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Hamiltons: Makinginroads into Europe

Counting down to pension reorm 44 Using Social Media to stay ahead 49

The Commercial Moving Apprenticeship takes o!

April 2012 Number 453 4.00 www.bar.co.uk

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No: 453 April 2012 www.bar.co.uk

This month:News rom Watord 06Industry News 07-16

- Budget 2012- HMRC sends out penalty notices- Smartphones now tax ree or employees- Johnson steps up HGV saety campaign- Thames Crossing consultation held- Fight on to save TruckPol- Road trac up- UK migration unchanged- European goods trac subdued- Scottish government backs down on Isles

changes- Roads investment in Northern Ireland- Teesport capacity expansion on track

- Transennica opens Bilbao route- PM in apprenticeship drive- No magic rom Merlin- Restore plc buys Harrow Green- Bournes acquires Cooks o Cranleigh- Beckwith o Sussex thinks big or 2012- Bishops Move trio go the distance- John Mason moves Maestro- AMC Removals exhibit at Working Abroad- ONeil upgrades RS-SQL- Santa Fe opens Chennai oce- C. Neale jump or Hospice- 10 years on or Ingrams van- A helping hand in Sierra Leone

- Britannia Anchor Removals supportsStarlight

- Grospiron wins FIDI bronze- Andrews o Kent says arewell to mascot- Stephens Removals invests in customer

experience

- Housing market shows signs o lie

BAR News 17-29

- Networking at the BAR Conerence- Business Sessions at Windsor- Sel Storage Group removes joining ee- BAR Membership criteria- Corporate alliance with Property Overseas

Today- New Met welcomes our new Members- BAR invests in brand- Young Mover: Judyta Szyszka

- Industry statistics

Olympics Monitor 30BAR Services 31QSS Update 34Commercial Moving Group News 35Overseas Group News 37NEW! Commercial MovingApprenticeships 38Training News 40European News 43People News 52Diary Dates 54Memberships 56Competition 58

April 2012 Removals & Storage 5

On the cover: Hamiltons trucks

48

BAR is in a major drive to raise its brandrecognition and increase leads generationor our Members.

Caroline Suard, BAR Director o Marketing.

- Hamiltons take pole position

- Using social media to stay ahead o the pack

- Counting down to pension reorm

- New Member: GW Twilley

- New! Member Viewpoint: Geo Watsonon New BAR Membership Criteria

- CMG Prole: Monkey Removals

- International Associate: Intermovers

Features: 44-51

07

14 39

24

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BAR News

EditorialContributions on all aspects o the removals and storageindustry are welcome, together with photographs iappropriate.Please contact the Managing Editor, Louise Gale on:

Tel:020 3235 1806

Email:[email protected]

AdvertisingFor all enquiries and bookings, please contactSteve Pearce on:

Tel:0117 957 5400

Email:[email protected]

Deadlines: The booking deadline or all displayadvertisements or the May 2012 issue o R&Sis4th April.

SubscriptionsRemovals & Storage is subscribed to by members o theBritish Association o Removers in the UK and Overseas.Current annual subscription is 48.00 in the UK and72.00 overseas. Additional subscriptions are availablerom BAR (see contact details to the let).

Registered as a magazine The British Association oRemovers 2012. ISSN 0034-4265

All rights reserved. No part o this publication may be scanned,reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in part or wholein any orm or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying,recording or otherwise) without the prior written permission o theBritish Association o Removers.

Opinions expressed in Removals & Storage are not necessarily thoseo the publisher, British Association o Removers. The description o aproduct or service in this publication does not constitute endorsementby the publisher. The publisher does not accept any responsibility orany claims by advertisers. The articles in this publication are or generalinormation only and are not intended to be advice to any specicperson. Readers are recommended to seek proessional advice beoretaking or reraining rom taking any action on the basis o the contentso any article in this publication.

The British Association o RemoversTel:01923 699 480Fax:01923 699 481Email:[email protected]

Tangent House, 62 Exchange Road, Watord,Hertordshire WD18 OTG

President: Reg Hackworthy

Director General: Stephen Vickers

Company Secretary: James Falkner

Removals & Storage is designed on behal oThe British Association o Removers by:Rubicon Marketing Ltd.Tel: 0117 957 5400Email: [email protected]

NewsFROM WATFORD

The drat revised Criteria or BAR

Membership has now been

published, and was considered here

in Watord recently by the National &

European Group Council, the Overseas

Group Council, and the Commercial

Moving Group Council. This is now out

or wide consultation amongst Members,

and the revised Criteria can be ound in

the Members area on the BAR website.

Feedback, opinions, and suggestions are

actively sought rom all BAR Members,

either by attendance at Area meetings,through the representatives on the three

Councils, to any o the three Directly

Elected Directors on the BAR Board, or by

expressing a view direct to BAR

Headquarters. The Board will consider all

eedback at their meeting in June, so

everyone is encouraged to take an active

part in this important consultation.

