The firm is hunting for a builder for two new landmark stores in Warrington and Stevenage, each to  provide 60,000 sq ft of storage space.

It is also progressing plans for a 50,000 sq ft Wolverhampton store, which received planning last December.

This morning the firm said no decisions on commencing building works on these stores will be made until the trajectory of the economy out of the pandemic has become clearer.

As planned, Lokn’Store will go on site with a new 53,000 sq ft freehold store in Salford, Manchester in September for opening in January 2021.

The firm’s total new store pipeline will be 12 sites which will take it to 48 stores when fully developed.

As the government has eased lockdown restrictions new enquiries have increased and in May were 3% ahead of the same month last year.

Andrew Jacobs, CEO, said: “Despite the current unsettled economic circumstances Lok’nStore’s trading remains resilient.

“We continue to progress the development of our new store pipeline, having secured two new planning permissions over recent weeks.

“The pipeline of new stores will add considerable momentum to sales and earnings growth over the medium term allowing further increases in dividends.”