FEDESSA Conference & Trade Show 2025

Jamil Qureshi

Keynote

Jamil Qureshi is a leading performance psychologist known for his work with elite athletes, including world number one golfers and the 2009 England Ashes-winning team. He was the first official psychologist for the European Ryder Cup team and has worked with top businesses like Coca-Cola and Emirates Airlines. At the FEDESSA Conference, Jamil will share powerful insights on leadership, high performance, and organizational success. His engaging and thought-provoking talks provide practical strategies to build winning teams and drive business growth, making his session a must-attend for anyone looking to gain a competitive edge in the industry.

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Sam McAlister

Keynote

Sam McAlister is a BAFTA-nominated former BBC Newsnight interviews producer renowned for securing high-profile exclusives, including the 2019 interview with HRH Prince Andrew, which garnered global attention. Her career began as a criminal defence barrister before transitioning into journalism, where she negotiated interviews with figures such as Elon Musk, Sheryl Sandberg, and President Bill Clinton. Her memoir, "Scoops," detailing her experiences, has been adapted into a Netflix film. At the FEDESSA Conference, attendees will gain insights from Sam's expertise in negotiation, communication, and crisis management, learning strategies to enhance business operations and reputation management. ​

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David McWilliams

Economist

David McWilliams is a renowned Irish economist, author, and broadcaster, recognized as the 10th most influential economist globally. He serves as Adjunct Professor of Global Economics at Trinity College Dublin and has authored six bestsellers, including "The Pope's Children." David co-founded Kilkenomics, the world's only economics and stand-up comedy festival, and the Dalkey Book Festival, Ireland's leading literary event. His weekly podcast consistently tops charts in Ireland and the UK. At the FEDESSA Conference, attendees will gain valuable insights into global economic trends and their impact on the self storage industry, delivered in David's engaging and accessible style.​

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Ken Woolley

Extra Space Storage

Ken Woolley founded Extra Space Storage in 1977, opening the first facility in Billings, Montana. Under his leadership as CEO and Chairman, the company expanded significantly, developing over 165 properties and acquiring more than 600 stores across the United States. In 2004, Woolley guided Extra Space Storage to become a publicly traded company on the New York Stock Exchange, raising approximately $290 million. He stepped down as CEO in 2009 but continued to influence the company's growth as Executive Chairman upon his return in 2012. Beyond self storage, Ken has developed over 17,000 apartment units and founded several companies in retail, electronics, food manufacturing, and natural resources. His strategic vision and entrepreneurial acumen have been pivotal in shaping Extra Space Storage into one of the worlds largest self storage companies.​

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Robbie Cameron

Director of Search, Digital First

Robbie Cameron is the Director of Search at Digital First, a leading global digital agency specializing in the self storage industry. With over 17 years of experience, Robbie has held key roles, including being a founding staff member at Stor-Age Property REIT, Africa's largest self storage brand. At Digital First, he oversees daily operations and strategic campaigns focused on enquiry generation. Robbie has been instrumental in integrating artificial intelligence into digital marketing strategies, enhancing operational efficiency and customer engagement. He has shared his insights at industry events, discussing the impact of AI on business and self storage operations. Robbie's expertise in digital marketing and AI applications has significantly influenced the self storage sector's marketing landscape.

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Oliver Close

CBRE Ltd

Oliver Close is a Senior Director at CBRE Ltd and leads the firm’s activities in the self storage sector.  Oliver has over 22 years’ experience in self storage and has provided real estate advice to many of the major operators in the industry, across both Europe and the Asian self storage markets.  
Oliver worked on the stock market flotations of both Shurgard and Safestore, has executed a number of sale transactions in several jurisdictions and collaborates closely with the SSA UK, including with the production of the UK Self Storage Survey for a period of years.  CBRE’s activities include, in addition to valuations and transactions, general advisory, debt advisory, equity raising, capital allowance advice, corporate finance and site acquisition services.

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Dave Davies

Double D Consulting

Dave is a well known and accomplished self storage professional with over 21 years of self storage experience.

For 17 years he was an executive board member at Safestore, joining at 15 stores and 40 employees. As a member of the management buyout team in 2004 and the IPO team in 2008, he played a major role in the company’s success and its growth to a FTSE 250 company with over 580 employees and 134 stores, revenues of £112m and EBITDA of £64m, making it the UK’s No 1.

Dave was also Managing Director of Space Maker Self Storage (12 stores) for 6 years before it was acquired by Safestore in 2016.  This provided Dave with invaluable experience in managing and operating a medium size self storage business.                                                                                                                          
Since retiring from Safestore in 2017, Dave has specialised in advising, directing, and assisting small and medium UK and European self storage and container operators to build and maximise their business potential through many areas including, team development, enquiry management and sales process implementation. Above all, Dave specialises in maximising revenue and therefore, EBITDA.