BAR recently attended a very useul

round-table discussion, organised by the

Department or Business Innovation and

Skills (BIS), on Government intentions to

reduce the impact on businesses o

burdensome regulation, such as the

gold-plating o regulations (particularly

those coming rom Brussels). It was not

easy to believe that regulation overall will

reduce, but BIS (through the catchily

named Better Regulation Delivery Oce),

appear to see that good regulation can

assist business, particularly when it is

properly and sympathetically enorced,

and that bad or pointless regulation

should be identied and rooted out. This

was encouraging, but good intentions are

all very well, and BAR will take an activepart in the on-line consultation which

BRDO will soon be launching.

The London Olympics will be upon us

beore long, and there will be inevitable

disruption and trac congestion,

particularly around London, as well as

excitement. A series o workshops are

being organised by Transport or London

to help companies to plan ahead or this

busy period, and the rst o these events

was recently held here in Watord, and

was well attended. More inormation on

measures being put in place to try and

avoid problems can be ound on page 30.

BAR has also written to all London local

authorities asking that sympathetic

consideration be given to requests rom

Members or out o hours collection and

delivery, and parking permits, during the

Games period. More details can be ound

on the TL 2012 website. A representative

rom TL is also amongst the speakers at

our Annual Conerence in May,

participating in an impressive programme

o business sessions. There is still time to

book your place, and join ellow Membersin Windsor, and ull details are on pages

17-19.

Contact Details:

Article submission: 4th o the month preceding publication

Booking o display Adverts: 10th o the month preceding publication

Booking o classifed adverts: 10th o the month preceding publication

Booking o trade adverts: 10th o the month preceding publication

Artwork or adverts: 15th o the month preceding publication

Copy and advertising deadlines 2012 or uture issues o R&S magazine

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Industry News

7

B

usiness and industry groups have broadly

welcomed the cut as from 1 April in

corporation tax to 24%.

A further reduction of 1% per year will meanthat by 2014 it will fall to 22%.

Another measure to promote wealth creation

in the country is the plan to reduce the top rate

of tax to 45p by April 2013.Small businesses

are likely to be pleased with the launch of a

consultation on how to simplify the tax system

for small rms with a turnover of up to 77,000.

Under plans announced by the Chancellor in the

Budget, more than three million small

businesses could potentially pay tax on cash

prots rather than full accounts from April

2012.

One of the biggest surprises for this years

Budget were the dramatic increases in StampDuty Land Tax: 7% on homes sold for more

than 2m and 15% if the residential property is

acquired by companies.

VAT on sel-storageThe Chancellor also announced that he will

launch a consultation to apply VAT on self-

storage units as from October to align self-

storage with other forms of storage.

Fuel tax risesUnfortunately it came as no surprise that the

Chancellor went ahead with his fuel duty

increase. As from 1 August the xed rate fuelduty will rise by 3.02p a litre to 60.97p per litre.

When VAT is added, the rise becomes 3.62p a

litre.

The Chancellor said fuel duty would not rise

faster than ination unless oil prices were to fall

below 45 a barrel. FairFuelUK, the coalition

(which includes BAR) campaigning for cuts in

fuel and diesel prices, said this decision will

cripple the British economy.

It ignores the threat of rising global oil prices

even the Saudis are trying to pull down the

price of crude.

And it ignores robust research we gave to the

Prime Minister showing that cutting duty willcreate jobs, improve GDP and cost the Treasury

absolutely nothing, said its national

spokesperson Quentin Wilson.

Road tax (vehicle excise duty) will rise but

only in line with ination.

Mr Osborne also said he would welcome

private investment in the road industry,

signalling his intention to encourage plans for

more road charging.

UK migrationunchanged

I

mmigration to the UK remains littlechanged from a year ago, according to

gures released by the Ofce forNational Statistics in February.

Total long-term immigration to the UK inthe year to June 2011 was 593,000,according to the ONS compared to 582,000in the year to June 2010 and has remained ata similar level since 2004.

Estimated total long-term emigration fromthe UK in the year to June 2011 was343,000. This is similar to 347,000 in theyear to June 2010. Net migration was

250,000 in the year to June 2011. Since theyear to June 2010 when net migration was235,000, it has peaked at 255,000 in the

year to September 2010 and remainedsteady since.Long-term immigration of New

Commonwealth citizens has reached170,000. This is the highest recordedestimate. Two thirds have migrated to theUK to study.

New Commonwealth countries includeAfrican Commonwealth countries, Indiansubcontinent countries and otherCommonwealth countries in the Asian,Caribbean and Oceania regions.

Scottishgovernmentbacks down onIsles changes

Scottish Transport Minister, KeithBrown, has announced extra nancialhelp for all hauliers and businesses

using ferry routes to the Western Isles, Colland Tiree.

This follows the

Governmentsdecision to replacethe RoadEquivalent Tariffpricing scheme(RET) for commercial vehicles on CalMacferry routes with a new rebate scheme.According to reports, the new rebate systemcould have resulted in fare increases of upto 175 per cent for local hauliers.

The Government has now said that it willprovide an extra 2.5m next year to supportnew transitional arrangements for allcommercial vehicles, and that no haulierwill see fare rises of more than 50 per cent

in any year.Mr Brown said this arrangement is a

more affordable and equitable approachwhich will help reduce the impact onaffected hauliers and businesses.

