2021 News Update – Since McMullin’s entered into the storage industry after some 24 years McMullin was approached by the Blackstone team and successfully negotiated a sale and exit of the business in late 2021
May 2019
Fort Knox Self Storage has been the outcome of a business partnership that has flourished over the last 22 years. Starting in 1998, McMullin and the Wilson Family joined forces to develop what was then a single self-storage site in Dandenong to what has now become one of Victoria’s most recognised self-storage brands, operating 11 locations throughout Melbourne and employing over 50 staff.
In 1998, self-storage was in its infancy in Australia. Ian McMullin, the eternal entrepreneur, noticed a growing self-storage trend in America and envisaged a bright future for the industry in Australia. The McMullin team then joined forces with the Wilson Family who had established the first Fort Knox Self Storage facility two years earlier in Moorabbin. The partnerships was foundered around a complementary vision to grow self-storage in Australia.
The Fort Knox Self-Storage partnership worked together to accelerate their growth exponentially, expanding to seven self-storage sites by 2002. Over the next 18 years, the company has continued to grow, with regular new buildings opening, each one built for this purpose, increasing in size, structure and functionality. There is currently ten Fort Knox Self-Storage businesses in critical locations around Melbourne, and two additional sites will open their doors in 2021.
McMullin and the Wilson Family undertake the ongoing Fort Knox property developments in partnership. The McMullin team is utilising their property knowhow to assist in the smooth progression through the entire development process, from site selection through to building completion.
Fort Knox Self Storage is a good news story for local business success. With a targeted, tight strategy, the team focus on their locations, service offerings and the convenience they can offer customers. This approach has seen then brand grow to become the 2nd largest independently owned storage supplier throughout Australian, accounting for almost 10% of Victoria’s self-storage market.
“McMullin consider their long-terms business partnership with the Wilson family, to be a resounding success and a great reflection on our innovative eye on future opportunity, the flexibility to draw on complementary skills as and when required to create a truly successful, long-term business partnership.” says Ian McMullin, Managing Director, McMullin
Extending this business partnership, McMullin and the Wilson Family launched the complimentary mobile self-storage business Go Box. Go Box is specifically targeting the ‘moving market’, offering a more convenient way of managing the mammoth task of packing, transporting, storage and unpacking when moving house. These portable self-storage units, with its unique lift and moving system, can be conveniently located for filling, easily transported for storage and then repositioned to unpack, all in your time and at your convenience.
Find out more www.fortknoxselfstorage.com.au and www.gobox.com.au