Suitable Storage for Christmas Decorations

OK so it might not actually be twelfth night yet which is traditionally the time to take down the Christmas decorations but as most people put their Christmas trees and other decorations up very early these days, most are gone by New Year’s day.  So where are you planning on storing your Christmas decorations until next year? In a slightly ripped cardboard box in the attic where they will gather dust? In a bin bag shoved into the corner of the garage? Well might we recommend something a little safer and more protective…put your Christmas decorations into a reusable plastic crate which are available to either rent or buy from us here at EasyCrate.

We offer a range of different plastic crates so you’re sure to find one that’s the right size for all your ornaments, baubles and other bits and pieces. We can even provide packing materials such as bubble wrap too should you need it and not to mention labels which will help you keep everything organised to make your life easier next Christmas.

To book your crate hire, you can use our online ordering system. Alternatively contact us for a quote.

 

Christmas Wishes

With Christmas almost here, we’d like to take this opportunity to wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

At EasyCrate, our dedicated staff are working right up to Christmas and will be back in the office between Christmas and New Year so we will be on hand to handle any crate hire queries or bookings for you. If you have reusable plastic crates on order for collection or delivery over the festive period, our team will also be on hand to deal with those too.

Just a quick reminder that we still have a few special offers running before the end of the year, including 25% off our moving bundles – visit our special offers page for more information on this and our other current deals.

If it’s raining on your Christmas parade, plastic crate hire may be just the trick.

At Easycrate we’ve spent the past year telling you about what benefits our crates can give you when moving or storing items. From their green credentials to speediness when packing there are numerous reasons why hiring crates is a good move, but looking through our blogs from the previous year there seems to be one benefit that trumps all others in both practicality and relevance to the years events, their ability to cope with moisture. 

We are fast approaching the end of 2012, the town lights are going up, the heating is going on and offices across the country are gearing up for Christmas. However it is not all cheer as the country is suffering from the continued effects of what has been a truly miserable year, where the wet weather has seemingly never seised. 

Whether moving office, moving home, or simply storing items to make room for Christmas, the wet weather can cause havoc on cardboard boxes. Even the slightest moisture can cause the box to lose its integrity, making them hard to carry and often causing them to break with the weight of items inside. When storing, even for a short time, damp and mould often begins to affect the items inside 

In wet weather like this plastic crates are in their element. The durable reinforced plastic design ensures that no matter how wet the crate gets, it does not lose its integrity, meaning that even after becoming wet, the crates can be stacked on top of one another, fully laden, without failing and crushing the items inside. The waterproof design of the crates also means that even when wet, your items are far better protected against damp and mould than if stored in a cardboard box. 

If you would like any further information about our plastic crate hire please feel free to contact us and a member of the team will be happy to help. 

On the first day of Christmas…

On the first day of Christmas EasyCrate gave to me….a £25 crate hire voucher. On the second day of Christmas EasyCrate gave to me…another £25 crate hire voucher. On the third day of Christmas EasyCrate gave to me….oh you get the idea. 

To celebrate Christmas, which has got to be our absolute favourite time of year, we are offering the chance for every customer to win a £25 EasyCrate voucher*. Each day in the twelve day run-up to Christmas, we will be selecting one lucky customer to receive a £25 voucher which can be used against our crate hire services. 

To find out more about this offer, or about any of our other services, please contact us.

Free Delivery from EasyCrate This December

December is by far one of the most expensive months of the year for businesses. Not only do you have to have to pay all the usual invoices and business expenses but there may also be staff bonuses to consider, Christmas decorations for the office and that all important Christmas party. Not to mention any working days that are lost over the festive period due to public holidays and staff vacations. With this in mind, we thought that we’d help to ease the financial load this Christmas by offering you a great deal:

FREE DELIVERY THROUGHOUT DECEMBER*

Simply order 100 or more reusable plastic crates from us this December and take advantage of free delivery* to any address in the UK.

To find out more about our plastic hire crates or this special offer just contact us on 0800 027 2665.

Preparing for Christmas Away

Tis the season to be jolly, fa la la la la, la la la la!

Sorry but we simply couldn’t help ourselves - we’ve refrained from getting into the Christmas spirit for so long that we were fit to burst! We’ve had a little chat in our office and it seems that most of us are going away this Christmas. Some to other areas of the UK whilst some are off to find a bit of Christmas sunshine. It would appear however that going away for Christmas poses a little bit of a dilemma – how to transport all those Christmas gifts without the children seeing them, after all it is Santa who’s supposed to be delivering the presents.

