Archive Relocation and Digitisation of 151 Boxes for the National Fostering Agency
The National Fostering Agency (NFA) is a crucial organisation dedicated to providing stable, loving, and supportive homes for vulnerable children and young people across the country. Given the sensitive and compliance-heavy nature of their work, maintaining detailed, secure, and accessible records is critical. When the NFA planned an office relocation, they took the opportunity to digitise their legacy paper archive. They required a trusted contractor to manage the secure uplift and collection of their records, followed by the accurate digitisation of each one — and this is where Document Options came in.
The Challenge: Relocation Logistics and Extreme Conditions
The Document Options Uplift & Collection team faced a significant logistical challenge. Approximately 151 archive boxes worth of vital records needed to be loaded into archive boxes and relocated from the top floor of their existing office to Document Options’ secure production facility in Crawley.
The key challenges were:
Access: The top floor office had no functioning lift, meaning all 151 boxes had to be safely carried down multiple flights of stairs by hand.
Conditions: The move took place on one of the hottest days of the year, requiring exceptional stamina, care, and focus from the collection team.
Security: Given the sensitive nature of NFA's files, maintaining a secure chain of custody and audit log from the office shelf to the transport vehicle and finally to the production facility was essential.
The Solution: Professional, Meticulous Execution
Document Options’ operational expertise was instrumental in overcoming these difficulties. We deployed a specialist logistics team comprising four staff members and two collection vehicles.
The team spent the entire morning focused on the collection, meticulously following all security protocols. Despite the heat and the physical demands of navigating the narrow stairs, the team successfully and safely removed every box from the top floor, carefully loading them into the secure transport vehicles for the immediate transfer to the production facility in Crawley. The professional approach ensured zero damage and maintained the integrity of the critical records throughout the journey.
The Results: Secure Digitisation and Seamless Integration
Once the 150 archive boxes arrived at our secure production facility, Document Options moved immediately into the digitisation phase:
Document Preparation: Files were prepped for high speed IBML scanning, this involved the removal of all binding, staples, and tape.
Data Delivery: The final scanned images and their associated index data were securely uploaded directly to the NFA’s designated SharePoint drive, allowing the client immediate and seamless access to their essential records in their new, modern workspace
Secure Destruction: Once the client had confirmed successful receipt and quality-checked all digital files, the physical documents were securely shredded and a Certificate of Destruction was issued, completing the compliant and confidential lifecycle of the records.
By managing both the complex logistics and the high-quality scanning process, Document Options provided the NFA with a reliable, end-to-end solution, clearing their former office space while ensuring full compliance and immediate digital access to their critical documents.
