Man and Van in Manchester
A room, a flat, or the one item that will not go in a car. Across a city where a thirty minute job and a four hour job can look identical on paper.
- Fixed price, not an hourly rate
- Tower blocks and booked lifts
- Single items welcome
Why we quote every job instead of quoting a rate
The short version. Tell us the larger items, both addresses, the floor and lift at each end, and roughly when. A fixed written price follows, usually the same working day.
Ask most removals firms about a one-bedroom flat and they will think about how much furniture is in it. In Manchester that is the wrong starting point, and it is why so many people are quoted one figure and charged another.
Two identical flats, same contents, same crew. One is on the second floor of a converted terrace in Chorlton with a door onto the street. The other is on the fourteenth floor of a block off Deansgate where the goods lift is booked in two hour slots and the bay allows twenty minutes. Those are not the same job, and nothing about the furniture explains the difference.
That is why we will not give you a rate. A rate assumes every job of a given size is alike, and in this city they are not. Instead we look at what your move actually involves, both the contents and the building, and put a single fixed figure in writing. That figure is what you pay. It does not go up because a lift was slow or a bay was occupied, because those risks are ours to carry rather than yours.
How each part of the city behaves
Six areas where the pattern is recognisable enough to be worth setting out.
City centre towers
Deansgate, Castlefield, Ancoats and the blocks around Piccadilly. Concierge, goods lift, loading bay with a time limit, and a set of building rules that matter more than the furniture does.
Northern Quarter and Ancoats
Converted mills and warehouse apartments. Excellent buildings, one shared lift, narrow streets and loading restrictions that make the start time critical.
Fallowfield and Withington
Shared student housing on terraced streets. A bedroom at a time, no parking outside, and the whole street moving in the same fortnight each September.
Hulme, Moss Side and Rusholme
A mix of terraces, newer blocks and shared houses. Street parking rather than bays, and access that varies considerably from one road to the next.
Didsbury and Chorlton
Flats above shops, converted villas and apartments in newer developments. Busy village centres with controlled parking and short loading windows.
Levenshulme and Longsight
Terraced streets with narrow entries and staircases that turn. Small houses that hold more than expected once the loft is counted.
What to check on the route
On a city move the awkward part is almost never the room you are emptying. It is everything between that room and the vehicle, and most of it can be checked in ten minutes before the day.
- The width of the flat door itself, which in newer blocks is frequently narrower than the doors inside the flat
- The corridor between the flat and the lift lobby, particularly where it turns
- The internal height of the lift car, since in most blocks the ceiling limits more than the floor area does
- Whether there is a usable staircase as a fallback, and whether anything large would actually go up it
- The distance from the bay or the kerb to the residents entrance, which is often longer than it looks from inside
- Whether the route in crosses a bus lane or a tram line, because that decides the approach rather than the mileage
Send us the details
The bigger items, both addresses, and the floor and lift at each end. That is enough to put a proper number on it.
Moving out of a shared house
A large share of the small moves we do across the city are somebody leaving a shared house rather than a whole household moving, and those jobs have their own shape.
The first thing is that you are moving out of a building other people still live in. The hallway, the stairs and whatever parking exists belong to everybody, and on a changeover weekend you may not be the only person going. If a housemate is moving the same day, agree between you who goes first, because two crews on one narrow staircase is slower than either one alone.
The second is volume, and it is consistently underestimated. A room that arrived as a car load rarely leaves as one. A year of kitchen things, bedding, books, a desk chair and whatever arrived by parcel adds up considerably more than people remember.
The third is the bit that has nothing to do with us and matters more than the move. Do your inventory photographs before we arrive rather than after. Once a room is full of boxes and people, the condition of the walls, the carpet and the paintwork cannot be recorded properly, and that record is what protects a deposit. Photograph the room empty as well, once everything is out.
Finally, sort out what is actually yours. Shared houses accumulate joint property, and the awkward conversation about whose the microwave is goes far better a week beforehand than on the pavement.
Loading in the city centre
Central Manchester is the most constrained place we work, and almost none of the constraint is about carrying things.
The loading bay is the first factor and usually the whole story. Most blocks have one, most put a time limit on it, and it is shared with every delivery arriving that day. Where the window is short, the right answer is more people for less time rather than fewer people at a comfortable pace, so the vehicle is loaded and gone rather than sitting there becoming somebody problem.
Getting there is the second. Bus lanes, tram tracks, one-way systems and the ring road mean the sensible approach to a building is frequently not the obvious one, and from mid-morning the centre is congested in a way that adds real time to a very short journey. We start early for that reason rather than for effect.
