Chartered accountant Brandon Hugh is back in Jamaica after an eight-year stint studying and working in Canada.

Since his return to the island in 2019, Hugh has launched two businesses – Simple Advisory Limited and Quick Clinic in Barbican, St Andrew – which he says has both garnered successes over the years, but his enthusiasm was more pronounced when he began discussing his latest business venture — Carib Storage Limited.

He has found his “big business” idea.

“We have received a lot of requests for storage over a short period of time. I’m encouraged by the demand we’ve had particularly for the storage of household and commercial items,” Hugh told the Jamaica Observer.

Marketed as Jamaica’s first climate-controlled indoor storage facility, Carib Storage is currently under construction with planned launch date set for the fourth quarter of 2024 — that is, between October to December. The business is located in Kingston, but Hugh is holding the exact location close to his chest until the official launch date. He also declined to speak on investment numbers.

Spread across 40,000 square feet, Carib Storage will provide over 300 storage units, varying from a 25-square-foot storage space, similar to the size of a walk-in closet, up to 200-square-feet, which is comparable to a small garage.

The units are being pitched to clients looking for extra room to store personal items, stocks for a micro or small business, raw materials or finished products for medium-sized commercial operation or even tools and equipment for a tradesman.

“When you look at trends overseas, there are quite a bit of self-storage businesses and then I started asking myself why is it that countries like Canada have so many self-storage units, but there is little to none in Jamaica.

“From what I’ve read, it comes down to the development of apartment units. As the development of apartments progressed, then people started having less storage space. In Jamaica, there is a disconnect, we have a boom in apartment units but there is little space,” Hugh said.

Carib Storage will compete directly with companies like UStore Self Storage, A1 Storage, Pack It Up Storage, and Orange Owl Storage, but Hugh isn’t overly concerned about the competition, noting that the market in Jamaica is large enough for accept new players.

Research carried out by Hugh ahead of forming the business concludes that the available for self-storage in Jamaica is in excess of 5.1 million square feet based on data in US data, but less than 10 per cent of that is currently covered by the existing storage unit operators.

Otherwise, Hugh says his company sets itself apart from the competition through the use of modern technology, the inclusion of a climate-controlled aspect, and service ease.

“Humidity is an issue in Jamaica. The goods can get moulded or rot, so your best bet is to keep your items in a climate-controlled facility. Secondly, it’s a self-storage facility which means that you have almost all the control, you can grab your trolley and get what you need from your locker and go,” the 32-year-old entrepreneur, who also sits on the board of the box-making company AMG Packaging Limited, said.

The cost for a storage unit varies from $2,490.87 to $18,115.38 per week depending on the size of the facility.

In the first phase Carib Storage will hire less than five people to manage the operation and for security purposes, but as demand grows, Hugh hopes to venture into cold-storage units.

“That would really be dependent on how successful this business is. I know that there is a huge demand for cold-storage units but that would run three to four times the cost of setting up this facility, so that expansion would really depend on Carib Storage’s success,” Hugh said.

“For now, we just want to help small business owners to free up space at home that might be stocked with goods or even large businesses that have to store documents for seven years or more,” he continued.

Hugh has already received approvals from the planning authorities for the development of the structure on lands he owns. He is, however, working through permits from the Rent Assessment Board of Jamaica.