Across a border
Across a border
This is where the handling count stops being a nicety and becomes the whole decision. On a domestic move the difference between two handlings and six is a matter of degree. On a consignment crossing a border it changes how your goods should be packed, insured and expected to arrive.
Every international quotation we send states the count in words. Ask any other firm for theirs.
Four routes where the count changes the answer
Estonia, because Baltic groupage is cheap and plentiful and a dedicated load is a third of the handlings. Slovakia, because Bratislava and Košice are effectively two different quotations. Iceland, because there is no road route and the sea leg has to be counted honestly. Turkey, because it is reachable two entirely different ways.
Removals from the UK to Estonia
On this corridor the cheapest option and the best-protected option are different services, not different prices for the same one.
- Tallinn and Harju county
- Tartu
- Pärnu and the west coast
- Narva and the east
Removals from the UK to Slovakia
A quotation to Bratislava and a quotation to Košice are not the same job with a different postcode.
- Bratislava and the west
- Trnava and Nitra
- Žilina and the centre
- Košice and the east
Removals from the UK to Iceland
No road route exists. Anybody quoting you a two-handling move to Reykjavík is describing something that cannot happen.
- Reykjavík and the capital region
- Reykjanes and Keflavík
- Akureyri and the north
- The south coast
Removals from the UK to Turkey
Road and sea to the same address are two different quotations with two different counts. We send both.
- Istanbul
- Izmir and the northern Aegean
- Bodrum and Marmaris
- Fethiye, Kalkan and the Lycian coast
Two handlings, or six
A dedicated vehicle crossing a border is still two handlings. Loaded at your house, unloaded at the new one. Everything in between is driving, waiting at a terminal and paperwork, none of which touches your goods.
A groupage consignment on the same route is loaded at your house, unloaded at a UK depot, loaded into a container or trailer, moved across, unloaded at a receiving depot and delivered. Six events, several of them carried out by people who have never seen your house.
Which is why we quote both
Groupage is frequently the right answer. On a long route it may be the only affordable one for a single household, and dismissing it would be dishonest as well as unhelpful.
What is not right is selling it as though it were the same service at a lower price. So both quotations arrive together, the count is written on each, and we say which we would take in your position and why.
The packing follows from the count
A carton bound for a dedicated van needs to survive being lifted twice by two people who watched it being filled. A carton bound for a container needs to survive a depot, a stack, a crane, a second depot and a delivery crew.
Those are different specifications and we quote them as such, rather than offering the same packing at three price points.
UK origins
We collect from anywhere on the mainland — London, Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Bristol among them — for whole households and for part-loads consolidated before departure. Where a consolidation is involved it is a handling, and it appears on the count rather than being tucked away.
Moving abroad
Questions about moving abroad
- 01
Why those four countries and not France or Spain?
Because on a short hop to the near continent the choice between a dedicated vehicle and a shared one is mostly about money. On these four it changes the packing specification and the number of strangers who handle your belongings, and almost nobody explains that. We move to most of western and central Europe besides.
- 02
Which countries do you actually cover?
France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Estonia, Poland, Czechia, Slovakia, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, Portugal and Ireland by road, plus Iceland and Turkey by the routes their own pages describe.
- 03
Do you always quote two options?
On international enquiries, yes, without being asked. A dedicated load and a groupage consignment, side by side, with the handling count on both and a plain statement of which we would choose in your position.
- 04
Is export packing an upsell?
No, it is a specification, and it follows the count rather than the invoice. On a dedicated load we will tell you your own cartons are probably fine. On a six-handling consignment we will tell you they are not, and say why.
- 05
Where do you collect from?
Anywhere on the UK mainland, including London, Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Bristol. Where several collections feed one departure we will say so, because that is a handling and it belongs on the count.
- 06
Who handles the customs paperwork?
We prepare everything that comes from the inventory — the described list, the export declaration, the import entry and the relief claim. The documents attached to you as a person cannot be done for you, and each country page names them specifically.
Where is it going?
Both addresses, roughly what is going, and how firm the dates are. We will send both options with the counts written on them.