Dear all,

I would be grateful if those of you with experience of outsourcing records storage could take a few moments to help me with some lessons learnt research. Hampshire Constabulary currently runs its own successful archive, but I have been instructed to carry out a feasibility study to establish whether outsourcing would provide a more cost effective solution. With this in mind, I would like to get an idea of what experiences my colleagues in other organisations, both public and private, have had with outsourcing. My 10 questions are as follows:

1 Which company do you use? (optional)

2 How many files do you store in outsourced storage?

3 Do you outsource anything other than paper records?

If so, what else do you store?

4 How much does it cost per annum for storage alone?

5 How much do you pay for retrievals/collections per annum?

6 Does your outsource company provide a cataloguing service?

If so, do you use it and how much does it cost you?

7 Are there any hidden costs I should be aware of?

8 What have you found works really well about outsourcing?

9 What does not work so well (ie: problems & pitfalls)?

10 Given the choice, would you choose to outsource your storage?

I look forward to your responses,

Many thanks,

Sarah Jane Cousins

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