Well thanks to our wide range of moving crates, we have the perfect solution. Simply place all your gifts in our opaque reusable plastic crates and close the integrated lid. Your little treasures will never know that all their Christmas presents are inside. The crates make your gifts easy to transport and you can choose the best size to suit your needs.

Our crates aren’t restricted to transporting Christmas presents, they can also be used for easily moving the turkey, veggies or abundance of mince pies too.

To order your plastic moving crates, fill out our online form now.

Five Ways EasyCrate Make Your Life Easier

At EasyCrate we pride ourselves on our quick and reliable service. We go out of our way to try and make things easier for you when ordering crates and our friendly customer services team are on hand seven days a week to help you along the way. Here are just five of the ways that we make your life easier:

1.       UK Wide Crate Delivery and Collection – we can deliver your reusable plastic crates straight to your door to make our service more convenient for you. We will also collect the crates for you too – saving you both time and energy.

2.       Expert Advice from Industry Professionals – at Easycrate we have a competent, highly experienced team who can advise you about the moving crates and other materials you may require.

3.       Online Crate Request Service – you can access our online crate request service 24/7 for convenience. We’ll then call you back to confirm your order.

4.       Wide Range of Moving Crates Available – we offer a wide range of reusable packing crates which are ideal for a variety of uses. See our full selection here.

5.       Extendable and Flexible Contracts – we understand that moving offices can be unpredictable so we offer extendable and flexible contracts so you can order additional plastic crates if and when required.

If you would like to know more about our services, please contact us.

Making It Personal

At EasyCrate we don’t just offer crate hire, we also sell plastic crates too. Our reusable plastic crates have been specially designed to make them suitable for a wide range of uses from moving offices to transporting items securely, to safely housing things whilst in storage. Our most popular crates are the Standard Lidded Crate and the Metre Lidded Crate, but we have a wide range of other crates available to buy too.

Our crates can be placed inside each other when not in use, ideal for space saving, whilst when full the crates can be stacked on top of one another. Thanks to their durable design, they won’t crush the contents of the crates at the bottom either. Fully watertight and with integrated lids, the possibilities of using our crates are endless.

Plus you can now make your crates personal by adding your company name or logo to the sides too. If you are interested in this service, please contact us for further information.

More than just reusable plastic crates

We’re sure you know by now that we offer a wide range of reusable plastic crates which can be used for anything from office moves to domestic storage. However what a lot of our clients don’t know is that we also offer a lot more than just crate hire.

At EasyCrate, we can also offer you the following:

·         Bubble wrap – we can provide you with small or large quantities of bubble wrap for your home or office move or your storage requirements. Ideal for protecting all those fragile things, our bubble wrap will ensure your items get safely to their destination.

·         Skate hire – we can also offer you skate hire which allows you to easily move all those full plastic crates around.

·         Security seals – we understand the need for privacy and data protection when moving so we also offer security seals which can be used to securely fasten all our crates.

·         Labels – we find that it pays to be organised so we offer a range of labels to allow you to mark up crates with their contents or destination.

To find out more any of these ancillary items or about our reusable plastic crates, click here or contact us on 0800 027 2665 for further information.

Whiz, Bang, Pop – Reusable Plastic Crates for Bonfire Night

It never ceases to amaze us at how many uses our staff and our customers find for our reusable plastic crates. This week, it was bought to our attention that an organisation arranging a fireworks display for Bonfire night will be using some of our moving crates to store their fireworks in before the show.

Apparently the durable, waterproof design, complete with integrated lid ensures that moisture won’t get into the fireworks and ruin them before they’re lit at the event. Clever thinking!

We’re always interested to know how our packing crates are being used so if you have an innovative idea of a way to use our crates, please let us know by contacting us.

 

 

Special Halloween Offer From EasyCrate

At the end of the month it’s Halloween and the main question is trick or treat? Well this year at EasyCrate we’ve decided to treat our customers to a fabulous special offer.

Free Sack’boo’rrow hire
If you order reusable plastic crates from us during the week of Halloween, you’ll let you hire a sack barrow completely free*.

A sack barrow is perfect for moving heavy boxes and other items during your home or office move without injuring you back. To find out more about our packing crates or this special offer, click here or contact us on 0800 027 2665.

Our Special Computer Related Offer

When you are moving offices, it’s important to ensure that all your items arrive in their new location in the same condition that they left their old location in. This is why at EasyCrate we have reusable plastic crates which have been designed specifically to house computers.

