Stage 01
Survey
We walk the rooms, or you send a room-by-room video. We list the awkward items and measure doorways, lift cars and stair turns before quoting.
01 — How a move runs
Four stages, in this order
Most move-day problems are survey problems. We front-load the awkward parts — access, measurements, waste, parking — so the day itself is only carrying.
Stage 02
Written scope
You receive crew size, vehicle, materials, dismantle list, start window and a parking plan. If the scope changes, you see the revision before the day.
Stage 03
Move day
Protection goes down first. We load by room in reverse unload order, and one crew lead keeps the inventory list from door to door.
Stage 04
Settle
Beds rebuilt, boxes placed in the rooms they are labelled for, flat-pack reassembled, and packing waste taken away the same afternoon.
02 — Service lanes
Pick the lane that matches your access
Crew and vehicle are set by access and volume, not by the calendar. The figures below are our standard starting configurations.
Full-home relocation
Three bedrooms and up, loaded in one run where parking allows. Includes dismantle and rebuild of beds, wardrobes and dining tables, plus appliance trolleying once you have drained and disconnected them.
- Room-labelled inventory
- Dismantle + rebuild
- Garden & garage load
Apartment & walk-up
Built for tight landings and shared entrances. We book the service lift with your building manager, pad the lift car, and carry long items vertically where a turn is too narrow for a two-person flat lift.
- Lift booking liaison
- Stair-turn measurement
- Shuttle van for narrow streets
Office & studio
Evening and weekend relocations so your Monday opens as normal. Desks come down in numbered sets, screens and cables travel in labelled crates, and each workstation rebuilds against a floor plan you approve first.
- Crate hire by the week
- Numbered desk sets
- Floor-plan rebuild
Single item & collections
One sofa, one wardrobe, one marketplace collection. Priced as a short booked window rather than a full day, and wrapped to the same standard as a whole-house load.
- Booked 2-hour window
- Collection on your behalf
- Old item removal
Storage interlude
For the gap between completion dates. Your load stays palletised and wrapped as it left the house, with an itemised hold list, so a part-release of a few labelled boxes does not mean unpacking everything.
- Itemised hold list
- Part release
- Redelivery booking
The standard
Nothing travels loose, nothing travels unlabelled
Every drawer unit is stretch-wrapped shut, every table edge takes a corner guard, and anything we dismantle keeps its fixings in a bagged, labelled set taped to the frame it came from. It is slower to load. It is far faster to live in.
03 — Packing & materials
What we bring, and what it is for
If you are packing yourself, this is the kit list worth matching. Cartons are sized so a full box stays liftable — the usual mistake is books in a large carton.
- Book carton
- Small and deliberately so. Dense goods only: books, records, tools, tinned food.
- Linen carton
- Large and light. Bedding, cushions, coats, soft toys. Never used for anything dense.
- Wardrobe carton
- Tall, with a hanging rail. Clothes move on their hangers, so nothing needs refolding.
- Dish pack + dividers
- Double-walled with cell inserts for stemware, plates on edge, and ceramics.
- Picture & mirror flats
- Adjustable card flats for framed art and mirrors. Larger pieces get a timber-edged crate.
- Mattress sleeve
- Zipped and sized to the bed, so the mattress never touches a stair wall or a truck floor.
- Stretch wrap & corner guards
- Drawer units wrapped shut, table and worktop edges guarded before they leave the room.
- Runners & jamb pads
- Floor protection and door-frame padding, laid at both properties before loading starts.
Tier 01Self pack
We drop materials a week early and collect what you do not use. You pack, we wrap the furniture.
Tier 02Part pack
The slow rooms only — kitchen, glassware, art, electronics. Usually a half day before the move.
Tier 03Full pack
Everything boxed and listed by our crew the day before, with an essentials box kept back for you.
04 — Decide before you book
What we handle, and what needs a specialist
We would rather say no early than arrive without the right equipment. If something on the right-hand list is in your home, tell us in the notes and we will point you to the right trade.
