Stacked on their sides and leaning against one another like dominoes, artworks in a collection intended for loan to schools throughout Cambridgeshire were clearly not being stored under ideal conditions.

To remedy this, Cambridgeshire County Council decided that they should all be moved to an existing storage location that was being used to house musical instruments.

The need for the instruments and the artwork to share the same site gave rise to two issues – first, the existing storage equipment at the site would need to be completely replaced, and second very effective use would have to be made of the available space if both collections were to be accommodated comfortably.

With these requirements in mind, the Council approached System Store Solutions and two other companies to tender for the new storage equipment.

“The difference between the responses was very illuminating,” said Stuart Elsom, Principal Business Support Manager for Cambridgeshire County Council. “One of the companies wanted a £400 fee to investigate our requirements, whether or not we decided to order from them. Another couldn’t supply storage systems that were capable of being moved to another site, should that prove necessary at some time in the future.”

“The only company that could do everything we wanted, and do it at a reasonable price, was System Store Solutions,” he continued. “There was also another big difference. System Store Solutions was by far the most enthusiastic and helpful of the potential suppliers we approached.”

To house the musical instruments, mobile shelving was proposed, as this would provide the maximum amount of storage capacity in the minimum of space, without in any way impairing accessibility.

For the artwork, deciding on the best combination of storage facilities was a more difficult task, so the Council decided to call on the expertise and experience of System Store Solutions. The company visited the old storage site and examined the artworks in detail. On the basis of its findings, it offered three proposals, which the Council evaluated prior to selecting which optimally met its needs.

The system finally supplied comprises a carefully formulated mix of pull-out picture racking for large framed items and pigeon-hole shelving for smaller framed items. A mobile access ladder is also provided to assist in the safe handling of large framed prints, and also to allow the top shelves in the mobile racking to be used, so that no space was wasted. Additionally, mobile workstations were supplied to permit flexible working.

“The whole of the installation process went extremely smoothly,” said Stuart Elsom, “and System Store Solutions confirmed itself as being a very pleasant and easy company to deal with. That didn’t stop us, however, from being a little on tenterhooks when we came to move the artwork to the new storage. Of course, we needn’t have worried – it was a perfect fit, proving that System Store Solutions had analysed our needs with complete accuracy.”

With its new storage facilities for artwork, Cambridgeshire County Council can now provide an even better service for schools in the county. The schools simply use a secure area of the County Council website to choose the artwork they wish to borrow from the hundreds of items shown in thumbnail form, and then submit their requests. Thanks to the efficiency of the new storage system, the required items can quickly be located and despatched.