Budget 2012: uelincreases go aheadIn his Budget intended to help Britain earn its ways in the world, theChancellor o the Exchequer, George Osborne, has cut corporation taxbut conrmed that there will be no cuts to uel duty.

Teesport capacity expansion on track

PD Ports has taken a major step forwardin its programme to almost double its

container handling capacity at Teesport,

with the completion of the ground works in

January.

The works, which began in January 2011,

involved the complete reconstruction of more

than ve hectares of the container terminalarea. PD Ports has invested over 16m as part

of an overall 29m project, which will expand

the container terminal capacity from 235,000

to 450,000 TEU (Twenty Foot Equivalent

Unit) and position Teesport as the second

largest container port in the north of the UK.

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Industry News

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Johnson stepsup HGV saetycampaign

The Mayor of London, BorisJohnson, has ramped up efforts to

make Londons roads safer for

cyclists and pedestrians by enhancing

the role of a police task force to clamp

down on dangerous HGVs and

investigate operators of HGVs that are

involved in accidents in the capital.

Johnson also announced more funding

to educate freight companies and drivers

on cycle safety, conrming 5,400

commercial drivers have already been

trained, with thousands more to do so

over the next year. I am determined to

improve road safety and demanding thehighest standards from freight companies

is a key part of this, he said. Some

companies are leading the way in

showing what can be achieved, but this

needs to be reected across the industry.

To play our part, we are providing

training for thousands of lorry and truck

drivers and investing in more police

ofcers to clamp down on shoddy, illegal

drivers.

The Mayor and Transport for London

(TfL) have provided additional funding

to strengthen the partnership with the

Metropolitan Police Service Commercial

Vehicle Task Force, who aim to improve

road safety in London through

enforcement and educating lorry, van and

other commercial vehicle operators

across London.Since December, TfL has provided

funding for six additional ofcers in the

Commercial Vehicle Task Force. Two

further ofcers have also been funded in

the Road Crime Intelligence Unit, which

works closely with a number of agencies

including Vehicle and Operator Services

Agency (VOSA) and the Department for

Transport (DfT) to gather information

and create operations to help arrest

dangerous or unlicensed operators in

London.

At the same time, TfL and Crossrail are

undertaking a programme of commercialdriver training to educate drivers of

HGVs and other vehicles in how to keep

pedestrians and cyclists safe on the roads.More than 5,400 drivers have now

received the training.

Many of those will be 100 penalties for

not sending in returns and this year, for

the rst time, the 100 penalty will be

imposed even though no tax was due.

Christina Nawrocki of Wellers Accountants

says: Last year many notices were torn up as

the tax had actually been paid but the nes will

still stand this year as it is the ling of the

returns on time that HMRC are cracking down

on.

In addition, further changes to the penalty

structure are:

10 a day ne from 1 May for 90 days

a maximum of 900

300 ne on 1 August (or 5% of the tax due

if that is more)

300 ne on 1 February the following year

(or 5% of the tax due if that is more).

The ling

date for

returns sent in

on paper was

31 October

2011, so the

dates at which

nes apply are

also three

months earlier

than those

ling online.

Wellers advise that some recipients may

manage to get their nes waived due to

reasonable excuse appeals, but most will now

receive at least the standard 100 ne. Anyone

who has not yet led their 2010/11 income tax

return should do so immediately.

HMRC sends outpenalty noticesAround 900,000 businesses and individuals have received penaltynotices or ailing to le their 2010/11 Sel-Assessment returns ontime.

Smartphones now tax ree oremployees

Smartphones provided by employers to

employees will no longer qualify as a

benet in kind, HMRC has announced.

The announcement could mean tax rebates for

tax payers and National Insurance refunds for

employers supplying handsets not just for

business use.

Stuart Crook of Wellers Accountants explains

that smartphones were originally classied as

personal digital assistants (PDAs) and not

conventional mobile telephones

which can be provided

tax free to

employees.

PDAs, and

therefore

smartphones up

until now, are

treated as taxable benet.

HMRC has now

acknowledged that smartphones fall

under their denition of telephone

apparatus and will therefore no longer be

subject to tax, he said. It is the larger

businesses that could benet substantially

where they have provided smartphones to a

number of employees not solely for business

use. The employer may have reported the

benet on form P11D and could be eligible for

a refund of Class 1A NIC paid. Alternatively

the employer may have included it within a

PAYE Settlement Agreement and could be

eligible for a refund of tax paid.

Wellers says it is also worth noting that

refunds can now be claimed for the tax

years back to 2007/08. People

should be mindful that

there are time

limits however

and a claim for

the tax year

2007/08 must be

made by 31st

July 2012, Wellers

warns.

Do you have any news to sharewith R&S readers?

Send to:[email protected]

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Industry News

9

Fight on to saveTruckPol

T

he Road Haulage Association and

the Freight Transport Association

are working together to help securethe future of TruckPol through the Fight

Freight Crime, Save TruckPol campaign.

