Find a removal firm

Mike Hacking from removal company Movers Not Shakers offers these helpful hints on how to find the best removal firm

  • Word of mouth is always a good way of finding a reliable removal firm. Make sure you pick one that knows your area well – you don’t want them getting lost or not knowing where to park. Mike Hacking from removals company Movers Not Shakers offers these helpful hints: ‘A lot of removals companies will charge an hourly rate. The more organised you are, the quicker the move. This is really crucial to the length of time the move will take. Have everything packed up; loose items add time and also hinder safe delivery.

    ‘Make sure that furniture which is too large to fit through the doors, down the stairs etc is disassembled (most good companies will do this for you and reassemble it at the destination). Be clear where you want the furniture to be placed in your new home. All crockery, glasses etc should be individually wrapped in tissue paper (newspaper is okay but can leave ink smudges). All paintings, vases and large fragile items should be wrapped in bubble-wrap.

    ‘Boxes should be separated into two categories, one for heavier items (books, crockery etc) should not be bigger than about 18"x18"x18".
    Boxes of clothes and linen (ie lighter things) should not be too big for one man to carry. All boxes should be clearly labelled with a description of what is in them and which room in the destination address you want them placed.

    ‘Ideally, all TV and audio equipment should be bubble-wrapped. Make sure that you have the associated cables and remote controls boxed safely.’

    Movers Not Shakers

    This SW1-based removals company caters for all sizes of job, from a simple ‘man-with-a-van’ service from £40 an hour (min two hours) to packing up your entire house contents and transporting them to your new home/storage facility. The company will also move you to other cities or even countries.(020 7630 9005/www.moversnotshakers.co.uk).

    Dulwich Removals

    Heartily recommended.Railway Arch 884, Rosendale Rd, SE24 (020 8678 1774).

    Fast Forward

    A Time Out favourite based in White Hart Lane happy to take on a job at very short notice.(020 8888 1050/www.fast-forward-group.co.uk).

    Rogers Removals (Finchley)

    (020 8953 6777/www.rogersremovals.co.uk).

    Shirley’s Removals

    Originally specialising in moving house for the gay community, this small but well-run company promises to treat your possessions with care, and to move them swiftly.(020 7254 5580).

    Post redirection

    www.iammoving.com

    Informs, for free, a personal list of companies, such as utilities, of your new address.

    Post Office

    Will redirect your mail from the UK to any address in the UK or overseas – priced from £7.10 for redirection to a UK address for one month.(0845 722 3344/www.postoffice.co.uk).

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Comments & ratings

Rated as: 5/5 (31 ratings)
  • A week ago I moved with my family to our new house. A friend of mine recommended a removal company that he used before - Compass Removals. I can say that this is THE BEST company that I ever used. The team came on time, they have a walk through the house and after that explained me everything that they'll do - packing, labeling, taking furniture apart. They work very fast and in no time all my life was in their van. At my new house they asked where I wont every single box and sofa, so at the end of the day all we have left to do is organize our clothes in the wardrobes and cook dinner.I want to specially thanks everybody from Compass Removals for the smooth and totally stressless move. If any one is looking for the perfect removal company give them a try.

    Scott Pilsworth Tue Apr 30
    Rated as: 5/5
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  • we called a few of the companies from this blog and found removals with a smile to be the easiest to communicate with. They were the only one who made my wife feel totally at ease when they came round to quote and who you could feel were genuinely helpful without being at all pushy. They arrived on time, were cheerful, helpful, hardworking throughout, and even dropped off boxes in advance and provided hanging wardrobe cartons on our move day for free which was really handy. They also saved us money and time on the parking suspensions and were really flexible and understanding with the move date which dragged on and on and on. Some of the bigger companies provided cheaper quotes but with lots of terms and conditions and hidden charges and kept calling when I was at work. With removals with a smile its all the way it should be. Simple and stress free! All the best Tom

    tom Tue Apr 30
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  • reallymoving.com and yelp/qype also have very good reviews on lots of removal companies. You can get 6 competitive quotes from really moving in one go so its one of the best ways to find a good deal without doing too much searching. The reviews on Yelp are also very reliable when searching for any company in London.

    Terry Tue Apr 30
    Report
  • reallymoving.com and yelp/qype also have very good reviews on lots of removal companies. You can get 6 competitive quotes from really moving in one go so its one of the best ways to find a good deal without doing too much searching. The reviews on Yelp are also very reliable when searching for any company in London.

    Terry Tue Apr 30
    Report
  • we find removals with a smile here and were so happy that I am write first online review. They better company we find with lot of searches. They are small family business and owner of company come round to give us free survey. They lend boxes free for self pack and also arrange parking. We also used their storage as we dont fit everything in to small property at last minute with no problem. All of men were friendly and polite and English. We are not from this country but it was best to have a team that are English mens. Last time we use other company and very difficult communicate with foreign worker and they know London area very good. My husband work on moving day but I feel very safe with happy workmen. High recommend to all! Kim

    Kim Mon Apr 29
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  • We were introduced to Inbox Removals via a trusted friend. A visit from the company director Paul was reassuring and we agreed to proceed. Subsequently our moving date changed at least three times and on each occasion Paul said not to worry, we will be there, and he was. We booked a team of three loaders in addition to a supervisor as we also had many large plants and trees to move. The trees were carried up 6 flights of stairs to a roof terrace without damage or complaint. The job should have taken one day, but we had more possessions than we had realised, so it took two! The Inbox team were friendly, cautious and very professional at all times. Paul even went out of his way to make sure my partner and I were fed. Bottom line, Paul told me from the outset that his intent was to remove as much stress as possible and this was achieved at a very fair cost. I would not hesitate to recommend Inbox Removals and can be contacted for further information.

    Ian Fri Apr 26
    Rated as: 5/5
    Report
  • At first I thought Movers Not Shakers were going to be a god-send as I had to book them last minute and they seemed very capable of doing the job. However, when I made the simple request of asking for a copy of the insurance policy I was told that it could not be sent to me until Monday (I asked on a Friday). At first, Mike said he would not hold the trucks for me over the weekend but when I explained to him that I would find someone else he guaranteed to hold them for me until Monday afternoon so I had time to review the policy. On Monday AM, I received an email from that he booked the trucks over the weekend. Makes me think they may not want people to look to closely at the insurance policy. I've seen other reviews which suggest as much as well.

    Jess Tue Apr 23
    Rated as: 1/5
    Report
  • I use CompassRemovals (http://compassremovals.co.uk/) were a professional to deal with from start to finish. The estimator, was excellent explain everything we needed to know and put our mind to ease. Two days before the move the packers arrived professionally packed all our items. They were very careful with our antiques and art work everything was packed extremely well. the movers were very helpful and completed the whole move well within time. We were very happy with the service we received from the whole team.

    Julian Mon Apr 22
    Rated as: 5/5
    Report
  • I use CompassRemovals were a professional to deal with from start to finish. The estimator, was excellent explain everything we needed to know and put our mind to ease. Two days before the move the packers arrived professionally packed all our items. They were very careful with our antiques and art work everything was packed extremely well. the movers were very helpful and completed the whole move well within time. We were very happy with the service we received from the whole team at http://compassremovals.co.uk/

    Julian Mon Apr 22
    Report
  • I am more than happy to recommend Removals2Go. I have used them few times in the past, and each time I have found them very professional and extremely understanding in what is a very stressful time. They always make sure that everything goes smoothly. Thank you!

    Stephanie Sun Apr 21
    Rated as: 5/5
    Report
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