A lot can happen in two decades, especially in the automotive world. From the rise of hypercars to hybrids, Windrush Car Storage has adapted to keep up with changes in the marketplace. But, whether it’s in Windrush’s original Cotswolds home or its London car storage facility, founder Tim Earnshaw has always remained reassuringly steadfast to his original goals – to look after peoples’ cars as if they were his own.
Crazy idea to credible storage business
Twenty years ago, the idea of paying to put your car into storage might have seemed outlandish. Certainly, that was the reaction when founder, Tim Earnshaw, approached his accountant with his plan.
“‘You’re going to do what? People are going to pay you to store their cars?’ That’s the response I had back then,” says Tim with a rueful smile.
But Tim knew he was onto something and remained steadfast in his ambition to ‘look after people’s cars as if they were my own.’
“I knew I was lucky that I grew up on a farm where there was the luxury of space,” he says. “That’s where I began building my own car, a classic Morgan, which effectively started the business. I didn’t have to ask where can I put my car in storage because I had the room to do it. It’s because I knew how special my Morgan was that I thought, yes, people will want this!”
The stats proved him right – in 2004, there were just a handful of car storage businesses in the country; today that figure is in the hundreds. Windrush was one of those early pioneers of car storage and is still leading the way in terms of customer experience and satisfaction.
As we reflect on Windrush’s 20 year anniversary in the industry, we ask Tim what else has changed in the car storage business.
Car storage for all seasons
Perhaps not surprisingly, Windrush’s first client was a classic car owner. Back then, car storage was very much a seasonal business, with classic cars being stored over the winter and taken out again in spring when the weather warmed up.
Classic cars are notoriously susceptible to moisture, so, right from the outset, Tim offered a controlled environment where classic car owners could feel reassured that their precious vehicles were being properly cared for. It was this insistence on exceptional customer service that created a whole new appetite for year-round car storage.
“That first client turned round and said to me, ‘you look after my car better than I do, so I’m going to leave it all with you all year round and just call you to take it out on a sunny weekend,’” says Tim. “How to keep moisture out of a car in storage is really important and having a dehumidified building was a big deal back then. Not many people were doing it, but it’s a very precise way of doing things and Windrush has always been about the best practice way of doing things.”
Windrush’s newly-acquired status as an HMRC bonded custom warehouse also gives international clients access to year-round storage. As an approved HMRC provider, clients can use the company’s secure car storage facilities in London and the Cotswolds to store imported goods without paying customs duty.
“We’ve demonstrated we’ve had to jump through HMRC goals to gain that status,” says Tim. “But it’s a really good feather in our cap.”
From classic to contemporary car care
Perhaps one of the biggest changes that Windrush has seen in the last 20 years is the type of cars put into storage. In 2004, there was a big appetite for classic cars with around 80% of Windrush’s clients owning a classic motor – ‘all of the chrome bumper’ type of stuff’ as Tim puts it. Think E-type, Jaguar Mark 2, MGB, Austin Healey. Today, that figure is very much reversed with 80% of clients owning modern cars – prestige names such as Porsche, Ferrari, McLaren, Aston Martin and Bentley.
With more electric and hybrid vehicles also entering the market, Windrush is already geared up to welcome new types of vehicles with the same standard of care and attention. That’s all down to having consistent procedures in place, as highlighted by Windrush’s ISO 9001 certification, which is an internationally recognised benchmark for quality standards.
Another shifting trend is that a number of the modern cars that Tim has seen coming into storage in the last few years are literally brand new. That in itself has presented opportunities for close collaboration with car manufacturers who often work with the Windrush teams to educate them on how to best care for their cars.
“We had an Aston Martin Valkyrie come to us – it’s like a Formula 1 car for the road,” says Tim. “Aston Martin came and did the handover so it was all first hand information. We get that a lot now with car manufacturers coming to show us how to best look after their cars in the dormant phase so that they remain in the best condition for clients when they take them out on the road – it’s very exciting because they recognise us as a key player in the market.”
Embracing the Amazon effect
Since starting Windrush 20 years ago Tim has seen a growing appetite for convenience, especially in the London car storage sector.
“We are now living in the era of convenience – call it the Amazon effect – so our clients need to know that they can literally arrive and drive at the drop of a hat,” says Tim.
Windrush has always made a point of keeping cars in a state of readiness at all times. That means keeping batteries charged and maintained at optimum levels and keeping cars ‘not just in clean conditions, but show-room conditions’.
But convenience is not just about keeping the car physically ready – it’s all the other little extras that are often overlooked – Windrush keeps track of every car’s MOT expiry and any other car admin and will proactively help clients with car-related requests through the popular car concierge services.
“At Windrush, our aim is to over-exceed expectations, which is why we offer our value-added car concierge services,” says Tim. “People might ask how much is car storage, so if we are being scrutinised on the bottom line, that we are more expensive than perhaps another user, we want to show that you get something extra for that.”
There are countless incidents that Tim can recount where the team have jumped through hoops to help clients with a request at short notice. The most recent being a car owner who called at 7.30pm on a Friday night to see if the Windrush team could arrange for his car to be delivered to CarFest the next day and returned back to its home at Windrush’s London car storage facility on the Sunday. Never one to back down from a challenge, Tim pulled a few strings to make it happen.
“The fact that it was last minute and the client knew we could do it happens quite a lot now,” says Tim. “We are extremely proud of that.”
The next 20 years of Windrush Car Storage
So much has happened in the last two decades it seems almost impossible to predict where the automotive world is headed in the next 20 years.
“I don’t think the appetite for car storage in London or the Cotswolds will go away,” says Tim. “Cars are objects of desire, they are vehicles for escapism. Maybe the amount they are driven might decline – they might just go to private events or track days, for example, or they might become collectible automotive art, but there will still be a need for car storage.”
As for Windrush? Tim and his team will keep on doing what they do best – that’s offering exceptional customer service and fulfilling Tim’s goal of ‘looking after people’s cars as if they were my own’
Convenient car storage in London and beyond
At Windush, we offer secure car storage that works for you. Whether you’re looking for London car storage or need space to store your vehicle in the Cotswolds, talk to our team to find out how we can help.
