STORAGE

A motor car does not stop requiring attention simply because nobody is driving it.

Batteries deteriorate. Tyres lose pressure and develop flat spots. Fluids change, seals age and brakes can bind. Humidity presents another problem entirely, particularly when a car combines steel, aluminium, leather, timber, electrical systems and decades-old components within the same structure.

For an important motor car, storage is therefore less about finding somewhere secure to leave it and more about managing what happens while it is standing still.

That distinction has shaped Windrush Car Storage for more than two decades.

Founded by Tim Earnshaw in 2004, Windrush began from a personal requirement. Having spent five years building his own Morgan recreation, Earnshaw needed somewhere appropriate to keep it. The business that followed started modestly at his family's Cotswolds farm, taking its name from the River Windrush running through it.

At the time, Earnshaw was also working in Formula One.

He would spend five years with Ferrari F1 before leaving to concentrate on Windrush full-time, bringing with him an environment in which preparation, process and attention to detail were fundamental. What began as a part-time operation during evenings and weekends subsequently developed into a specialist storage and vehicle-management business with facilities in the Cotswolds and Central London.

Today those facilities extend to approximately 100,000 sq ft.

The scale has changed considerably.

The underlying idea has not.

Every car should be ready when its owner wants to use it.

What Happens While the Car Is Standing Still

Windrush describes its approach as proactive storage.

It is an important distinction.

A secure building protects a car from theft and weather, but preservation requires considerably more. Windrush's storage areas are climate controlled, with humidity digitally monitored to maintain a target of 55 per cent relative humidity. Cars occupy dedicated bays rather than being packed closely together, receive breathable indoor covers and are connected to intelligent battery conditioners.

Before reaching that point, each vehicle passes through a structured induction process.

Its condition is photographed, tyre pressures are adjusted to reduce the risk of flat spotting, the interior is protected and the car is carefully washed using pH-neutral products. Battery condition is digitally assessed and, following washing, the vehicle is allowed to air dry before being covered. Even surface corrosion on the brakes following the wash process is addressed before the car settles into storage.

Once there, the attention continues.

Both facilities are permanently staffed and cars are checked regularly rather than simply being left until an owner requests them. It is a methodical approach to what can otherwise appear to be a very simple service.

That discipline has increasingly been formalised as the business has developed. Windrush became ISO 9001 certified, applying documented quality-management processes to an area of the collector-car industry that has traditionally depended heavily upon individual working practices.

The significance is not the certificate hanging on the wall.

It is the consistency behind it.

Whether the car in question is a modern supercar, a historic competition car, an important classic or something carrying primarily sentimental rather than financial value, Windrush operates a single service standard rather than dividing cars into different levels of care according to their value.

For the owner, the objective is straightforward.

Turn up, uncover the car and use it.

Everything required to make that possible has already been happening in the background.

From the Cotswolds to Central London

The original Cotswolds operation grew steadily.

Additional motor houses followed, controlled environments were introduced and dehumidification expanded across the facilities. Enclosed transportation became part of the operation, followed by dedicated staff, in-house detailing and increasingly comprehensive vehicle-management services.

By 2015, another requirement had become apparent.

A growing number of clients lived or worked in London. They might spend weekends in the Cotswolds, but travelling there simply to collect a car before beginning the journey they actually wanted to make rather defeated the purpose.

Windrush responded by opening a Central London facility.

The location remains deliberately discreet, but the principle is the same as in the Cotswolds: a secure, controlled and fully staffed environment designed around access to the cars rather than simply maximising the number that can be accommodated.

In 2025, the London operation marked its tenth anniversary, having already moved into larger premises in response to demand.

The two locations now serve slightly different patterns of ownership while operating to the same standard. The Cotswolds provides the space and discretion associated with a rural specialist facility, while London allows an owner to finish work, collect a car and begin a journey without first travelling outside the capital to retrieve it.

Access is an important part of that proposition.

Cars are not being placed into long-term hibernation from which retrieval becomes an event in itself. Windrush has developed its facilities around owners being able to use their cars, including arrangements for collection and return outside conventional hours.

That changes the relationship between storage and ownership.

The facility becomes an extension of the garage rather than a warehouse elsewhere.

It also explains why Windrush has continued to invest in infrastructure around the cars themselves. Both the London and Cotswolds operations have HMRC customs warehouse status, introduced in 2021, allowing qualifying imported vehicles to be held with duty and VAT suspended while they remain within the appropriate customs arrangements.

For international collectors, dealers and owners moving significant cars between countries, that capability adds another dimension to what began as a domestic storage business.

Looking After the Ownership Around the Car

The longer a car remains in professional storage, the more likely it is that something will eventually need doing.