Our aptly named Computer Lidded Crates measure 635x535x590mm and are ideal for housing a computer, a monitor and IT peripherals like a mouse and cables. We also offer computer screen covers which provide extra protection for your monitor against things like scratches and dust whilst moving. Throughout the month of October we are providing these FREE* with every 10 computer crates ordered.

To find out more about this special offer, click here or contact us on 0800 027 2665.

Easycrates for Events

The summer may be well and truly over but that means it’s time to begin looking forward to the Autumn/Winter party season. At Easycrate we understand that as an event organiser, one of the biggest headaches you face is moving and storing all of the pieces needed for a particular event, especially when overseeing multiple events in a short space of time. Easycrate’s plastic crate hire service can be an invaluable tool relieving these stresses, providing a simple and secure way of storing and moving items.   

The durability and flexibility of crates mean that they can be used for every aspect of event hire from transporting food; wine and cooking equipment, to holding decorations; linens and party favours.

Particularly with large events, it’s all too easy to lose track of boxes and their contents. For this reason we can provide numbered security seals to keep your crates contents protected and labels for you to list and keep track of the items inside.

Crates are also incredibly easy to transport between sites and move when on location. They can easily fit into a car, or be stacked in a van or lorry. We can also provide rubber topped skates or trolleys to help move the crates easily around the site.  

Most importantly, we can deliver and pick up the crates when and where you want! This means that you won’t have the hassle of finding somewhere to store the crates when not in use, or transporting them back to head office from an event venue for collection when no longer needed.  

For more information on how Easycrate hire can benefit your event please visit our website, email, or call us free on 0800 027 2665.

 

 

Reusable Plastic Crates for the Garage

Over the summer months, your garage may have become a bit of a dumping ground for items that won’t fit into the house or shed. This may include hose pipes, outdoor toys, gardening equipment and more. Now the summer is over, it’s time to re-organise your garage to make sure everything is properly stored whilst still being easy to access if required.

In order to undertake this immense task, we recommend using reusable plastic crates. These are durable, waterproof and come in a range of different sizes which allow you to store everything from tools to toys with ease. Thanks to the integrated lids, they are also stackable to make the most of your storage space.

To ensure everything is easy to find, we also offer a range of labels too. For more information about purchasing our reusable crates, please contact us on 0800 027 2665.

Reusable Plastic Crates for Post-Summer Storage

Welcome to September. Although at EasyCrate we welcome autumn with open arms, we’re afraid to see the back of the summer season. Warm temperatures have been replaced by a nip in the air and it’s no longer possible to leave the house without some form of sweater or light jacket in hand. It’s therefore time to switch from your high-summer wardrobe of shorts and swimsuits to your transitional wardrobe which will incorporate jumpers, boots and winter woollies.

There are a range of options for putting your summer clothing into storage for the next year – you can pack them away in boxes, suitcases, vacuum bags or bin bags and store them away in cupboards, the attic, the garage or the basement. However if you want to see your clothes in good condition next year, none of these options are recommended. Boxes and suitcases can let in insects such as moths which can eat away at your clothes whilst both options may also leave you clothing susceptible to mould if they get damp whilst in storage. Vacuum bags won’t let your clothes air and may permanently crease some fabrics whilst bin bags can cause staining on your clothing due to the chemicals used in their production.

To ensure that your clothing comes out of storage ready to wear next summer, we recommend thoroughly cleaning them, rolling them and putting them in our reusable plastic crates. These are durable, feature integrated lids to make them suitable for stacking and are watertight.

At EasyCrate we offer rental crates or crates which can be purchased depending on your needs. For more information or a quote, please contact us or call us on 0800 027 2665.

Rental Crates for Back to School Storage

With August drawing to a close, you will be able to sigh with relief that the school holidays are almost over and your children will shortly be returning to school. Due to the awful weather over the school holidays, you will probably find that you have stock piled an abundance of entertainment tools such as board games, DVDs, computer games, art supplies, reading books and more. When your children return to school, they will probably not have time to enjoy all of these until the next school holidays so it leaves the dilemma of what to do with them.

If you leave them in your home, they will take up valuable cupboard space and be a constant temptation to your children when they are supposed to be doing homework. The solution is to hire some reusable plastic crates. These can be used to store all you unused items and the crates stacked neatly away in your shed, garage or attic until the next school holidays. You can even take the rental crates to a self-storage facility with you to free up even more room in your home if required.
At EasyCrate we offer a range of different sized crates, all of which are stackable thanks to the integrated lids. To find out how much it costs to rent our crates, please contact us.