Coventry-based TruckPol is a national

Police Intelligence Unit, which forms

part of the national ACPO (Association

of Chief Police Ofcers) Vehicle Crime

Intelligence Service that collates and

disseminates statistical data and

intelligence on road freight crime within

the UK. Truck and freight crime is a

constant drain on commerce, which is

estimated to cost the UK economy up to

250m per year. Following the

withdrawal of Government funding inApril last year the national Police

Intelligence Unit has been funded

entirely by private companies who

acknowledge the importance of its work.

Theo de Pencier, FTA Chief Executive

commented: TruckPol plays a key role

in the ght against criminal gangs which

target a sector that is both vulnerable and

attractive

to thieves.

The fact

that the

industry it

helps toprotect has

kept it

aoat this

last year

shows how highly regarded it is. Sadly,

without government funding, TruckPol is

once again facing closure and it is up to

industry to save it at the eleventh hour.

Peter Quantrill, Director General of the

British International Freight Association

is calling on the road freight sector to

support and nance TruckPol. It costs

approximately 120,000 per year to fund

TruckPol. However, in these straightened

times the collective pot of private sector

funding is still some 30,000 short of the

mark. For Mr Quantrill: the agency is

too important to the safety and well-

being of the UK trucking industry that it

simply cannot be allowed to be closed.

Daily, trucks move up and down this

country, carrying millions of pounds of

cargo. Our membership depends

completely not only on their own drivers,

but agency drivers and road haulage

companies, to deliver their promises. The

security of these people, and the cargo

they haul, must be paramount and

TruckPol remains a vital plank in the

ght against road-related crime.

For further information about

supporting the campaign to secure

TruckPols future, contact Chrys

Rampley at [email protected]

The public has given feedback on the two

proposals on the table: a new road tunnel

at Silvertown and a new vehicle ferry

crossing at Gallions Reach.

The proposed new road tunnel would be

located next to Blackwall Tunnel, and run

underneath the River Thames connecting

Silvertown with the Greenwich Peninsula.

If approved, it would transport up to 6,000

additional vehicles per hour relieving pressureon the existing Blackwall and Rotherhithe

Tunnels providing a much needed alternative

tunnel option in east and south-east London.

The prospective vehicle ferry service linking

Beckton directly with Thamesmead at Gallions

Reach could transport up to 600 vehicles per

hour and could replace the ageing existing ferry

service at Woolwich, providing a more direct

route across the river with increased capacity

and frequency of service.

Initial studies for the proposed river crossings

have found that they could improve trafc ows

in the area and help lead to quicker and more

reliable journey times.

An additional crossing at Silvertown would

help to reduce delays at the Blackwall Tunnel.

The full gauge tunnel would also help to

alleviate the closures caused by over-height

vehicles attempting to use the Blackwall

Tunnel.

With current crossings such as the Blackwall

Tunnel, Rotherhithe Tunnel and WoolwichFerry already at capacity additional transport

solutions are required so that more people,

goods and trafc can move around efciently.

Additional infrastructure will also give

Londons road network much needed resilience.

Subject to planning permission and other

consents being granted and funding,

construction for these new proposed links could

begin as early as 2015 with a new vehicle ferry

operational by 2017 and the Silvertown tunnel

open by 2021.

Thames Crossingconsultation heldResults o the initial public publication on a proposed package omeasures to improve river crossings in east and south-east Londonare due to be published in the next ew weeks.

Road trafc up

According to statistics from the

Department for Transport, motor vehicle

trafc was 3.6 per cent higher in the

fourth quarter of 2011 than in the fourth

quarter of 2010.

If the effects of heavy snowfall are removed

from the fourth quarter of 2010, it is estimated

that the increase in trafc between these two

quarters would be below 0.5 per cent.

Car trafc was 3 per cent higher and light

van trafc 5 per cent higher in the fourth

quarter of 2011 than in the fourth quarter of2010, whereas heavy goods vehicle trafc was

at around the same level.

Trafc was higher in the fourth quarter of

2011 than in the fourth quarter of 2010 on all

road types, with the largest increases on minor

rural and minor urban roads, which were both

5 per cent higher.

In the year ending December 2011,

provisional data shows that 83.5 per cent of

journeys on the Highways Agency managed

network were on time. This is 0.9 percentage

points higher than the year ending November

2011. Provisional data shows that 79.1 per cent

of journeys on the Highways Agency network

during December 2011 were on time, up 10.7

percentage points from December 2010.

The DfT said that while the recent increasesin reliability will be heavily inuenced by the

better weather experienced during November

and December 2011 than 2010, the percentage

of journeys on time has generally been on an

upward trend over the last 10 months.

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Industry News

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Roads investment in Northern Ireland

According to the Department for

Transport, 2.47 million goods vehicles

travelled from Great Britain to mainland

Europe in 2011, the same level seen in 2010,

and 50 per cent higher than in 1996, but 15 per

cent lower than the peak in 2007.

Of these goods vehicles 1.81 million were

powered vehicles, up 1 per cent on 2010. 660

thousand were unaccompanied trailers, down 2

per cent on 2010. 602 thousand goods vehicles

travelled from Great Britain to mainland

Europe during Q4 2011, down 3 per cent on Q4

2010. 447 thousand of these goods vehicles

were powered vehicles and 155 thousand were

unaccompanied trailers, down 2 per cent and 4

per cent respectively on Q4 2010.

