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Who are Rafter Group?
Rafter Group was established by Metric Capital Partners LLP as their self-storage platform, which initially began with an investment into Less Mess Storage in 2015 and since then has acquired and established platforms in 4 other markets. Rafter’s growth has been underpinned by an organic growth investment strategy, focusing on 5th generation, energy-efficient, freehold properties in prime locations with strong risk adjusted returns.
We are continually seeking our next partner or platform acquisition. Please contact info@rafter-group.com if you have an opportunity of interest.
Award-Winning Brands
Our quality proposition is evidenced by the plethora of awards that our brands have achieved in recent years, some of which include:
- FEDESSA Expansion / Conversion of the Year, 2024 – Lockall
- FEDESSA Independent Store of the Year, 2024 – storemore
- FEDESSA Sustainability Award, 2024 – storemore
- Finalist FEDESSA Expansion / Conversion of the Year, 2024 – storemore
- Finalist FEDESSA Store Manager of the Year, 2024 – storemore
- Finalist SSA Independent Store of the Year, 2024 – Attic Self Storage
- FEDESSA Expansion / Conversion of the Year, 2023 – Lockall
- Finalist FEDESSA Multi-Site Operator of the Year, 2023 – Less Mess Storage
- SSA Independent Store of the Year, 2022 – Attic Self Storage
- Finalist SSA Store Manager of the Year, 2022 – Attic Self Storage
- InHouse Research – Gold Customer Satisfaction Award, 2016 – 2023 – Attic Self Storage
- FEDESSA Facility of the Year, 2019, Less Mess Storage
- FEDESSA Innovation Award, 2019 – Attic Self Storage
- FEDESSA Charity Initiative of the Year, 2017 – Attic Self Storage
- FEDESSA Outstanding Business Initiative, 2016 – Attic Self Storage
Simon Loveridge, Chief Financial Officer, Rafter
Simon has a background in operational real estate with over 15 years of experience spanning self-storage, residential, student accommodation and senior housing. He has specialised in helping institutionalising emerging asset classes in new markets and delivering strong platform growth underpinned by robust capital structures. He has raised and managed over $3bn of debt and equity in real estate. He joined Rafter from Goldman Sachs backed senior housing platform Riverstone, where he was the CFO. Prior to this he held senior roles at Global Student Accommodation Group (GSA) and Unite Students PLC. Simon is a Fellow of the Association of Certified Chartered Accountants.
“The Rafter board brings together a dynamic group of entrepreneurs united in the ambition to reimagine self-storage and drive the industry forward.”
Guy Pinsent, CEO & Founder, Less Mess (Poland and Czechia)
Guy Pinsent has led the growth of Less Mess Storage, the largest and fastest growing self-storage company in Poland and the Czech Republic with a portfolio of 15 stores open and a large pipeline. Guy is an entrepreneur with a background in investment banking (Citibank), the British Foreign Service and commercial real-estate investment and development. Guy has an MA from Cambridge University in Economics and lives in Warsaw, Poland.
Involved in the self-storage industry since 2006
Richard Hodsden, CEO, Attic, UK
Richard has been CEO of Attic Self Storage since August 2022. His background is in finance where he is an accomplished senior finance executive with over 25 years’ experience in senior finance roles across multiple private equity backed businesses as well as 5 years as a PLC CFO. He was CFO of Safestore, the UK’s largest self-storage business, for 12 years from 2002 to 2013. His core strengths are building and generating value in private equity backed businesses through both M&A, organic growth as well as various exits including IPO. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales.
Involved in the self-storage industry since 2002
Janine Krakow, CEO, storemore Germany
Janine Krakow is a seasoned professional with a passion for technology and a varied career path. Starting in marketing, she gained invaluable experience in event marketing in the US before excelling in experiential marketing at makai Europe. Moving into the PV industry, Janine thrived in online marketing. In 2012, she embraced the dynamic self-storage sector at Selbstlagerbox. While steering the company’s growth, she pursued an MBA to hone her strategic acumen. Leading the dedicated team at storemore, Janine continues to pioneer the evolution of the industry, reshaping standards with unparalleled innovation and service.
