Nicholas Vetch was already an experienced entrepreneur when he co-founded Big Yellow Group in 1998 with partners Philip Burks and James Gibson. The trio spotted a gap between the UK's fragmented, low-visibility storage sheds and the branded model taking off in the US. Vetch, who had just sold his listed business, Edge Properties for a reported £142m, decided to build accordingly.

Growth has been swift: a full LSE listing came in 2002 and in 2007 the group converted to a REIT – a property-company status that avoids corporate tax in exchange for paying out most profits as dividends – locking in the high, steady payouts it's known for today. Big Yellow is now a FTSE 250 constituent and a brand leader in the UK, with 113 stores (24 under the wholly owned Armadillo brand, bought out in full in 2021) and 6.72 million sq. ft of lettable space.

The group’s strategy hasn't shifted much. Its portfolio is weighted towards large, highly visible stores in London and its commuter towns, which make up 75 per cent of revenue. After all, why fix what isn’t broken? Big Yellow Group figures show that revenue was up two per cent to £209.1m in FY26.

Vetch, who handed the CEO role to Gibson in 2003, has stayed on as executive chairman and a steady leadership hand ever since. And as Gibson, who retired at the July 2026 AGM, passes the baton on to a new CEO, John Hunter, Vetch is the one constant a new generation of leadership is building around.