UK-based archive restoration specialist has been bought by US-based storage firm

R3store

60-year old storage company Underground Vaults & Storage, Inc (known as UV&S) has acquired London archive restoration specialist R3store Studios.

This acquisition expands the offering of UV&S to include digital services for film and entertainment.

R3store Studios has expertise in tape digitisation, film scanning, grading, restoration, and preservation.

Jo Griffin, co‐founder of R3store, will lead the division at UV&S as digital and restoration director. She said: “I cannot wait for R3store’s next steps alongside UV&S. The prospect of coordinating our resources, expertise and talents ignites a sense of anticipation for the innovative strides and standards of excellence we can collectively set within the industry.”

R3el is the footage licensing branch of R3store Studios, with a library of digitised and restored stock footage. UV&S has plans to replicate these services in the US and expand on them at its existing locations.

Jeff Ollenburger, president of UV&S, said: “As we continue to grow our footprint and add offerings to our growing list of services, acquisitions like this create collaborations that benefit our clients and help us serve customers around the world. As one of the world’s largest film and entertainment storage providers, adding services to support those clients at all of our locations brings tremendous value and builds upon the partnerships we have with those in the industry.”

Underground Vaults & Storage was founded in 1959 as a records and information management company. It rebranded as UV&S and now provides secure storage and NAID‐certified destruction. It also offers event and festival branding, design and show construction through UV&S Event Services, while UV&S Technology provides IT support and data center hosting services.

The company is perhaps best known for its salt mine facility in Hutchinson, where it stores millions of items deep underground for some of the largest companies in the world, including those in the motion picture and television industry.