Rental Crates for Car Boot Sales

It’s August and that means the car boot season is in full swing. Car boot sales are a great place to sell unwanted items from women’s clothing to toys, ‘bric a brac’ to books, sports equipment to furniture. It’s usually very cheap to enter a car boot sale and there are lots of customers willing to buy your unwanted goods.

The problem with doing a car boot sale is that you have limited space to display your items. Most car boot stall holders use a table to display most of their items and then maybe a blanket or two on the floor to display the rest. However this isn’t very efficient, especially if it is raining. It can therefore be beneficial to hire some reusable plastic crates from Easycrate.

Prior to the car boot sale, the crates can be used to store your unwanted items to keep them out of the way until you have enough to take to the car boot sale. You can then simply lift them into the car to transport to the sale. Once at the sale, empty crates can be over turned to provide more display room with some crates can be used as rummage boxes for small items all of a similar value such as books or toys.

At Easycrate we offer a range of different sizes crates, all of which are stackable thanks to the integrated lids. To find out how much it costs to rent our crates, please contact us.

Reusable Plastic Crates for Charity Shops

At EasyCrate, we are always amazed by the way in which our clients use our reusable plastic crates. Some choose to hire crates for moving house, some use our crate rental service for putting items into storage whilst others choose to buy plastic crates from us to use themselves time and time again. We thought we’d share some of the uses of our plastic crates with you to get you inspired.

Charity shops often hold a great deal of stock. Due to all the stock being donated items, many of the items arrive out of season. For example after the Christmas and New Year period, people are likely to donate unwanted gifts, surplus Christmas decorations and more. There is no point in the charity shops trying to sell these items in the spring so they store the stock until the right time of year. At the end of the summer, people tend to donate their used summer wardrobe and that of their kids. This is unlikely to sell again until the following spring so the various charities have to store this stock too.

Our wide range of reusable plastic crates can be used in the stock rooms of charity shops to house all the stock that is not right for selling at the moment. Thanks to the integrated lids and uniform design of the crates, the crates can be easily stacked to take up as little space as possible.

The crates can even be used on the shop floor as a way of sorting out the stock, for example they can be used to store children’s toys, shoes, scarfs and more to allow people to rummage for bargains.
These are just a couple of ideas of how are durable plastic crates can be used. If you are interested in buying or hiring crates from us, please call 0800 027 2665.

How To Lift Safely

When you embark on an office move, it is likely that you will have informed all your staff as to where to go and what to do. However for health and safety, it’s important to tell them how to effectively move their belongings too. As crate hire specialists, we know that your moving crates may be heavy to lift so here are some tips to make sure your move goes as safely as possible.

1. Check There is Enough Space Around You – have a quick look around the area where you are intending to move the reusable crate and make sure there are no hazards.

2. Ensure The Correct Footing – for the best balance, your feet should be shoulder-width apart with one foot next to the hire crate and the other behind it.

3. Bend The Knees – make sure you bend your knees and don’t stoop as this will help to prevent back damage.

4. Use Your Body Weight – make sure you use your body weight to start lifting the crate and then straighten your knees to push up.

5. Keep The Load Close To You – keep your arms and elbows close to your body and to change direction don’t twist your body, move your feet instead.

If a plastic crate is too heavy to move safely, at EasyCrate we have a number of moving aids available to hire including the handy sack barrow and the skate. To discuss your requirements or for further information, contact us.

Remember to check back soon or subscribe to our blog to make sure you don’t miss out on other handy moving tips.

Types of moving crates for hire

At Easycrate we have a wide range of different types of crate available for hire. Here is a quick guide to some of our most popular moving crates and what they can be used for.

Standard Lidded Crate (EC3) – this office crate measures 635 x 410 x 325mm and is one of our most versatile crates. Containing an integrated lid, it is ideal for keeping documents and files secure during your office move. When empty, this standard plastic crate nests to save room on storage but once full, these crates can easily be stacked.

Computer Lidded Crate (EC1) – this plastic crate has been designed specifically for moving fragile computer equipment. Again it has an integrated lid to ensure that nothing falls out during your move whilst the robust, sturdy construction makes sure everything inside is well protected. It measures 635 x 535 x 590mm.

Secure Roll Cage (ECSC) – this roll cage is great for moving larger computer equipment which won’t fit in the computer lidded crate. It is ideal for transporting large network printers or servers and comes with two shelves so several components can be moved at once.

Library Trolley (ECLT) – our library trolley is a good way to easily and conveniently move large numbers of books. Just stack them on the shelves, wheel them to their destination and unpack them onto a shelf.

