By property, not by mileage
What kind of building is it?
Most removers group their services by size of load. We group ours by the building, because the building is what decides the crew, the vehicle, the protection and the day.
Rural stone house and barn
maison de maître, longère, grange
Thick walls, narrow openings, original staircases and outbuildings holding more than anyone remembers putting there.
The catch
The constraint is never the front door. It is the reveal behind it, the turn at the top of the stair, or the beam across the barn opening — and none of those show up on a floor plan or a video walk-round.
How we work it
- A survey that measures the tightest point in the building rather than the entrance, and records which items fail it.
- Outbuildings inventoried as separate spaces, so the barn is not discovered on loading morning.
- Dismantle-and-rebuild planned in advance for the pieces that genuinely will not pass, with fixings bagged and labelled to the item.
- Ladder hoist or external lift arranged where a first-floor opening is the only realistic route.
Included as standard
- Full export-standard wrapping on case furniture and anything with a polished surface
- Floor and corner protection on stone stairs and original tiling
- Separate handling plan for workshop tooling, garden machinery and anything holding fuel
- A written inventory you keep, item by item, not room by room
Village and town house
maison de village, maison de ville
Tall, narrow, stacked up a hillside, with a stone stair that turns at every landing and a roof terrace at the top.
The catch
Everything is vertical and the street is too narrow to park on. A piece that came in before the previous owner blocked the stairwell with a new banister is not coming out the same way.
How we work it
- Floor-by-floor loading plan, measured against the tightest landing rather than the widest room.
- Kerb space reserved with the mairie where the commune requires a stationnement permit, arranged as part of the job.
- External furniture lift against the façade where an item cannot come down the stair — including the street notice that goes with it.
- Honest advice on pieces that will not suit the property at the other end, before they are packed rather than after.
Included as standard
- Stair-core and landing measurements recorded and shared with you
- Banister, newel and doorframe protection throughout the carry route
- Cellar and cave contents surveyed separately, including bottled stock
- Shuttle vehicle where the street cannot take the main unit
City apartment
appartement, immeuble haussmannien
Paris, Lyon, Bordeaux, Toulouse, Montpellier and Nantes — building rules, small lifts and a syndic who needs telling.
The catch
The building has more say in the move than you do. Lift dimensions, permitted hours, the courtyard gate, and a syndic de copropriété whose consent is not automatic.
How we work it
- Building constraints established before the date is fixed: lift car size, stair core, courtyard access and permitted working hours.
- Syndic and gardien contacted in advance where the building requires notice, in French, by us.
- Monte-meubles arranged where the stairwell defeats an item and the façade allows a lift.
- Load consolidated with other traffic on the corridor where a full vehicle is not warranted, so you are not paying for empty space.
Included as standard
- Communal area protection — lobby, lift car, stair core
- Parking or bay reservation where the commune operates one
- Flat-pack and reassembly for anything that was built in the room
- Careful handling of the things city flats are full of: books, art, instruments, wine
Chalet and second home
chalet, résidence secondaire
Alpine chalets, coastal apartments and the holiday house that is turning into the main one.
The catch
Access is seasonal and the property is rarely empty. Resort restrictions, rental commitments and a garage full of kit nobody counted make these moves a scheduling problem as much as a handling one.
How we work it
- Resort and commune access windows checked before a date is agreed, not after.
- Valley staging and shuttle transfer where gradient, hairpins or a length restriction stop a loaded vehicle.
- Move planned around an existing rental calendar where the property is let, working to the gap rather than asking for one.
- Garage, wood store and equipment areas surveyed in the same pass as the living space.
Included as standard
- Part-load handling for the common case where only some rooms are moving
- Protection rated for cold, damp and long carries rather than nominal blankets
- Inventory split by what ships, what stays and what is stored
- Storage on either side of the Channel when the two dates do not meet
The return move to the UK
retour au Royaume-Uni
Return legFrance to Britain — the leg most removers treat as an afterthought, and the one that needs the most planning.
The catch
A house lived in for twenty years is not a house-move. It is a clearance, a sale, a shipment and a set of customs formalities running at once, usually under a completion date that will not shift.
How we work it
- Three inventories at survey, not one: what ships, what is sold or given locally, what is cleared.
- Transfer-of-residence documentation prepared properly for goods coming back into the UK, with the evidence assembled before collection rather than chased afterwards.
- French-bought furniture assessed frankly against the UK property it is going to — armoires and buffets are magnificent and they are also large.
- Delivery into a UK address, a UK store, or split between both where the onward house is not ready.
Included as standard
- Collection anywhere in France, including isolated properties with no nearby staging
- UK-side delivery to London, Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Bristol and everywhere between
- Storage in the UK where the sale and the purchase do not line up
- Disposal and clearance of what is not travelling, handled lawfully rather than left in the barn
Which of the five is yours?
If it is more than one — a village house here and a barn there — say so. Mixed jobs are ordinary and they are easier scoped early.