With a trusted network of specialist suppliers, Dave has a unique mix of industry knowledge, business growth experience, coaching and development skills and practical experience that enables him to add value to new start-ups, existing operators and to those looking to optimise their exit.  

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Mark Durden-Smith

Event Host

Mark Durden-Smith is a seasoned British television presenter with a diverse career spanning sports, entertainment, and lifestyle programming. Educated at Radley College and Durham University, he began his career as a researcher for "Clive Anderson Talks Back" before transitioning to presenting roles. Mark has hosted various shows, including Sky Sports' rugby coverage, ITV's "I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! NOW!", and Channel 5's rugby union coverage.

As the host of the FEDESSA Conference in Dublin, Mark's engaging and lively style adds a layer of excitement to the event, making it both informative and entertaining. Attendees can look forward to his ability to connect with the audience, bringing humour and energy to the sessions. His extensive experience ensures the conference proceedings will be smooth and lots of fun.

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Pedro Florida

Kobre Companies

Pedro Florida is the Chief Operating Officer of Kobre Companies, a vertically integrated platform spanning self-storage operations (Trojan Storage), property management software (QuikStor), tenant protection (Breko), and financial services (Core Financial). With over 20 years of industry experience, Pedro is recognized for delivering measurable results in operations, pricing, and business development.

Prior to his current role, Pedro served as COO of Trojan Storage, where he led initiatives to improve operating performance, modernize sales processes, and drive revenue growth. His broader career includes leadership roles at MiniStorage.net, American Express, Ambev (InBev), and Village Roadshow Entertainment.

Pedro is passionate about advancing the self-storage industry through innovation and education. He is a Board Member of the Self Storage Association (SSA) and a Past Chairman of the California Self Storage Association (CSSA), where he served for nine years. A committed lifelong learner, he holds an MBA from Pepperdine University, a certification in Revenue Analytics from The Wharton School, and an executive credential in Digital Business Strategy from MIT Sloan. Pedro is also a certified Clifton Strengths executive coach.

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Christel Land

Clover 4

Christel Land is a popular business coach/consultant and an experienced sales and marketing trainer with extensive experience working in the self storage industry.  She regularly delivers sales, service, and marketing training sessions for the SSA UK and FEDESSA.  She started out in self storage over 20 years ago and since then she has worked at every level of the industry. It is this experience she brings to her training and coaching. Christel also works with web design and specializes in building smart booking systems for self storage websites. She is the author of the only book to date on sales in the self storage industry.  Combining her engaging training style with an enormous amount of industry knowledge, Christel will give you all the tools you need to grow your sales skills and improve your performance.

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Jill Leckie

Developed by Me

Jill is a full stack marketing consultant, specialising marketing for self storage. Her belief is that brand awareness and top-funnel marketing activity combined with high impact, short term performance marketing (PPC)  activity is the success factor in sustainable, long-term growth. With over a decade's worth of experience in digital marketing, Jill’s business, Developed by me AB, helps small teams with big business and brand ambitions to achieve their goals through data-driven insights and strategies. Jill is a Hyper Island alumni and a certified LinkedIn and Meta advertiser, with skills in paid social media, Google Ads, email marketing, SEO, and content creation.

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Gabriel Luna

Kobre Companies

Gabriel Luna is the Engagement and Communications Manager at Kobre Companies, overseeing brands such as Trojan Storage and QuikStor. With a background in computer science, he has adeptly integrated artificial intelligence (AI) into marketing strategies, enhancing operational efficiency and customer engagement. Gabriel has shared his insights on AI-driven marketing and automation in self storage through various platforms, including the "Self Storage Lab" podcast. He also serves as the Marketing & Communications Committee Chair for the California Self Storage Association (CSSA), contributing to industry advancements. His innovative approach and leadership have significantly influenced the self storage sector's marketing landscape

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Rennie Schafer

SSA UK & FEDESSA

Rennie is the current CEO of FEDESSA and the Self Storage Association UK, having previously been the CEO of the Australasian Self Storage Association for over 9 years.  Rennie has extensive knowledge of the self storage industry across the world, from the developing Asian markets through to the birthplace of self storage in the USA.  He has over 27 years of association management experience, 21 at CEO level.  Rennie has an MBA from Deakin University and completed the Oxford University High performance leadership programme.

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Gavin Shields

Stora

Gavin Shields is the CEO and co-founder of Stora, a self storage software platform designed to automate operations and enhance sales for storage businesses. He also serves as the Managing Director of StoreStuff, a self storage facility in Northern Ireland. Prior to his ventures in self storage, Gavin held roles as CEO of fintech startups PiggyPot and Yomo, Interim CMO at Orca Money, and COO at games technology company Turbulenz. He also worked as a Private Equity Investor at Summit Partners and as a Financial Analyst at Procter & Gamble. Gavin holds a Master's degree in Economics and Accounting from the University of Edinburgh and has completed a Mini MBA at the William J Clinton Leadership Institute

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