Counted in hands

Six crews, and where each one stops

We quote the crew first and the vehicle second, because the vehicle almost never decides anything. Each page below says what that crew covers and — more usefully — what it does not.

One is a load decision. Three is usually the building's decision. Knowing which you are is most of the quote.

One or two

The load decides. Most flats are two, and one is narrower than it sounds.

1 One mover Boxes, a bed frame, a collection where somebody is waiting One pair of hands and a van. It works for boxes, flat-pack, a single mattress on the level, and collections where somebody at the other end can take one end of it. It is the cheapest crew there is and the wrong one more often than people expect. Read the page 2 Two movers A studio, a one-bed, a flat-share room with furniture The standard London crew and the one most jobs actually need. Two people can carry anything a normal flat contains, take a turn on a staircase between them, and keep one person with the van while the other is inside. Read the page

Three or more

The building decides. Stairs, carries and lifts add people, not hours.

3 Three movers Two beds and up, long carries, stairs with no lift The third person is almost always the building talking rather than the load. A long carry from a permit bay, a fourth-floor walk-up, a lift that has to be held — each of those turns a two-person day into a three-person one. Read the page 4 A full crew Houses, offices, chains with a completion on the same day Four and upwards, usually with two vehicles. This is the crew for a whole house, a small office, or anything where the keys change hands on the same day and the load has to be off one property and into another without a gap. Read the page

Extra hands

Packers are separate people on a separate visit, not the same crew working longer.

5 A crew with packers Packing as a separate visit by separate people Packing is its own job done by its own people, usually before the moving crew arrives rather than alongside them. Booking it as an afterthought on the morning is the single commonest way a well-planned move falls apart. Read the page

Hands that travel

Our crew drives the route. The same hands load in London and unload at the far end.

2 A crew that travels The same crew at both ends of the route All four destinations are road routes, so the crew that packs and loads in London is the crew that unloads at the far end. The crossing itself is a booked slot on an operator we do not own, and the paperwork is legally yours. We say so rather than implying otherwise. Read the page

Tell us the stairs, not the boxes

Both addresses, what floor each one is on, where a vehicle can legally stand at either end, and the widest thing you own. That is what sets the crew — and the crew is what sets the price.

Get a price Ask about crew size