Rubber Topped Skate (ECDOL) – this is an invaluable tool for your office move. It allows you to easily wheel your rented crates to their new location, regardless of how heavy they are.

If you would like more details about any of these crates, or other hire crates, contact us today.

Ensuring Data Remains Secure

As a business, it is almost certain that you will have confidential information that needs to be protected during your office move. In this quick guide, we take a look at what information types you may have and how to ensure these remain secure during your move thanks to plastic moving crates.

1 – Paper Files

Although in recent years there has been a move towards storing things digitally, it’s highly likely that you will still have confidential data printed out or written down within your office. Paper files can be difficult to secure as they can’t be encrypted or password protected so it’s vital that these files remain secure during your office move. For paper files and other important documents, we recommend using the Meter Lidded Crate which is one of our reusable plastic crates. This crate is the perfect size for paperwork and the built-in lid ensures that no paperwork falls out during your move.

2 – Digitally Stored Files

In today’s digital world, many important or confidential files are stored on disks or memory sticks. Due to the size of these components, they are easy to lose during an office move. At Easycrate, we recommend putting all your digital storage devices into a Standard Lidded Crate. This moving crate is smaller than the Meter Lidded Crate and will ensure all your disks are kept together.

3 – Computer Stored Files

Many important files will be stored on your company’s computers and servers. Although these will be protected by encryption codes and passwords, they can be made even more secure by using a Secure Roll Cage to transport them. By using this rental crate, you will not only be protecting the physical computer from damage, but a lock can be used on the cage to offer further protection.

We hope that you’ve found this guide useful but if you have any specific questions or want to know more about our crate hire service, just contact us.

How to effectively label items for moving

The logistics of moving, whether you’re moving home or office, is a minefield of things to remember and things to do. At Easy Crate we strive to make the process as easy as possible for you so this week we’ve sharing our extensive knowledge of how to label your items.

Whether you have chosen to rent crates or are using boxes for your move, it’s vital that you label them. If you are moving office, we would recommend labelling the boxes or crates with the both the floor and the room your box is destined for i.e. floor 2, office 14 and then a brief list of items contained within the box such as marketing files, time sheets or stationary. This way, you or your removal firm will know which room to leave the boxes in and you will be able to prioritise them when it comes to unpacking.

You can also use a colour-coded labelling system when moving offices. At Easy Crate, we offer six different coloured labels to make your move more efficient – black, red, purple, brown, blue and green. If your move is over a number of different floors, we’d recommend using a different colour for each floor.

When using boxes, you can choose to simply write on them in permanent marker pen but if you have chosen to rent crates, use stickers to label them. Remember to label the sides of the boxes or packing crates so if they are stacked up, you will still be able to read the contents.

When labelling larger items such as furniture, we recommend using tags instead of labels where possible. This is because labels don’t stick effectively to some surfaces and may become lost, or that sticky labels may well damage your furniture too.

As well as labelling contents, it’s also a good idea to include your name and contact details on the label too, especially if you are sharing a removal van or moving offices. This will help your possessions reach the right place and also reunite you with them if they become misplaced during the move.

At Easy Crate, we have a number of labels available and for July we’re offering a 25% discount across our labels range so contact us today.

Remember to check back soon to make sure you don’t miss out on other handy moving tips.

Take Advantage of our Bundle Deals

At EasyCrate, we know that most of our customers place orders for more than one item at a time, whether it’s for a quantity of reusable plastic crates or some ancillary moving equipment, or indeed both. That’s why we don’t see the benefit in offering you a discount on just one item. We have therefore put together a special office relocation bundle for you that contains a number of essential moving items at a combined fabulous price.

Bundle Deal Number One – Only £9.95 (plus VAT)

This bundle includes the following must-have items:

One Week’s Skate Hire – a skate is basically a piece of durable plastic with wheels on the bottom that allows you to easily move office crates around without the need to lift them. This skate will certainly make your life much easier during any move.

50 Labels – labels are an invaluable item when it comes to office relocation or placing items in storage. You can use them for labelling the destination or origin of moving crates, to list the contents or the owner of the contents…the possibilities are endless.

100 Security Seals – during an office move, it may be possible to miss-place items for a certain period of time. During this time, you may not be able to control who has access to contents of crates or boxes. With that in mind, it’s vital that you place security seals on your crates to ensure they can’t be accessed or tampered with during your move.

To take advantage of this offer, simply call us on 0800 027 2665. Be sure to check back next week for another amazing bundle deal.