The FTA has been a long time and vocal

supporter of dualling this heavily

trafcked, 14 kilometre stretch of single

carriageway, to make safer and slicker one of

Northern Irelands most vital trade routes.

Sammy Wilson, Minister for Finance, said

330m will also be spent on upgrading the A5,

which links the north west of Northern Ireland

to Eire.

The A8 has been the unfortunate setting for

many fatal road trafc accidents owing to the

lack of safe overtaking opportunities along it.

The FTA said typically, slower-moving

agricultural vehicles do cause long tailbacks on

this road and motorists do take risks when

overtaking tractors, combine harvesters and the

like. Dualling will reduce instances of risky

overtaking.

European goods trafc subdued

Transennica

opens Bilbaoroute

Due to increased demand in the

market, shipping operator

Transfennica has decided to add a

weekly direct call to Tilbury from

Bilbao that it says will allow road

transport companies to avoid weekend

driving bans in Europe.

Transfennica has added Tilbury to the

Iberia schedule and the Friday evening

sailings from Bilbao now call at Tilbury

on Sundays at 14.00 hrs and after

discharging the vessel head forZeebrugge.

The direct connection offers a fast

transit time from Spain to the London

area. The end of the week is traditionally

very busy for export to the UK.

Transfennica say that customers can

now ship a substantial part of their

Thursday and Friday collections during

the weekend and deliver all over the UK

by Sunday evening / Monday morning.

In addition to driver accompanied,

unaccompanied and containers, the

direct service to Tilbury is also suitable

for out of gauge, heavy and hazardouscargo.

Transfennica replaced 2 smaller

chartered vessels for 2 owned ConRos

with a capacity of 195 trailers, 12

drivers and 640 TEU in early January.

Michael van den Heuvel, Director of

Transfennica, said legislation is an

increasing problem for international

hauliers and by providing a direct

connection to the UK this enables our

clients to bypass the weekend driving

restrictions.

Fuel costs continue to go up and with

our solution most companies can savesome money.

The Freight Transport Association has welcomed confrmation thatunding will be made available to upgrade key inrastructure projects

in Northern Ireland, including 105m on the A8 rom Larne to Belast.

Road goods vehicles travelling rom GB to mainland Europe rolling totals by quarter

Prime Minister David Cameron has

announced a new round of Government

funding to support thousands of

apprenticeships up to degree equivalent.

The Prime Minister also opened the bidding

for the new Employer Ownership pilot, inviting

employers in England to apply to access up to

250m of public investment and secure more

control over how skills training is designed and

delivered. He also said that small rms across

the UK will be offered an incentive of 1,500 to

hire their rst young apprentices. This is

expected to support up to 40,000 new

apprenticeships over the next year.

There has been record growth in

apprenticeship starts. Over 450,000 young

people started an apprenticeship in the 2010/11

academic year, representing a 63.5 per cent

increase on 2009/10 gures. Growth took place

at all levels of learning, for all age groups, and

across all sectors and all regions. According to

the National Audit Ofce, every 1 of public

investment in apprenticeships delivers a return

of 18 to the wider economy.

PM in apprenticeship drive

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Industry News

12

The ve major banks, Barclays, HSBC,

LBG, RBS and Santander had agreed a

target of 76bn of new lending to SMEs

under Project Merlin. However, in 2011 new net

lending came in short at 74.9 bn. After a

decent third quarter, when net lending dropped

by 0.1 per cent, net lending slumped by 3 per

cent in Q4.

From a poll of more than 11,000 members, the

Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) found

that only 35 per cent of members used an

overdraft in 2011, 11 per cent a secured bank

loan and seven per cent an unsecured bank loan.This was a drop of 8, 3 and 4 per cent

respectively since 2009.

The survey also found that 33 per cent of

respondents had used their own savings or

inheritance to fund their business. And, the

FSBs gures show that new businesses

between 1-2 years old could still be nding it

hard to access nance as 70 per cent used

savings and inheritance to fund their business,

34 per cent received money from friends and

family, and only 25 per cent used a bank

overdraft.

To help small businesses access the nance

they need, the FSB is calling for morecompetition in the high street banking sector,

but also better promotion of the alternative

nance sources that are available to small and

growing rms. John Walker, FSB National

Chairman said that money is going to bigger

businesses and not new and edgling rms that

need it to take advantage of any growth

opportunities that exist. Our research in the last

two years shows that around a third of

businesses are refused credit and this could be

reected in the fact that newer businesses are

using more of their own money to fund their

business rather than turn to the banks for help,

he said. What we need to see is better

promotion of the alternatives available and forthe Government to put in place their bold credit

easing plans, which will help small businesses

access nance on better terms.

No magic rom MerlinBanks participating in Project Merlin, the Governments initiative toincrease lending to the private sector, missed their lending target or

small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in 2011.

