Office space at the most desirable business addresses comes at premium rates, and while firms strive to maximise room, they often have no choice but to sacrifice some of it to accommodate boxes full of stored documents.
In 2004, Joseph Peregin, senior manager for projects at Salvo Grima Group, was tasked with gauging potential for a professional document storage project and came across numerous firms which had to give up expensive office space to store piles of boxes.
Over 100 firms were interviewed with a local partner at the time, but the project was shelved.
Still convinced the project had enormous potential, Mr Peregin ran a simple Google search some months ago to look for a strategic partner. He came across Rentastore Limited in Dublin, a document and data management industry specialist that had a remarkably efficient operation and a long list of renowned clients.
Mr Peregin met Bill Bodenham, the developer and owner of the Ballyogan Business Park where Rentastore was based, and the two realised how similar both organisations were.
The ensuing joint venture, Rentastore Malta, the first operation of its kind on the island, officially inaugurated a 350-square metre, stand-alone, purpose fitted premises at the Marina Milling Industrial Complex in Marsa on Wednesday.
"The facility will allow firms to focus on their work and let someone else manage their document archives and storage," Mr Bodenham told The Sunday Times. "Rentastore provides for cost-saving benefits by allowing firms to make better use of expensive space. When firms entrust us with their document and data storage, they have a guarantee that they will find documents quicker just by making a phone call or sending an e-mail to a single point of contact.
"We offer a totally unbroken chain of custody and we do not appoint third party contractors or couriers. The boxes are sealed and there are strict tamper-proof procedures in place. They are monitored by round-the-clock security in a facility where temperature and humidity levels are stringently controlled and steel shelving is elevated off the floor."
Mr Bodenham describes Rentastore, which also has a sister company in Malaga, as a lean operation offering an end-to-end solution aimed at a wide variety of businesses, including professional services firms, banks, hospitals, multi-sector groups and authorities. All Rentastore services are charged at an all-inclusive, cost-efficient monthly fee.
Rentastore will collect, store and archive documents in boxes that have the same capacity as one filing cabinet drawer.
Specifically designed boxes with a unique security seal are provided to the client and then collected, assigned a bar code, and archived. At a client's request, the box and the contents may be securely destroyed at the end of its lifecycle.
There is no public access to the Marsa warehouse, and clients are encouraged to conduct due diligent audits from existing and prospective clients for added peace of mind.
Clients will not be made to feel as if their documents are out of reach - requests for documents can be accommodated within a few hours on the same day, and even within the hour in an emergency. Documents may also be viewed in a dedicated office within the premises in case clients do not wish or need to remove the documents from the warehouse.
There is also a records and files catalogue available, as all documents may be scanned automatically and a digital signature is attached to documents. Rentastore also has a secure server that can be accessed by clients online.
The company already envisages immediate short-term expansion to incorporate legal authenticated digital signature and document imaging services. An off-site data management programme is also to be established. Rentastore Malta currently employs a team of two which will grow to seven in the next few months.
Furthermore, Rentastore will offer a secure and efficient document shredding service.
Mr Bodenham explained that Rentastore's systems are a totally closed loop with 100 per cent recovery and recycling of the waste stream. The company will use the shredded paper for animal bedding. Mr Bodenham, an expert designer and developer of several environmentally sound concepts, explained that shredded paper handles similarly to straw and keeps animals much cleaner. It is also a cheap and effective way to catch pet waste.
Rentastore's unique blend of hydrosorbic material - mostly newsprint - and shredded paper, which is totally hydrophobic, makes the bedding three times as absorbent, dust-free, contaminant-free and anti-rodent. At later stages, the material can even be used as fertiliser.
Mr Bodenham started an environmental management business 35 years ago and developed processes centred on a closed loop policy, recovering 85 per cent from company waste streams. He believes there is no reason why materials should not be recycled as the majority of materials have a value if a market is created for them.
Such was the success of his Greenstar Group environmental businesses - it became a world leader in resource recovery - that Mr Bodenham sold it on as it reached a staff complement of 600 employees. The company has since grown to 2,000 staff.
"It became so big that it had outgrown its original purpose," he explained. "I wanted to give my five children a business that they could be able to manage. Three of them are involved in retail and commercial office concerns that we now run, and they are owners and operators of our Ballyogan enterprise zone, which also incorporates business incubation facilities for small and medium-sized enterprises."
Mr Bodenham and Salvo Grima Group, the 150-year old maritime and logistics group, are also actively looking to develop an environmental group based on a closed loop policy to manage clients' entire waste stream. The two firms already see an opportunity for the creation of 20 jobs. The nationwide project would recover materials, including chemicals, plastic and metal at value, and then sell them on.