The third is that everything in a block is shared, including the thing you need. The lift, the bay, the entrance, and on a Saturday in a large building there may be two other flats moving. None of that is a problem when it is expected. All of it is a problem when the plan assumed sole use.
The one genuine trap is a building with a single lift and no usable stairs for furniture. If it is out of service on your date, and it does happen, there is no fallback at all. Where we can, we confirm it is working the day before rather than finding out at eight in the morning.
What you are actually paying for
Five things. Notice that the amount of stuff is only one of them.
The building at both ends
Two addresses a mile apart can be a far bigger job than a run to Leeds. Lifts, bays and entrances shape a city quote more than the distance between the postcodes ever does.
The worst item on the list
One sofa or one American fridge can determine the crew and the equipment for a whole job. Tell us the biggest thing rather than the average thing.
Whether it fits in one run
Anything needing a second journey adds real cost, because the return leg through city traffic achieves nothing. It is why we ask for a full list rather than a summary.
Who can help at each end
Often nobody, particularly at a collection. That is completely normal, we simply need to know so the right number of people arrive.
Which day you pick
Saturdays, month ends and the September student weeks are the hardest to get and the dearest. Midweek outside those is easier on both counts.
Student moves and the September weeks
Manchester has one of the largest student populations in Europe, and for a fortnight each September, and again in early summer, an enormous number of people move at once. If your date falls in either window, it changes what a sensible booking looks like.
The first consequence is competition for dates. It is not that vans run out so much as that everybody wants the same Saturday, and the people booking in late August take whatever is left rather than what suits them. Book several weeks ahead if you possibly can.
Purpose-built student accommodation has its own arrangements and they are usually stricter than an ordinary block. Many run designated move-in slots, require the lift to be booked, and will not allow a vehicle to wait beyond a set period. Some want the details of the removals contractor in advance. Ask the accommodation office what applies rather than assuming, because those buildings are handling hundreds of moves in the same fortnight.
Shared houses around Fallowfield, Withington and Rusholme have a different quirk. You are rarely the only person moving out of the building that day, and the hallway, the stairs and the parking are shared with whoever else is going. If a housemate is moving on the same date, agree between you who goes first. Two crews trying to use one narrow staircase helps nobody.
The thing students most consistently get wrong is volume. A room that arrived as a car load almost never leaves as one. A year of kitchen things, bedding, books and deliveries adds up, so give us a realistic list rather than the one you remember arriving with.
Areas we cover
Across the Manchester postcodes and the areas around them, including the city centre, Ancoats, Castlefield, Hulme, Fallowfield, Withington, Didsbury, Chorlton, Levenshulme, Rusholme, Longsight, Moston and Wythenshawe. Across the river, our Salford page covers the Quays and beyond.
Related services
Home removals
For a whole household rather than a room or a flat.
Storage
For part loads and gaps between tenancies.
Dismantling and reassembly
Beds and wardrobes taken apart and rebuilt.
Man and van in Salford
Across the river, covered separately.
Questions we get asked
Why can you not just give me a rate?
Because an hourly rate on a city job transfers all the risk to you. If the lift is slow or the bay is occupied, you pay for it. We would rather work out what the job will actually take, quote a fixed figure and carry that risk ourselves.
I am on the fourteenth floor. Is that much worse than the second?
Not necessarily, and that surprises people. What matters is whether the goods lift can be reserved. A reserved lift on the fourteenth floor beats a shared passenger lift on the fourth almost every time.
What do I need to ask my building?
Whether the lift can be booked and how, what the time limit on the bay is, and whether the concierge wants notice. Three questions, five minutes, and they shape the booking more than anything you own does.
Something big is coming in from Marketplace. Can you fetch it?
Yes, we do a lot of these. Send us what it is, the address, the floor and whether the seller can lift. Ask them for measurements as well, because listings are written optimistically and a doorway is not.
Do you handle student moves in September?
Yes, and it is our busiest fortnight. Book several weeks out if you can, and check whether your accommodation runs designated slots, because a lot of the purpose-built blocks do.
Is it one person or two?
Depends on the job and we decide it rather than leaving it to you. Stairs, anything heavy, a tight bay or a collection with nobody to help all mean two. You will know what is coming before the day.
Do beds have to be taken apart?
Nearly always, and in a lift building more so than in a house, because a lift is less forgiving about angles than a staircase. We rebuild at the far end.
What if I have got more than a van holds?
Then we will tell you when we quote, not when the van is full. Two or three trips across this city is a long expensive day, and a proper removal usually works out cheaper.
Ready to book it in
Give us the addresses and a rough list. We will come back with a fixed figure in writing and hold it.