A helping hand in Sierra Leone

The Business Moves Group (BMG) is

actively involved in helping the children

of one of the poorest countries in the

world, Sierra Leone, where the average life

expectancy is 42 and where one child in ve

dies before the age of ve.

BMG is currently carrying out a range ofprojects in Sierra Leone, including providing

the nances to care for, feed and provide

healthcare for the 15 children of the St

Georges Foundation in Sierra Leone.

At the same time, BMG is involved in

helping to building the rst ever library

outside the capital and is slowly lling it with

books. This project is called Build of Books

which aims to replace the books that were

destroyed in the civil war. Over 500,000

books have now been delivered into Sierra

Leone, and along with the furniture for class

rooms provided by BMG, the library is being

built to accommodate the books that are beingsent over.

The company is also shipping second-hand

furniture to the country at its own expense,

rather than recycling it in the UK. Back in

2007 BMG were looking at alternative

solutions for the re-use of redundant

furniture, Chairman Simon Darvall explains.

We had heard that Sierra Leone desperately

needed furniture and equipment in schools,

medical centres and ofces. BMG had been

shipping furniture to Sierra Leone and

providing clients with a full audit trail of howtheir redundant furniture had been utilised.

However providing an audit trail was one

thing having 100% certainty that our clients

furniture was going where we thought it was,

was a completely different matter, he says.

As a result, in early 2008, Simon Darvall

and Managing Director Rachel Houghton took

the decision to visit Sierra Leone and see for

themselves. It was a memorable visit for both.

For Rachel: The people of Sierra Leone are

positive and hard-working, always smiling,

singing and dancing, even the children in the

St Georges foundation, who for various

reasons have been separated from theirfamilies and left to fend for themselves on the

street, she says. The only way for the people

of Sierra Leone to be free is to educate their

young.

Bournesacquires Cookso Cranleigh

The Bourne family is continuing toexpand across the UK with another

well-timed acquisition. Cooks ofCranleigh is the latest addition to the

Bournes Group of companies which alsoincludes UK and international removals

company, Bournes Removals and localremovals and storage company, Turks

(Kent).

Cooks of Cranleigh was established in1945 and has built a strong reputation as a

family company offering personal,professional, high quality services in the

local removals market. Bournes plan to

retain Cooks of Cranleighs separateidentity and continue with business as usual

following the friendly takeover as a result ofthe Cook family wishing to retire.

The acquisition maintains the family-owned, personal service ethos and increases

the capacity and coverage of Bournes intothe Surrey and South West London markets

as well as providing Cooks of Cranleigh the

ability to offer its clients expert Internationaland European removals services.

All operational and ofce staff will bestaying with the company and the new

owners look forward to working with a

highly skilled and experienced team intaking the business forward with support

from the Bournes group management team.General Manager and Director of the

Bournes Group, Wesley Bourne said:Cooks of Cranleigh have a fantastic local

reputation and we look forward to working

with the team to develop and continue thisreputation of quality services in the future.

Grospiron winsFIDI bronze

Grospiron International has been

named as a Bronze Supporter of theFIDI Academy, in recognition of its

support to the institution.

Keepingour staff to a

high levelknowledge is

our aim toalways better

serve our

Agents andClients, CEO Jean-Luc Haddad said. This

award shows that our company is investing

in driving and promoting industryknowledge amongst our employees. In

recent months, the companys Carla Soaresand Morgan Ledoux have both attended

FIDI seminars in Brussels and Zurich.

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Industry News

13

Restore is paying an initial consideration

of 6.25m. It will also assume Harrow

Greens net debt of 5.6m and pay an

additional amount of up to 1.0m in 2015

depending on Harrow Greens performance in

2014. Restore provides workplace change

services including Records Management,

Document Scanning, Relocation and Recycling

services. The company also owns Peter Cox,

the market leader in damp proong and timber

treatment throughout the UK. It is listed on

AIM.Restore plc and Harrow Green share thesame values and the combination of two

already impressive skillsets will bring new

innovation to the UK marketplace whilst

continuing the tradition both companies have

for intuitive and collaborative working,

designing industry-leading solutions and

delivering unrivalled project contribution,

Harrow Green MD Nigel Dews said. He

conrmed that Harrow Green will continue to

operate from its existing locations.This position

was echoed by Charles Skinner, Chief

Executive of Restore plc, who said: this

acquisition of Harrow Green is truly transfor-

mational for Restore, and will establish the

Company as the UK market leader in ofce

relocations, and the third largest provider of

records management services nationwide.

Harrow Green is a highly regarded company

with a blue chip customer base, and there are

strong synergies between the two businesses.

For the 12 months to 31 March 2012, Harrow

Green is expected to record earnings before

interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization

(EBITDA) from continuing operations of

1.4m (2011 adjusted: 1.3m) on a turnover of

29.1m (2011: 26.6m). As of 31 March 2011,

Harrow Green had net assets of 2.3m.Restore

said its acquisition of Harrow Green will give it

an unrivalled position in the UK commercial

relocations market and added scale andfootprint within records management, with

nationwide coverage across both business lines.