An MOT expires. A service becomes due. A battery fails. Tyres need replacing. Paintwork requires attention. A car needs transporting to a specialist, preparing for an event or delivering somewhere before its owner arrives.

This is where storage begins to become collection management.

Windrush offers enclosed transport and shipping, servicing and MOT coordination, valeting and detailing, repairs and restoration management, photography and assistance with inspections, acquisitions and sales. For owners with more complex requirements, it can provide a broader management service intended to make the storage facility a single point of contact for the car.

The approach is particularly relevant to collections.

Looking after one rarely used car is relatively straightforward. Looking after several — potentially of different ages, manufacturers and mechanical complexity — quickly becomes an exercise in administration as much as preservation.

Each has its own service intervals, insurance requirements, MOT status, battery behaviour and maintenance needs. Some may be driven frequently. Others might remain unused for months before suddenly being required for a rally, concours, overseas event or simply a weekend away.

The best collection management is therefore largely invisible.

The car appears when required, prepared and ready.

That idea connects Windrush today with Earnshaw's earlier Formula One experience more closely than the cars themselves might suggest. Motorsport preparation is built around anticipation. The work that matters is generally completed before the car reaches the circuit; discovering the problem when it is needed is already too late.

Collector cars benefit from much the same thinking.

Windrush has now spent more than twenty years refining that process. New motor houses, humidity control, electric-vehicle charging, enclosed transportation, detailing, quality-management systems, customs warehousing and a second facility have been added along the way.

Yet none fundamentally changes the original proposition.

The owner entrusts somebody else with the car because they want to spend less time managing it and more time enjoying it.

For significant motor cars, that requires more than security cameras and a locked door.

It requires an understanding that preservation continues even when the engine is switched off.

That combination of more than two decades of specialist experience, disciplined vehicle preparation, controlled storage environments and a comprehensive approach to managing significant motor cars is why Windrush Car Storage is a trusted and HACCA Trusted Specialist.

Windrush Car Storage 

Gloucestershire and London, England

+44 (0)2074584418

For collectors, storing an important motor car should involve considerably more than finding somewhere secure to leave it. The environment matters, the standard of care matters and, for cars acquired as much for their beauty as their engineering, presentation matters too.

Kiklo Spaces approaches storage from that perspective.

Based in Hampshire, the company provides specialist storage and collection care for exceptional motor cars and fine art within an environment designed around security, preservation and discretion. Climate control, advanced fire protection and carefully considered security provide the technical foundations, while individual vehicle care, documentation and presentation form part of a more personal service.

The result is less conventional vehicle storage and more a carefully managed home for significant collections — somewhere cars can be preserved properly, presented beautifully and remain ready for their owners whenever required.

The right environment

A valuable motor car can spend considerably more time stationary than it does on the road, making the conditions in which it is kept an important part of its long-term preservation.

Temperature and humidity can affect everything from bodywork and mechanical components to leather, fabrics and electrical systems. For significant collections, controlling that environment is therefore about more than comfort or presentation.

Kiklo Spaces uses climate-controlled storage to provide stable conditions, complemented by sophisticated security and fire systems intended to protect the assets entrusted to its care.

But preservation is not achieved by environment alone.

Cars require attention while they are stored. Condition needs to be observed, presentation maintained and any developing requirements identified rather than discovered months later when the owner next intends to use the car.

This detail-driven approach extends into vehicle care and detailing, helping ensure that a car remains not simply safely stored but properly looked after throughout its time within the facility.

For collectors with several vehicles, documentation and organisation become equally relevant. Knowing the status of each car and coordinating its requirements turns storage into an active part of collection management rather than simply a place where the collection resides.

Everything around the car

Ownership rarely exists in isolation.

A car may need transporting to a specialist, preparing for an event, detailing before collection, insuring following a change in value or sending away for restoration or maintenance. Managing those requirements can become increasingly time-consuming as a collection grows.

Kiklo Spaces addresses this through a network of trusted specialist partners covering areas such as maintenance, restoration, transport and insurance.

Rather than attempting to bring every discipline in-house, the company can coordinate the appropriate expertise around the individual car and its owner.

That distinction is important.

A significant Ferrari may require a very different specialist from a pre-war Bentley. An international event presents different logistical requirements from a local service appointment. Collection management therefore depends as much upon knowing who should look after the car as knowing what needs to be done.

For the client, the benefit is simplicity. The collection can remain at the centre of a coordinated network of services without the owner having to manage every movement, appointment and requirement personally.

Discretion runs through that process. For significant private collections, privacy is not an additional service but an essential part of the relationship.

A space to enjoy

Perhaps what separates Kiklo Spaces most clearly from traditional storage is the idea that a collection should still be experienced.

