SSA UK Board

Board Members of the SSA UK are elected to provide industry perspective to the strategic management of the Association.

Their primary role is to develop and maintain the strategic plan and ensure that the projects, policies and targets within this plan are adhered to and completed satisfactorily by the Chief Executive of the Association.

The Board is made up of 10 volunteers; 2 Major Operators, 2 Independent Operators, 3 General Members, a Supplier Member, Container Operator and the Chairman. There is also the provision to add an additional non-elected specialist if required.

Each Board Member sits for a 3-year term and can be re-elected for a maximum of 2 terms or 6 years. There is no automatic renewal of Board membership, each Board Member must re-nominate and potentially face an election at the completion of their term. Our current Board Members are:

Karen Murrell

Chairman

Karen has five years’ experience in the self storage industry working as the UK Operations Manager for Shurgard Self Storage. Prior to joining Shurgard, she spent over 20 years working within the car rental industry as an Operations Director. Karen joined the SSA UK Board in June 2022 and is looking forward to supporting the Association and its members.

Alex Henney

Treasurer

Alex has 8 years of experience in the self storage industry. Alex owns and operates Squab Storage which has a growing number of locations based across the Midlands. Prior to his involvement at Squab, Alex spent almost 20 years working within the banking sector at firms such as JPMorgan, Citigroup and Credit Suisse. Alex joined the board in July 2021. Squab Storage, Evesham won Independent Store of the Year in 2021’

Chris Bryan

Board Member

Chris, a Commercial Manager, advises on all property investment and management activities to a number of privately owned, related companies. As part of the portfolio; Chris leads the expanding self storage business, Blue Self Storage (previously known as Cardiff Self Storage), a container self storage operator based in Cardiff. Historically, container operators were often thought of as the ‘lower end’ of the market but with many offering a high standard of quality, Chris believes that good quality, container storage operators have an important place in the market.

Sara Brennan

Board Member

Sara has an engineering background and 11 years experience in the planning, design, construction and operation of self storage facilities. She is a partner in Storage Geeks in Chertsey, Selfstore London in central London and Storage Future. Sara also joined the SSA Board of Directors in June 2019 and works with the rest of the board on the future of the Association and its members.

Edward Howard

Board Member

Edward started his first business buying and selling personalised car numbers from his bedroom when he was just fifteen years old. After many years working in property, he was inspired to join the self storage industry after visiting the FEDESSA conference in 2006. In 2007 he founded self storage operator MegaStorage in Cambridge and in 2012 he acquired Premier Self Storage in Mansfield. InverStore in Greenock became his third facility in 2017.

Emma Chesterton-Kay

Board Member

Emma has worked in the self storage industry since 2003, initially as a Store Manager in London for Access Self Storage, before moving into Property and Development. Emma moved to Safestore as Acquisitions Manager in 2008 followed by Storage King in 2011 where she has been the Head of UK Property for over ten years. Prior to joining the self storage industry, Emma spent most of her time in the air teaching Air Cadets to fly motor gliders and achieved her Private Pilots Licence in 2001.

John Barnes

Board Member

John has been working in the self storage industry for over 14 years and in that time has seen Safestore grow to be the largest self storage business in the UK. His role as a Divisional Manager at Safestore has responsibility for a team of Regional Managers across the UK and Holland as well as the UK Call Centre. John joined the SSA UK Board in June 2022.

Andy Marks

Board Member

Andy has a diverse background across different sectors, and for the last six years has been a supplier in the self storage sector as Director of Keeper's Cottage, who provide auction and clearance services. Andy has experience and extensive knowledge in many areas during his career, including procurement, property and development, finance and business strategy development, in businesses of different sizes. His previous roles include a Commercial Director for a national multi-site FTSE 250 company, a Finance Director for a private equity backed start-up, non-exec director of an IT start-up, and a single site operator. Andy joined the SSA UK Board in June 2023 as the supplier representative, and is looking forward to helping to shape the lines of communication and opportunities available to all suppliers.

Hazel Edwards

Board Member

Together with my husband Tim, we founded Container Team Ltd in 2002 as a container storage depot. We entered the world of self storage later that year when we realised people would pay money to store stuff in the empty containers in our yard. Trading under the brand name of The Space Program, we now have seven outdoor self storage centres in the south west and south Wales and we’re working on a pipeline of new sites. We have recently appointed a Managing Director and a fantastic leadership team and a board of advisors to support them and I now work in a consultative role.

Paul Whittaker

Board Member

My self-storage journey has been one of growth and genuine joy, working through four different groups, multiple brands and been directly involved with over 35 facilities since my adventure began with BiG Storage back in November 2012. I am now a Director of the Flexiss Group, a team I am proud to be associated with I was as a founding member and later the first Chair of the SSA YLG (Young Leaders Group). I have been fortunate to be directly involved with a huge mix of facilities, from traditional self-storage locations and buildings, dealing with the challenges and opportunities these present, as well as being instrumental in location finding, development, financing, operating, exiting and acquiring, some of the most advanced facilities in the UK today.

From time to time, Board Members may speak on behalf of the Association and the board on industry issues.