If you are running a busy office where paperwork plays an important part sooner or later (usually sooner) the rather uninspiring question of how to store all those loose files and documents is going to rear it’s ugly head.
Now there are some companies who are taking the drastic step of scanning their document, saving them in PDF format, as binning the paperwork. While this is definitely an option in some situations, in other you have no choice but to keep hold of papers. So what are you options.
The trusty filing cabinet has over the year been the cornerstone of filing in office not just here in the UK, but also across Europe and the United States. Filing cabinets are great for keeping large quantities of paperwork organised. The amount of documentation you can store in a filing cabinet is quite astonishing. Often filing cabinets can store tens of thousands of pages of documentation. This makes filing cabinets perfect for archiving.
Now you might think that choosing the right filing cabinets is a pretty simple task. Well actually there are a few choices you may be faced with. Firstly if you’re kitting out a new office with nice wooden desks and cupboards you may want to look at getting a set of filing cabinets that are also in wood. Purely for aesthetical reasons, but the modern office has to look the part to impress visitors to the company, and wooding filing cabinets are usually far easier on the eye than ugly metal ones…
…or are they?
Metal filing cabinets have had a reputation as being the ugly sister of their wooden counterparts, but in recent years metal filing cabinets are beginning to undergo a bit of a face lift. Now available in all sort of wacky colours, you can even pick up a filing cabinet in British racing green to match the Lotus outside!! Some companies have found filing cabinets in colours that match say the colour scheme in their logo. So while wooden filing cabinets do still have the edge in the looks department, metal filing cabinets are not to be entirely discounted on the basis of looks alone.
When it comes to strength and durability there is no contest. Metal is stronger than wood, and is in the case of filing cabinets too. However a good wooden filing cabinet built by a reputable manufacturer is usually more than up to the task when it comes to durability.
Finally price wise you can expect to pay much more for a wooden filing cabinet than you can for a metal one. So if you are looking for a filing cabinet that is strong, durable, cheap and reliable go for steel, but if you want something that will make for a more pleasant working environment go for wood. Metal filing cabinets usually start in price at around £60, going up depending how many drawers you are looking for, while wooden filing cabinets tend to be twice that amount at least.
If you have a lot of paperwork in books or folders you may be better off looking at bookcases or office cupboards. Because both lack the complex moving parts of filing cabinets they will usually be cheaper. What you should consider is what you will be using your office storage to actually store. Often people will buy completely the wrong type of office storage for their needs. If you’re storing CD’s I’d definitely go for bookcases rather than cupboards. If you’re storing folders or books it really is a question of personal preference. Bookcases are easier to get stuff quickly from, cupboards tend to look tidier. A good wooden cupboard will cost about 70 GBP, while a bookcase will be about 40 GBP for a single shelf bookcase.
I should also mention while we are looking into the subject of filing cabinets another potential storage solution that is certainly worth looking at. That is rolling storage. This is a form of storage that reduces the space used by allowing the user to open up aisles between filing cabinets when they want to look in them, and then closing the aisle up when they are finished. Though very expensive if your offices are in an expensive part of the country like the city of London it may actually be worth considering as it could actually be better value than buying or renting more office space.