Office Safes: What Belongs in One (and What Really Doesn't)

Most office safes are bought after something has gone wrong. A break-in, a flood, a laptop that walked out of reception. I would rather you bought one before, so here is how I would go about it. It is mostly about reading two numbers properly and being honest about what you will put inside.

Two ratings, two different jobs

A safe carries a cash rating and, sometimes, a fire rating. They are not the same thing and one does not imply the other.

The cash rating is a recommended overnight figure. Our Phoenix Vela security safe is rated for £1,000 cash or £10,000 in valuables overnight. The Titan is rated for £2,000 cash or £20,000 valuables. The front-loading cash deposit safe goes to £3,000 and £30,000. Your insurer will have a view on what they will cover in each, so check the policy before you pick a size, not after.

The fire rating is a tested time. The Phoenix Titan fireproof safe is tested to NT Fire 017 for 60 minutes of paper protection. That is paper. Digital media fails at temperatures paper shrugs off, so the Titan carries a second test, MTC DIP120, for 60 minutes covering USB sticks and hard drives. A dedicated data safe such as the Phoenix Datacare is tested to the data standard for 60 or 90 minutes depending on size, with twin water resistant seals so the sprinklers do not finish what the fire started.

So start with what you are protecting it from. Theft wants a cash rating and bolts. Fire wants minutes and, for drives, the right kind of minutes. A lot of offices need a bit of both, which is why the Titan exists.

What belongs in an office safe

Less than you think. A safe is small, and everything in it has to earn the space.

• Documents you cannot easily replace. Deeds, signed contracts, the company seal if you still have one, passports on the day someone travels.

• The backup drive. One copy. The other copy lives somewhere else entirely, because a safe protects against fire, not against being in the same building as the fire.

• The petty cash tin and the float. Every night, not most nights.

• Spare keys. The Titan has four hooks inside the door for exactly this.

• Laptops overnight, if you have a size that takes them. Size 3 of the Vela fits a 17 inch laptop, which is why it exists.

What really does not

The whole archive. A safe is not a filing cabinet, and if you try to make it one you will stop closing the door properly. Anything you need ten times a day, because it will end up on the desk with the safe open behind it. The only copy of anything digital, for the reason above. And the code, written on a note inside the door. I have seen it. So have burglars.

Bolt it down

This is the bit people skip. A safe that is not fixed is a very heavy box with a handle on it, and two people with a trolley will take the whole thing and open it somewhere quieter. The Titan comes prepared for floor fixing with concrete bolts in the box. The Vela ships with bolts for brick walls and concrete floors. It takes twenty minutes with a hammer drill and it doubles the value of everything above.

If you are in a rented office, check the lease. Most landlords are fine with a few fixing holes in a concrete floor and will tell you if they are not. Ask first. It is a shorter conversation than the one after a break-in.

Sizing and locking

Measure what goes in, then add a shelf. Lever arch files are taller than people expect and the internal height is the number that catches you out. The Titan comes in three sizes and the larger two add a height adjustable shelf. The Datacare gives you one or two shelves so boxed tapes and drives stay in order rather than in a heap.

Locking is a matter of who needs to open it. A key lock is simple and cheap, and keys go missing. An electronic lock means a code you can change when someone leaves, and the Vela's electronic version keeps a key override in the box for the day the code goes with them. Fingerprint locks store up to 128 prints on the Titan and Datacare, which sounds like a lot until you have a shop with a rota. The electronic lock safes page pulls together every safe with a keypad, and the full office safes and security range has the fire ratings, cash ratings and internal sizes on every listing, so you can compare them without ringing anyone.

One last thing. The Titan and the Datacare come with a free lifetime after the fire replacement guarantee. If the safe goes through a fire, it is replaced. Read the small print on any safe that does not say that.