Involved in the self-storage industry since 2012
Alexis de l'Epine, CEO, Lockall, France
Alexis de l’Epine is the co-founder and CEO of Lockall, a position he has held since March 2020. Involved in the self-storage industry since 2018, his career prior to Lockall includes experiences in the finance, retail investment, and development sectors. With a foundation in finance, he worked as Finance Controller at LFR Levin Fricke in San Francisco and at BNP Paribas Fauchier Partners in London. His background also includes 12 years at Lidl, where he excelled as Expansion Manager France, leading significant investment projects exceeding 500M€/year and development strategies. His journey in the self-storage industry began in March 2018 as the Development Director for Europe at Shurgard, covering key markets in London, Paris and Berlin. Alexis’s expertise lies in development, management and operations, particularly in scaling businesses and driving strategic initiatives to successful outcomes.
Involved in the self-storage industry since 2018
Jose Pombo Ortega, CEO and Co-Founder of Storemore Spain
Jose is a seasoned real estate professional with over a decade of international experience in the self-storage industry. Having been a board member of the Spanish Self-Storage Association he has a strong network in the sector. Prior to co-founding Storemore in July 2021 alongside Joaquin Castillo, Jose founded SIMPLEBOX in Spain in 2013, which he successfully sold. He then went on to found SIMPLEBOX in Uruguay in 2019 and making it the current market leader. He has worked in real estate since 2008 specialising in industrial, office and commercial assets. Jose is a member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors since 2014 and holds a double BA from ICADE.
Involved in the self-storage industry since 2012
“The Rafter board is supported by a best-in-class central team as well as highly-experienced teams in each geography.”
Asim Syed, Chief Technology Officer, Rafter
Asim has a background in digital transformation with over 15 years of experience in driving technology strategies, digital transformations, cyber security and global platform implementations for diverse and technology-driven companies. His strategic vision and hands-on leadership have been instrumental in the success of organisations such as Peoplesafe, OneOcean, and London Luton Airport. Asim digitally transformed PeopleSafe into a leading provider of 24/7 protection solutions, achieving significant growth and technological advancements. He led the full global transition from paper navigation to a fully digital solution at OneOcean and was responsible for the scaling of technology operations to support substantial increase in passenger volume at Luton Airport.
Umar Azam, Group Financial Controller, Rafter
Umar has built a stellar career in finance over a decade, leading high-impact transactions and driving business growth. From starting out at PwC where he obtained his ACA and his roles in industry since, his experience focused on managing companies going through fast paced change and navigating billion dollar transactions. He joins Rafter most recently having been the Financial controller at YouGov plc, a £1bn cap multinational listed on the AIM exchange, where he worked on building out the reporting and improving processes following the difficult reorganisation to a shared service centre model. His diverse experience combines technical expertise with leadership, enabling him to build and guide high-performing financial teams while unlocking commercial opportunities.
Julia MacDonald, Group FP&A Manager, Rafter
Julia is a Chartered Accountant (CA ANZ) with six years’ experience in strategic finance. Julia’s experience in FP&A and strategy spans institutional property, venture capital and high-growth technology companies. She joined Rafter after working as the Group FP&A Manager for Blackbird, Australia’s largest VC. Prior to that, she was in the finance team at Canva, one of Australia’s most successful technology start-ups, and in the Group Strategy and M&A team at Lendlease Group. This background has honed her functional specialisation in building FP&A functions from the ground up, including the establishment of reporting cadences, long term planning and embedding systems to support data-driven decision making.
Metric Capital Partners
Metric Capital Partners LLP is a pan-European private equity fund, with €2.7Bn of AUM and a strong track record of supporting strategic transactions and being a proven value-add partner to its portfolio companies. Metric has the flexibility to provide financial solutions across the capital structure, including senior debt, subordinated debt, convertible instruments, preferred and/or common equity. The company supports investments through diligent board participation to optimise the performance of its portfolio companies. Metric provides strategic and operational support, financial rigour and network advantages to all of its investments. Metric’s flexible approach to assessing and managing its investments allows it to execute opportunities throughout the investment cycle.
Alastair Balfour, Chairman, Rafter
Alastair is a Partner at Metric focusing on the consumer and operational real estate sectors. Since 2015, Alastair has led all the self-storage investments on behalf of Metric and has been involved in the day-to-day operations since the founding of Rafter. Previously, Alastair was a Principal at TowerBrook Capital Partners in London where he invested in European private equity transactions and worked on investments across multiple sectors and geographies. Alastair has a BA from the University of Pennsylvania.
Involved in the self-storage industry since 2015