Exceptional cars are objects of engineering, design and history, and the environment in which they are kept can fundamentally change the way they are appreciated.

Presentation therefore plays an important role within the Kiklo philosophy.

Rather than treating cars simply as assets requiring secure accommodation, the space allows them to retain their visual presence and sense of occasion. Private events and carefully managed presentation can transform the collection from something hidden away between drives into something that can be enjoyed even while stationary.

The inclusion of fine art reinforces that idea. Both cars and artworks can carry significant financial value, but their importance to an owner often extends far beyond it. They are collected because they inspire interest, emotion and enjoyment.

Kiklo Spaces has created its service around understanding that distinction.

Security and climate control provide reassurance. Vehicle care and collection management provide convenience. A trusted network provides access to specialist expertise. But the environment itself ensures the collection never becomes simply inventory behind a locked door.

For collectors seeking privacy without isolation and preservation without removing the pleasure of ownership, Kiklo offers a particularly considered proposition: a place where significant cars can be protected, managed and still appreciated as the objects they were collected to be.

It is this combination of discretion, preservation, presentation and highly personal collection care that makes Kiklo Spaces a HACCA Trusted Specialist.

Kiklo Spaces
Hampshire, England

For a significant motor car, storage is rarely simply a question of finding enough space.

Cars deteriorate while standing still. Batteries discharge, tyres lose pressure, fluids leak, condensation encourages corrosion and small problems can develop unnoticed during long periods of inactivity. For an owner with several cars, the practical demands multiply. Servicing, MOTs, detailing, transport and preparation for use all still need to happen, whether the car is driven every week or only occasionally.

That distinction between parking a car and actively looking after it sits at the centre of Car Keepers.

Founded in 2013, the business began with a single storage unit on its owner's private estate. It has since developed into a collection of sympathetically repurposed buildings in West End, Surrey, providing secure storage for classics, modern classics, supercars and other specialist vehicles. The location itself remains deliberately discreet, while its position close to the M3 places it within straightforward reach of London, Heathrow, Woking and Farnborough.

Yet the more important part of the proposition happens after the owner has handed over the keys.

What Happens While the Car Is Standing Still

Long-term storage creates an unusual responsibility. The objective is not merely to protect a car from theft or physical damage, but to manage the effects of inactivity itself.

Car Keepers offers both standard indoor and climate-controlled storage. Within its controlled environment, relative humidity is maintained at approximately 55 per cent, supported by substantial filtered airflow. This matters particularly for historic cars, where steel bodywork, electrical connections, timber, leather, rubber and other original materials can all respond differently to damp and changing atmospheric conditions.

Security is correspondingly comprehensive. The private facility uses 24-hour CCTV with remote monitoring, a police-response alarm system and controlled access, while the owner's residence is located on site. Its precise address is deliberately withheld from public view.

The care of the car itself begins with documentation. Vehicles are inspected and photographed on arrival before being prepared for storage. Battery conditioning, tyre protection and breathable covers form part of the process, with routine checks continuing throughout the storage period.

Car Keepers' longer-term care regime includes daily inspections of the vehicles and buildings, checks for battery condition and fluid leaks, periodic fluid and tyre-pressure inspections and, where requested, running the vehicle to operating temperature.

Individually, these are relatively small interventions. Collectively, they address one of the realities of owning significant cars: deterioration does not stop simply because the mileage does.

For the collector, that changes the purpose of storage. The car is not simply being kept somewhere secure. Its condition is being actively monitored while it is away from the owner's immediate attention.

Ready When Required

The other side of specialist storage becomes apparent when the owner wants the car back.

A collector may decide to use a car for a weekend, attend an event, send it for servicing or move it elsewhere within a collection. A car that has spent several months standing therefore needs to be more than secure; it needs to be ready.

Before collection, Car Keepers can check MOT and road-tax status, battery condition, lights, horn and tyre pressures, alongside other basic preparations. When the car returns, it can be checked back into storage and the care process begins again.

That flexibility is particularly useful for multi-car collections. Once a client has secured a storage space, Car Keepers allows different vehicles to be rotated through it, subject to vehicle dimensions and prior arrangement. An owner might therefore store a classic through winter, substitute another car during the summer or reorganise a collection without establishing an entirely new storage agreement each time.

Location also becomes part of the service.

Car Keepers can provide driven collection and delivery for local movements and arrange enclosed transportation where required. Vehicles moved by its staff are covered under the company's motor-trade road-risk policy, with condition reporting undertaken at collection and photographic documentation before delivery from storage.

For owners travelling into the area, complimentary transfers are available from Woking railway station, while private transfers can also be arranged from Heathrow. It is a relatively simple addition, but one that demonstrates an understanding that the logistics surrounding a collection can be almost as important as the storage building itself.

