Man and van
One van, and the right number of people
Single items, part loads and small moves — crewed for what is actually being carried. Most of what goes wrong with a man-and-van booking is one person sent to a two-person item.
A man-and-van booking should be the simplest thing you can order from a removal firm. It usually is not, because the industry prices it by the hour and sizes the crew by what keeps that hourly figure attractive. A wardrobe down two flights is not a one-person job; a fridge-freezer through a narrow hall is not either.
So we quote by the job, state the crew size, and send that many people.
Right for this
- A single item that needs two or three people rather than one
- A room out of a shared house, or a student move
- A part load — the furniture, while you take the boxes
- A collection from a workshop, a warehouse or a seller
- A run to or from storage
- One awkward thing across the country
Not right for this
- A whole house with a loft and a garage
- Anything needing several vehicles at once
- A grand piano, a commercial safe or a full multi-gym — those are heavy-item bookings
- Office relocations with IT and cabinets to crate
For those, see house removals, heavy items or office moves.
Materials
Worth having even for a part load. Loose belongings move around far more in a half-empty van than a stacked wall of boxes does. We can drop cartons off beforehand or bring them with us — what we cannot do is pack a room from scratch while the van waits.
Distance
Single items travel a long way surprisingly often, and those are planned as distance runs rather than as a long local job. Strapping, load position and driver hours all change.
Man and van — the practical bits
What makes your man and van different?
Crew size honesty. Most man-and-van services send one person, which is fine for boxes and wrong for a wardrobe, a fridge or anything down a staircase. We send the number the item actually needs and tell you that number on the quote, so nobody arrives and asks you to take one end.
Do you carry, or just drive?
We carry. Help if you want to, but nobody is relying on you to.
Can you take one heavy item on its own?
Yes, and that is a large share of what we do. If it is genuinely heavy — a safe, an upright piano, a full rack of plates — it becomes a heavy-item booking rather than a man-and-van one, because the gear and the crew change. We will tell you which yours is when you describe it.
How is it priced?
By the job. What is moving, where from and to, and the access at both ends. That gives the van size and the crew, and those give the price. If you add something on the day we tell you what it changes before we load it.
Can you come at short notice?
Often, especially midweek. Weekends and month-ends fill first. Ring and ask — if we cannot do it we will say so straight away rather than leaving you waiting on a maybe.
Do you go long distance for a single item?
Yes. A sofa or a piano going three hundred miles is a common job. It is planned as a distance run rather than a local hop, which changes how it is loaded and strapped.
Small job, quoted properly
Describe what is moving, which floor it is on, and where it is going. You will get a price and a crew size, not an hourly rate and a shrug.