Commercial relocation has the same channel to

market as records management, and both

businesses benet from high levels of customer

retention and repeat monthly activity. These

characteristics will provide Restore with an

expanded base of recurring revenues that it can

leverage to deliver further growth, in addition

to accelerating the development of other

business units such as shredding and digital

scanning. Charles Skinner predicts the addition

of Harrow Green will broaden the scale and

scope of the Companys activities, increase

our base of recurring revenues from ofce

relocation and records management, and

accelerate the growth of our other businesses

such as shredding and digital scanning.

Beckwith oSussex thinksbig or 2012

Beckwith of Sussex moved into newpremises in February, as the business

prepares for its future under the nextgeneration of family management.

The building in Newhaven provides thecompany with a large container warehouse

as well as superb ofce facilities. Using

the warehouse, Beckwith will be able todevelop lucrative self-storage and archive

storage services for customers.

Beckwith of Sussex is one of Brightonsoldest removal companies, established in

1927 by Alfred Beckwith and then boughtfrom him on his retirement in 1984 by

John and Claire Ballard and Barry Clark.A member of Britannia Movers

International since 1986, Beckwith quickly

expanded into international removals,especially to France and Spain. Through

res, oods and two nasty recessions, thebusiness has survived and prospered since

then, and now Simon, Barrys son, andJohns youngest son Cameron are taking

the business forward.

John comments that since Spanish workhas fallen off in recent years Simon has

successfully replaced this with afortnightly service to Switzerland/Germany

and a weekly service to France.With this type of fresh approach to

nding opportunities in the business,

Beckwith of Sussex is looking to the futurewith condence from its sparkling new

headquarters.

Restore plc buysHarrow Green

The consolidation o the relocations market is gaining pace. As o29th February 2012, Harrow Green has become part o Restore plc.

The Santa Fe Group has opened its new

Santa Fe Relocation Services ofce and

warehouse in Chennai, India.

Santa Fe Relocation Services Chennai offers

combined relocation and moving services

throughout the Chennai region. The proximity

of the warehouse is close to the heart of

Chennai and well-connected to Chennai airport

and seaport. Santa Fe said its new premises will

add fuel to the growth story of Santa Fe in

Chennai and help it penetrate this fast-growing

and strategically important market.

AMC Removals Ltd in Naas, Co Kildare,exhibited recently at the Working Abroad

Expo in Dublin and in Cork.For AMC, their presence at the event,

supported by Excess International, was an

excellent opportunity to increase their marketshare in the overseas removals market. The

Working Abroad Expo, sponsored by TheCommonwealth Bank of Australia, was

established over seven years ago, and is theonly event of its kind in Ireland for those

interested in living, working, studying or starting

a business overseas. The two exhibitions inIreland took place at a time when there is high

interest in Ireland to relocate to othercountrieswhich are in better economic shape.

Santa Fe opens Chennai ofce

AMC Removals exhibit at Working Abroad

(L-to-R) Simon Clarke, Barry Clarke, John

Ballard and Cameron Ballard

(L-to-R) Ben and Daniel o Beckwith

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Industry News

14

As Philip points out, companies in the

industry invest enormous sums of moneyin trucks and spend hours devising forms

to measure their performance in health, safety,quality and service standards. But at the end

of the day says Philip, its not the truck or the

form lling that makes the move a success, itsthe staff, and it has always surprised me that as

an industry we spend tens of thousands ofpounds on vehicles yet we baulk at investing in

our staff, who ultimately are by far and awayour greatest asset or potentially our biggest

liability.

As well as investing in training staff to wrap,protect, and move virtually anything anywhere,

Philip recently decided it was time to employthe services of Executive Playground, a

training company that specialises in teambuilding and customer communications.

Some of the obstacles faced by our teams

are fairly unique, so Anne Wilkinson of thecompany developed a bespoke training

programme with the Stephens Olympics asthe theme, Philip toldR&S. The programme

contained a series of exercises where thedifculties and hurdles that our teams face

were identied. Over a three-day periodeveryone at Stephens took advantage of the

coaching and engaged in some inspired

problem-solving, culminating in a nal late-afternoon session where everyone had an

opportunity to put forward their bestsuggestions for improving the customer

experience.Following in true Olympic tradition,

participants in the training were awarded

bronze, silver and gold medals for the very bestideas, all voted for by the staff themselves.

Last year 60 per cent of customers toldStephens Removals that they chose the

company because they have been moved bythem before or because of a recommendation.

Our target is for that gure to increase to 70

per cent during 2012, concludes Philip. Weare very proud of the service levels we provide

and anything we can do to help the crewsmaintain and even improve the customer

experience is worth its weight in gold.

BAR Training Services set the standards inindustry specic training to BAR Members

and the industry as a whole. For moreinformation about career development,

management training and a full range ofprogressive skills based training that supports

the commitment of BAR members toprofessional excellence, visit

www.removalstraining.com or call01923 699 484 or email [email protected]

to book a course.

ONeil upgradesRS-SQL

Record management software

specialists ONeil Software havemade a major upgrade to their

successful RS-SQL package.Version 4.03 of RS-SQL includes a new

image storage method that allows record

centres to reference images that are storedon the PaperVision platform from within

RS-SQL. These images can, in turn, bedelivered to the customer via RSWeb.NET.