The result is a facility designed around the way specialist cars are actually owned and used rather than assuming that storage means prolonged inactivity.

Looking After More Than the Storage

As collections grow, administration can become surprisingly demanding.

A car may be securely stored yet still require an annual service. Another might need an MOT, wheel refurbishment or paint correction. A minor mechanical issue may appear during an inspection. A classic might require specialist repair work before an event, while another car needs transporting to a marque specialist.

Car Keepers increasingly acts as the owner's single point of contact for precisely these requirements.

Through its own team and network of trusted specialists, it can coordinate servicing, MOTs, mechanical repairs, bodywork, detailing, paint correction, ceramic coatings, wheel refurbishment and restoration work. Clients can use the company's established network or nominate their own preferred specialist, with Car Keepers managing the process and keeping the owner informed.

This is where storage begins to become collection management.

For an owner living overseas, spending extended periods away from the UK or simply managing several cars, the ability to make one call rather than coordinate multiple workshops, transporters and appointments has obvious value. The car can leave storage for work to be completed and return without requiring the owner to manage every movement personally.

It also reflects how the collector-car world itself has changed. Significant collections increasingly span very different generations of machinery. A climate-controlled facility may simultaneously be responsible for a traditional classic, a modern supercar and a relatively recent car already regarded as collectable. Their technical requirements differ enormously, but the fundamental expectation from the owner is the same: each should be properly cared for and ready when required.

Car Keepers has grown from a single unit on a private estate into a professional operation by recognising that responsibility.

The name is particularly appropriate. The business is not simply providing square footage in which cars can remain stationary. It is assuming temporary custodianship of somebody else's machinery and managing the details that allow ownership to continue while the car is away.

For significant motor cars, that distinction matters.

That combination of secure and climate-controlled facilities, structured ongoing vehicle care, flexible transport and logistics, and a genuinely personal approach to managing the wider requirements of stored cars is why Car Keepers is a trusted and HACCA Trusted Specialist.

Car Keepers
Surrey, England
+44 (0)1483 958851

BarnTech is a versatile automotive space offering bespoke car storage, detailing and transportation, alongside a state-of-the-art automotive photography and videography studio.

Based in Bicester, Oxfordshire, the company was founded by Phil and Lizzie Quaife to provide collectors, enthusiasts, brands and auction houses with a more personalised approach to storage whilst also offering a creative hub for automotive photography and content production.

Located less than three minutes from Bicester Heritage and around 25 minutes from Silverstone, BarnTech is ideally positioned at the heart of the UK’s automotive community.

Quality over Quantity

BarnTech’s approach to storage is deliberately personal and versatile. Whether for long-term, seasonal or winter storage, every vehicle receives a tailored service within a dehumidified, climate-controlled and highly secure facility. For BarnTech, it’s not about the number of cars stored but the quality of service offered to a select few.

Phil’s time as McLaren’s lead test and development driver, combined with a racing career spanning nearly 30 years, brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the care of every vehicle. Attention to detail is at the heart of the business, reflecting the years Phil has spent working at the highest level of motorsport.

Vehicle transportation can be arranged, while a concierge service includes client transport, vehicle collection and drop-off. Individual requirements and tailored packages are all part of what BarnTech offers. They understand that when it comes to vehicle storage and maintenance, one size does not fit all.

BarnTech is also home to a dedicated detailing workshop operated by PV Prestige Valet, where vehicles can receive everything from deep cleans and paint correction to accredited ceramic coatings before collection.

An Automotive Space with Another Dimension

BarnTech is not simply a car storage facility. It is also home to a premium automotive photography and videography studio offering a full infinity cove, workspaces and studio lounge. BarnTech’s clients include well-known names in the automotive industry including DK Engineering, RML and Broad Arrow Auctions as well as a large range of private collectors, car enthusiasts and commercial brands.

Alongside the studio sits The Pavilion, a carefully designed private lounge for client hosting, team collaboration or simply enjoying a coffee at the bar. It might sound like a small detail but it reflects what BarnTech is all about: an environment that feels relaxed, creative and enjoyable to be in.

This side of BarnTech reflects the backgrounds of its founders. Phil’s career brings the perspective of professional motorsport and vehicle development, while Lizzie’s experience in television production, branded content and business development contributes to how cars and automotive projects are presented.

For a relatively young business, BarnTech has created a clear identity: deliberately personal, highly attentive and committed to delivering every aspect of its service to an exceptionally high standard.

It is this combination of care, preparation, discretion and an understanding of the wider collector-car experience that makes BarnTech a HACCA Trusted Specialist.

BarnTech
Oxfordshire, England
+44 (0)1869 713 832