In scope for our crews
Standard household and office loads, including the items most crews quietly leave behind.
- Sofas, sectionals and corner unitsLegs and feet removed, doorway and turn measured at survey.
- Flat-pack dismantle and rebuildFixings bagged, labelled and taped to the frame they belong to.
- White goods, once preparedDrained, defrosted and disconnected by you in advance; we trolley and strap.
- Upright pianos on level accessFour crew and a piano board where the route has no turning stair.
- Garden furniture, bikes and toolsLoaded last, kept clear of upholstery, soil knocked off first.
- Framed art and mirrorsCard flats as standard, timber-edged crating for oversized pieces.
Referred to a specialist
These need rigging, licences or conditions we do not carry. We will name a trade rather than improvise.
- Grand and baby grand pianosLeg-off rigging and a specialist board; we will refer you on.
- Safes and heavy plantAnything needing a stair-climbing skate or gantry lift.
- Slate pool tables and aquariumsBoth need draining or plate separation before any lift.
- Fuels, gas bottles and solventsNot carried on our vehicles under any circumstances.
- Pets and livestockThey travel with you, never in the load space.
- Mature plants on long haulsShort local hops are fine; a full day in a dark truck is not.
05 — Before you ask
Questions worth asking any mover
Ask these of us and of whoever else you are comparing. The answers tell you more than the headline figure does.
How is a moving quote actually built?
From volume, access and distance — in that order. Volume sets the vehicle, access sets the crew size and how long each carry takes, and distance sets the number of runs. A quote that arrives without anyone asking about stairs, lift access or parking is a guess, and guesses get revised upwards on the day.
What pushes the price up most?
Carry distance from door to vehicle, every time. A fourth-floor walk-up with a 60-metre carry to legal parking can cost more than a larger house with a driveway. After that: late packing, undismantled furniture, loft and garden contents that were not mentioned, and items needing specialist handling discovered on the morning.
Do I need to arrange parking or a permit?
Usually yes, at both ends, and it is worth doing early. We will tell you at survey what the truck needs in metres and whether a suspension or permit is likely. If a bay cannot be held, we plan a shuttle van instead and price it in rather than discovering it at 8am.
How far ahead should packing be finished?
Everything except your essentials box should be boxed and closed the night before. Allow roughly a day per two rooms if you are packing yourself around work, and start with the rooms you use least. If that is not realistic, book a part pack for the kitchen and fragiles — it is the single most effective way to protect the schedule.
What cover applies to my belongings?
Our scope sets out the cover level, the per-item limit and the exclusions in plain terms before you accept it. Two things are worth knowing generally: self-packed cartons are usually treated differently from crew-packed ones, and high-value individual pieces normally need declaring in advance to be covered at value. Declare them at survey and we will note them on the inventory.
What should stay with me rather than go in the truck?
One essentials box and one bag per person: documents, passports, keys, medication, chargers, laptops, jewellery, kettle and mugs, bedding for the first night, and anything irreplaceable. Keep them in your own vehicle or in a clearly marked "do not load" corner — our crews are briefed to work around it.
Can a booked date be moved if my chain slips?
Yes. Chains slip, and a date hold exists for exactly that. Tell us as soon as you know and we will move you to the nearest available slot; the rescheduling terms and any materials already delivered are set out in your scope. If your dates fall apart entirely, the storage interlude lane is usually the cheaper answer to two moves.
06 — Request a date hold
Tell us the rooms and the access
A date hold is a provisional slot, not a commitment. We reply by email with a survey time or, for smaller lanes, a written scope straight away.
Helpful to include in the notes: floor number, whether there is a service lift, how far the nearest loading spot is, and anything heavy, oversized or fragile that would change the crew.
- Reply by email, same working day
- Survey by visit or video
- Written scope before deposit
- Mon–Sat, 8am–6pm