We’re used to a world where chatting to someone in Australia is as easy as ordering a takeaway from two streets away. But it’s still vital for businesses to know their local area. That’s why we’re starting a new series of ‘Spotlight on’ blogs. In each one, we’ll be focusing on how CAS can boost the bottom line for businesses operating in towns and cities in eastern and south-east England. Our first stop is Chelmsford.
Putting Chelmsford on the map
Chelmsford is on the up. Awarded city status in 2012, it’s the historic county town of Essex and still the region’s administrative, economic, cultural, leisure and retail centre. With its proximity and connectivity to London, Chelmsford has particular strengths in financial and business services. But with a strong higher education sector and a highly skilled workforce, it has strengths in medical technology, research and development, and advanced manufacturing too.
Indeed, Chelmsford plays a critical role in the economic success of the area, contributing over £3 billion per annum to the UK economy. The city has very low unemployment and a vigorous community of over 8,000 businesses employing at least 83,000 people. Chelmsford has attracted major corporations such as MS Amlin, IFDS, BAE Systems, e2v, Visteon, Baltelle and Grant Thornton. But most of Chelmsford’s businesses are small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), with up to 250 employees.
Off-site secure document storage can offset expensive office space
The Employment Land Review published in October 2014 highlighted that Chelmsford has the most office floor space in Essex, with a high percentage of second-hand office space. However, there is less space than in other regional cities of similar size. And there is a shortage of high-quality Grade-A office development opportunities, with limited land available for flexible business uses.
Unsurprisingly, this has driven up rents, with a premium on quality office space. This is where CAS can help SMEs and bigger companies. By taking your archive storage and secure document storage off-site to our state-of-the-art facilities, we allow you to optimise your floor space and save on rent costs. What’s more, our document scanning services and CAS-Cloud document management systems enable you to securely store documents without compromising on access to live files. This also allows more of your staff to work flexibly, which again reduces your need for premium office space.
Reduced insurance costs for Chelmsford-based SMEs
As well as saving on rent costs, off-site storage can reduce other overheads too. SMEs in Chelmsford which utilise CAS secure document storage can also benefit from reduced insurance costs. Insurers often provide a reduction in costs if critical documents are stored off-site in secure fire-proofed facilities, as this limits the business impact of damage to your premises, and thus reduces the costs of business continuity plans. All of CAS’s facilities have the latest fire suppression measures, as well as being highly secure.
Fully accredited service for financial sector records storage
Research undertaken by Regeneris in 2014 indicates that there is a huge opportunity for growth in the finance and professional services sector in Chelmsford. CAS has years of experience storing, transporting and managing sensitive documentation such as financial records. We ensure our services work to support the requirements of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), as well as UK and EU privacy requirements, and Sarbanes-Oxley regulations in the USA.
As such we are ideally placed to offer Chelmsford’s financial service providers secure financial records storage. For instance, CAS deploys Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) to individually bar-code and scan storage boxes, enabling comprehensive audits in close to real-time. The resulting audit trail of all clients’ transactions supports strict compliance regulations on handling sensitive information.
Expertise in storage of secure medical records and MedTech R&D
The global medical technology (MedTech) sector is a massive £150-170 billion, with the UK share estimated at £15 billion. Chelmsford is ideally placed to maximise the opportunities provided by the sector’s growth. Anglia Ruskin University’s Medical Business Innovation Centre (MEDBIC) caters for medical and advanced engineering start-ups, providing research and development facilities on site. And the MedTech Campus in Chelmsford benefits from links with Broomfield Hospital and other private healthcare providers in the area.
CAS can provide secure R&D file and medical records storage for companies operating in this sector. We have an excellent track record of working with organisations whose document archive arrangements are complex and demanding – and ensuring that we help fulfil clients’ obligations as set out by the Care Quality Commission (CQC). Read our case study on the Cambridgeshire Community Services NHS Trust, for which we relocated and digitised over 20,000 confidential client health care files.
Looking to the future with CAS
Given its location and vibrant business community, Chelmsford will continue to play a key role in ensuring the region’s prosperity. Looking to the future, companies in such sectors as advanced manufacturing, low carbon and renewables, life sciences and healthcare, digital and creative services, business services, and logistics are set to thrive. For all these sectors, CAS’s secure document storage and CAS-Cloud document management services will help trim their costs. Furthermore, we’ll help meet the requirements of the forthcoming General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) with our environmentally friendly secure document shredding and IT equipment disposal services.
By enhancing their bottom line, CAS can keep local businesses playing their part in this ongoing economic success. Contact CAS today to discuss all our services.
Contact CAS today to find out how we can help with any or all of your office supply needs.
- Email: Info@CAS.ltd
- Call: 0845 50 50 003
- Website
About CAS
CAS provides comprehensive and secure document digitisation, information storage and facilities management services. For more than 20 years CAS have worked with NHS Trusts, Financial Services providers, and corporate and private clients. Our head office is just four miles from the City of London, supported by our advanced storage centres across the UK. CAS has an impressive array of International certifications (ISOs), which prove our compliance with the strictest national, European and international laws. They also demonstrate our commitment to provide innovative systems on security, confidentiality and quality control in keeping your files safe and well managed.
