EDINBURGH’s first privately-owned safe deposit box service has opened in the west end to give people across the capital, and beyond, somewhere secure to store their valuable possessions, from cash to jewellery and family heirlooms.
With the Scottish capital being the area of the country with the highest break-ins, according to official data, the new Edinburgh Safe Deposit service will be welcomed by people across the city. Scottish Bullion is also operating from the site in the west end of the city, buying and selling gold, and allowing people to invest in the precious metal from as little as £80.
In Edinburgh in 2017/18 there were more than 3,000 crimes or offences of house break-ins recorded, ahead of Glasgow in second place with just over 2,500. And, according to analysis by Moneysupermarket.com, the EH4 and EH15 areas of Edinburgh rank among the top 20 UK postcodes for insurance claims following a break-in.
Edinburgh Safe Deposit is led by Seamus Fahy and David Walsh who have invested £1 million in equipping the vault with the latest state-of-the-art surveillance technology, including seismic shock sensors, 24/7 monitoring and biometric identification technology.
It will employ up to 15 staff and is part of a plan to expand the business across the UK and Ireland. Edinburgh Safe Deposit is run by parent company Merrion Vaults, Europe’s largest independently owned safe deposit box company. The business opened a Glasgow Vaults safe deposit service in 2016 and it also has operations in England and Ireland.
Edinburgh Safe Deposit has 11 sizes of safe deposit boxes with prices starting from £175 a year. Clients have unlimited access to the service seven days a week. Access to the facility will be granted through a navigation of personal identification, biometric scanners, customer code and digital photo recognition. It will use the latest eye-scanning technology available to deliver optimum security and the facility is also monitored 24 hours a day, seven days a week off-site. Typical items stored in a safe deposit box include cash, jewellery, family heirlooms, gold bullion, title deeds for a property, memory devices, watch collections and passports.
Seamus Fahy said: “We have decided to launch in the Scottish capital as we believe people across the city and beyond will benefit from having somewhere as secure as Edinburgh Safe Deposit to store their valuables. Our service will provide peace of mind to residents, particularly with Edinburgh being the part of Scotland that suffers from most break-ins.
“We decided to launch vaults across the UK and Ireland to fill the gap left by the move by major banks a few years ago to withdraw their service that protects people’s valuable possessions.
“Our Glasgow Vaults has proved popular since its launch four years ago, and we are confident that our Edinburgh service will be just as successful.”
The opening of Edinburgh Safe Deposit also comes just months after Police Scotland warned people to be vigilant following a number of break-ins across the country, including the capital, targeting Asian gold, jewellery and cash. Police Scotland said last November that, since April, there had been 35 reports of break-ins to properties in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Paisley, Renfrew and Ayrshire resulting in £500,000 of jewellery and cash being stolen.
The Edinburgh Safe Deposit is open 362 days a year and was designed in partnership with security consultants working on behalf of insurer Lloyd’s of London.
