Bermondsey has always been a place of work as much as a place to live. From its industrial past to its present mix of small businesses, studios, and dense residential streets, the area has continually adapted to changing ways of life.
Pocket began, as many good ideas do, with frustration.
Max and I (Louis) have known each other since childhood, and over the years we’d both found ourselves using self-storage at different points; during moves, projects, business transitions, and moments of change. The experience was always the same: clunky processes, limited opening hours, unnecessary admin, and buildings that felt disconnected from the neighbourhoods they sat within.
It felt obvious to us that self-storage: an industry that quietly underpins how people live and work in cities like London was ripe for improvement.
That’s why we founded Pocket Storage.
Two Backgrounds, One Shared Problem
My background is in property development. Before Pocket, I worked with several of the UK’s largest developers, delivering projects in dense urban areas across London. That experience shaped how I think about buildings not just as assets, but as long-term parts of a neighbourhood.
Max comes from an operational and technology background and founded Spokesafe in 2019, focusing on secure, tech-enabled infrastructure for cities. Where I was thinking about space and place, Max was thinking about systems, automation, and user experience.
From early conversations, it was clear we were circling the same insight:
self-storage hadn’t evolved at the same pace as the cities it serves.
Why Traditional Self-Storage No Longer Fits Urban Areas
Most self-storage facilities still operate on models designed for edge-of-town locations:
- Restricted opening hours
- Manual sign-ups and contracts
- On-site staff required for basic access
- Buildings designed purely for function, not context
In inner-city areas like Bermondsey and Borough, this creates friction. Homes are smaller, businesses are more flexible, and people often need storage outside standard office hours.
Storage, in this context, becomes part of the invisible infrastructure that allows urban life to function supporting small businesses, remote workers, creatives, and residents navigating frequent change.
We believed there was a better way.
What Makes Pocket Different
Pocket is the UK’s first fully automated, 24/7, instant-access self-storage facility.
In practical terms, that means customers can sign up, choose a unit, pay, and access their storage entirely through their smartphone without paperwork or waiting for opening hours.
Automation, however, was never the end goal. Technology should remove friction, not humanity. That’s why Pocket combines automation with responsive customer support, creating a service that feels modern but still personal.
For Bermondsey residents and businesses, this means storage that fits around real lives, early starts, late finishes, and unpredictable schedules.
Designed Buildings, Not Just Storage Boxes
From the outset, we believed that storage buildings should be good neighbours.
Rather than building anonymous sheds, we look for existing urban buildings that can be sensitively adapted for new use. Bermondsey’s industrial heritage makes it particularly well suited to this approach.
Many of these buildings have already had a first life supporting local employment and production. Giving them a second purpose feels both responsible and rooted in the area’s character. The building hasn’t stopped working; it has simply evolved to support today’s local economy.
Who Uses Pocket in Bermondsey?
Pocket customers include:
- Local residents managing limited space
- Small Bermondsey-based businesses and sole traders
- Creatives, makers, and studio-based workers
- Growing companies operating without permanent premises
Units range from 16 sq ft to 150 sq ft, with larger spaces available on request. Whether it’s a short-term need or longer-term storage, customers have secure, 24/7 access in a central South London location.
For many small businesses, Pocket functions as a flexible alternative to garages, lock-ups, or costly commercial leases, storage that adapts as their needs change.
Looking Ahead
Pocket was founded on a simple idea: cities like London are changing, and the spaces that support them need to change too.
As urban neighbourhoods continue to densify and diversify, services that quietly enable everyday life – storage included – need to be thoughtfully designed, locally rooted, and easy to use.
For us, Pocket is part of Bermondsey’s ongoing evolution: old buildings supporting new ways of living and working.
