipeline, and selectively acquiring existing storage centres from smaller operators.  As a REIT our key financial objective is to produce sustainable returns for shareholders through a relatively low leverage, low volatility, high distribution business.  In addition, any successful business must have an effective sustainability strategy, particularly around climate change, and this continues to be a key strategic focus for our business.     

We focus on the following key areas:

• leveraging our market-leading brand position to generate new prospects, principally from our digital, mobile and desktop platforms;
• focusing on training, selling skills, and customer satisfaction to maximise prospect conversion and referrals;
• growing occupancy and net rent to drive revenue optimally at each store;
• maintaining a focus on cost control, so revenue growth is transmitted through to earnings growth;
• increasing the footprint of the Big Yellow platform principally through new site development and where possible existing prime freehold stores that meet our quality criteria;  
• through our environmental initiatives, aim to create a more sustainable business which will increase shareholder and customer value in both the medium and long-term;
• through our social initiatives, we support local charities with free storage space and help vulnerable get back into the workplace through the Big Yellow Foundation;
• maintaining Big Yellow’s culture as an accessible, apolitical, inclusive, non-hierarchical, socially responsible, and enjoyable place to work; and
• maintaining a conservative capital structure in the business with Group debt to EBITDA in the range of three to four times.