Inside a Family Business: James Mason

The Masons Group began as a small family business back in 1905 and still has that same family focus with a fourth generation of Mason climbing the ranks. We would love for you to get to know more about the faces behind the family name, which is why we’re delighted to reveal our Inside a Family Business series! Introducing you to the team at Masons Self Storage, beginning with James Mason, our Marketing Manager.

When James was 16/17 and thinking about the family business, he was stubbornly determined to find his own career path separate to the Mason family name. However, in June 2007, when he was 17 and finishing his A-Levels in Business Studies and Physical Education, he could just feel that the company needed something new and fresh, there was something niggling in him to contribute to and develop the family business. The focus had always been on Removals and he knew they needed new blood to expand and grow! He knew he was capable of making a big difference and to take the company to another level.

James joined the Masons Group in 2007 with an objective of running the new family business project: The Business Centre (Cardiff) Ltd which was a relatively new concept at the time, the provision of serviced office and business support facilities. At first, there was another manager working alongside James in The Business Centre whilst he was still learning the ropes and what it meant to run a business. However, by the age of 21, he had completely taken over the running of the centre and was managing a team of 6 people!

James completed his ILM Firstline Management course back in the first 3 years with the company, however, most of his management experience has come from hitting the ground running and sometimes jumping and taking risks, some which have paid off, some have not. He didn’t go to a Business School to learn how to run a business but learnt on the ground!

Back in January 2016, we were close to finalising Phase 1 of a huge renovation project of the Masons Self Storage facilities. James oversaw both Phase 1 and 2 of the renovations whilst simultaneously managing The Business Centre, which saw an increase in the storage units and containers from 100 to 244, totally renovating the building to include new state-of-the-art ESCORTA lifts, new technology to allow 24/7 access and turning Masons Self Storage into a state-of-the-art Self Storage facility that stands heads above the competition in the Vale of Glamorgan! Excitingly, in March 2017, only a year after the first stage of the renovation project, we had already increased to 91% occupancy at Masons Self Storage even with the extra 144 storage units!

James has been working full time with us at Masons Self Storage as our Marketing Manager since January 2018. Along with excellent occupancy rates since he made the transition over to us at Masons Self Storage full time, James is always scoping out new business ideas and way to expand our services in the Vale. Most recently, James has been scoping out a new franchise, Simply Shredding Cardiff, a secure and safe shredding service for both personal and business use. It expands the range of services that we already offer local businesses and responds to a need here in the Vale!

We were absolutely delighted for James and his partner, Lucy, when they welcomed baby Oliver to the Mason family on 31 October 2018!

Managing the marketing at Masons Self Storage and adjusting to a new baby at home doesn’t leave a lot of time for James but he really enjoys playing a round of golf and spending some time in the gym, as well as discovering local eats and restaurants to explore with friends, family and his partner, Lucy.

Look out for more of our Inside a Family Business Series, giving you more an insight into the faces behind Masons Self Storage!

Here at Masons Self Storage, we offer a personal and professional service with short term flexible contracts, storage units in a variety of sizes, 24/7 access 365 days a year. If you’re looking for home or business self-storage, we can help with self-storage units starting from just £5 a week.