For many years now, car storage has been something of an afterthought in England. The demand for classic car storage, long term storage and short-term storage has always been high, but execution has often been overlooked. There are a vast number of luxury car storage facilities located all over the country, but many of them have their own take on what car storage looks like. There is no real leader in the industry, enter then; SHY Automotive.
The team behind SHY Automotive is made up of an expert mix of petrolheads who all have a wealth of experience with cars. The board of Directors includes Daniel Wood a senior Lloyd’s Insurance Underwriter who, alongside Desmond Boughton – another industry leading Lloyd’s Broker - co-founded an Ultra High Net Worth Insurance brokerage based in London.
Daniel and Desmond both remain heavily involved in the insurance sector and are influential in the foundations of SHY Automotive. Having their finger on the pulse around what’s important to safeguard a range of high value assets including fine art, jewellery and classic cars, gives them not only the motivation to ensure SHY's clients’ cars are kept safe, but also accurate knowledge around lots of do’s and don’ts.
The team on the ground also includes Lee Sullivan and Zaak Andrews, who between them have more than 30 years combined experience across a diverse spread of car-focussed careers. From facilitating sales of top-tier supercars, sourcing rare classic cars, managing restorations and leading award-winning marketing campaigns, their passion for cars ensures that preserving yours is at the top of their list of things to do.
Daniel is incredibly proud of the journey SHY Automotive has been on and the brand’s inception began over five years ago. Given the development of the concept took some time, there’s a clear vision about the future of car storage amongst the team.
“There are millions of pounds worth of cars stored poorly in this country and after a visit to a sub-standard facility for a vehicle that required a high level of insurance, it was clear the need for something newer, better and more secure was paramount. Classic car storage needed to change, quickly, and that was just the tip of the iceberg.
We joined forces and got to work on curating a business plan for a game-changing car storage operation. We believe we’ve created something special and will certainly be looking to change the perception of car storage in the UK and ultimately, the world. As petrolheads, we want to future-proof our own cars and we can more than understand that mutual feeling with the car community.
Working closely with the owner of a vehicle that was being assessed for insurance, we all came to the agreement that the facility wasn’t up to scratch. It didn’t seem right that cars of this calibre were being stored in a sub-standard facility and we wanted to do something about it.
Many facilities we visited and assessed did not have some of the technologies that we’ve implemented at Shy Automotive. None of them had fire suppression systems, most of them involve moving at least one if not multiple cars before the subject car can be released and almost all our competitors lack a reliable, low-risk power supply for battery conditioning.”
We believe we’ve created something special and will certainly be looking to change the perception of car storage in the UK and ultimately, the world.
“Location is always important with any new business, and it made sense to look initially in the South East for a facility that was purpose built and to a high standard, as there’s a huge car community here. The SHY Automotive team also have lots of connections in the region and there’s big scope to build strong ongoing relationships.
Choosing our home took some time as we knew what we wanted from the building as a whole and we also knew where we wanted to be for ease of access. Our home in Bolney, offers everything we need. We’re conveniently located just off the M23, only a 15-minute drive from London Gatwick Airport and only a 30 minute drive from the M25. Our facility also sits close to the A272 which connects the furthest part of East Sussex and stretches far west into the Hampshire border.
Brighton, Crawley, Worthing, Horsham, Chichester and Eastbourne are all within easy reach of us, so our catchment area is huge. The building itself is the cherry on the top of the proverbial cake as it’s brand-new. It has been built to a tremendously high standard and given its 46,000 sq ft size (50,000sq ft with our outdoor area) is the perfect foundation for our venture. There’s a big demand for car storage in Sussex we’re ready to serve it.”
“Safety, security and convenience are the holy trinity of car storage. SHY Automotive is confident that the foundations of the operation are built on those key principles. We have a security network that includes more than 40 CCTV cameras both securing the perimeter and keeping track of everything inside, paired to 24-hour on-site security staff keeping watch of all movements. Our internal team also use fingerprint scanners to gain access to the building, our vehicle vault and our internal machinery for a supreme layer of added security.
Given the insurance backgrounds of some of the team, we understand what’s truly necessary to maintain a safe and secure space in which to house valuable assets and in our case; cars. Our experience in safeguarding some of the finest pieces of art is mirrored with our car storage facility. Lowering risk and raising the bar on technology and security is exactly what’s necessary.
The convenience factor is just as important too. We understand that everybody’s car storage requirements will be different, and we are set up for all eventualities. We can move any single vehicle in our facility without having to move another. We also have technology in place to be able to move a car from its dedicated, galvanised steel bed to our front car park in less than 10 minutes. No other classic car or luxury car storage facility in the country can offer the same.
Our power supply to maintain each individual car’s battery health is also armoured, which makes it almost impossible to break through. Thus, maintaining a healthy and constant supply of power for every car, individually. Each of them has their own, dedicated 3 pin plug socket, conveniently located to its bed location. This maximises the car’s battery condition and minimizes the risk of fire – there’s no extension leads coiled up all over the place!”
It’s clear from the minute you dig a little deeper into who makes up the team at SHY Automotive, what our backgrounds are when it comes to cars and the levels we’ve gone to in creating a state-of-the-art car storage facility, that we truly believe in changing the perception of car storage in the UK. We love cars and we want people to enjoy them forever. Time spent with cars of this calibre is becoming increasingly limited and we want to ensure that at the flick of a switch or the turn of a key, you can enjoy your pride and joy as quickly and as worry-free as possible.
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