Its not the big that beats the small...itsthe fast that beats the slow, notes Ian

Thomas, VP of Business Development.

Even the largest record centre cannotcompete if it is slow to change with the

times. And all too often, it is the very

technology you rely on to improveefciency that keeps you from moving atthe speed of 21st century business. Thats

why we are continually upgrading our

existing product line. We dont want ourcustomers wondering whats ahead; we

want them to be ready for it. For moreinformation, see www.oneilsoft.com

Andrews o Kentsays arewell toRosie

Rosie the Rottweiler, the company

mascot of Andrews of Kent, passed

away suddenly from heart failure ather home recently.

Rosie the Rottweiler joined the companyin July 2002 at just 8 weeks old. She was

loved by all the staff and customers alike atAndrews of Kent. She had a lovely life,

came to work every day, barked at the post

man (but wagged her tail when he gave hera biscuit!) and chased the staff around the

warehouse relentlessly, owner AndySmall tellsR&S.

Stephens Removalsinvests in customer

experiencePhilip Edwards, Managing Director o Luton-based StephensRemovals, rmly believes that removals companies should be investingmore in training.

Philip Edwards with one o Stephens Removals team leaders, Adrian Kedge.

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Industry News

15

Bishops Move General Manager David

Guiel, Group Domestic Sales Manager,

James Comley and Brighton Ease the

Squeeze Manager, Bob Baines supported each

other every mile, as they took part in the

popular seaside event in order to raise money

for three causes that are close to their hearts.

Having participated in similarly gruelling

running events in the past including the Great

North Run and the London Marathon, 44-year-

old David completed the Brighton halfmarathon in 1hr 55mins and raised 1,084 for

the Early Birth Association (EBA). The EBA is

a support group for the parents of premature and

sick babies in the special baby care unit based at

the Trevor Mann Baby Unit at the Royal Sussex

County Hospital in Brighton, where Davids

godson Elliot was cared for when rst born.

David will be taking part in no fewer than ve

running events this year, including the

Angmering Park 10k this month and the Great

South Run in October.

His colleague James, who is 38, completed the

race in 2hr 5mins and raised 240 for disability

charity Scope, while 54-year-old Bob, who

completed the race in 2hr 7mins raised 210 for

Williams Fund, in support of three-year oldWorthing boy William Sainsbury who was born

with a rare life-limiting illness which requires

him to undergo a bone marrow transplant in an

attempt to prolong his life.

Paul Freeman of C. Neale Removals and

Storage is doing a charity parachute jumpon Sunday 17th June (Fathers Day) in aid

of St. Francis Hospice, based in Havering Atte

Bower, Essex.

This Hospice does a fantastic job, and I

would be grateful if any BAR Members could

make a donation to this worthy cause, says

Paul. They cared for my father some years ago

who had been in the removal business all hislife. The jump also coincides with my 50th

birthday this year, so I thought its now or

never.

Donations can be made directly at

www.justgiving.com/Paul-Freeman5 . Any

amount would be welcome.

C. Neale jump or Hospice

You can tell that Ingrams Removers and

Storers take good care of their vehicles.

Apart from a complete respray (in early

2006), the Mercedes van, Sparshatt built, is the

same one as appeared new in the April edition

of Removals & Storage 1992. The vehicle is

still used locally on a daily basis for the same

purpose. The vehicle has been re-registered in

line with Ingrams move to give all its Mercedes

vehicles private number plates (using the letters

MOV). Ingrams Operations Director, Malcolm

Ingram confesses I broke the mould with my

Audi number plate M11 REM!

10 years on or Ingrams lorry

Bishops Move trio gothe distance

Britannia AnchorRemovalssupports Starlight

The Starlight Foundation, dedicated tobrightening the lives of seriously andterminally ill children, has issued a

certicate of thanks to Britannia Anchor

Removals, in acknowledgment of thesupport from the

company.Starlight is one

of the companysofcial charities.

Managing

Director ChrisSmallwood said:

I have two

young childrenof my own and

like any parentit breaks your

heart justthinking about them being ill. But in a past

life I worked with an organization whooccasionally worked with seriously ill

children and I can tell you it is the most

difcult thing to come to terms with seeingsuch wonderful kids in such a heart-breaking

situation. That is why we have chosen tosupport and highlight Starlight. It is one of

two charities we support, the other is the

Francis House Childrens Hospice.

John Masonmoves maestro

John Mason International recently

moved some household items forrenowned conductor Sir Simon Rattle

(pictured) from his old family home in

Liverpool to Berlin, Germany.Sir Simon Rattle is currently the principal

conductor for the Berlin Philharmonic, oneof the worlds most famous orchestras.

Three employees rom Bishops Move, the UKs largest privatelyowned removals company, have been pounding Brightonspavements to take part in the citys hal marathon in February.

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17/65April 2012 Removals & Storage 17

BAR NewsBAR Conerence

Countdown to Conerence:time to networkIts just two months to go to what is shaping up to be an excellent BAR Annual Conerence 2012,

with the emphasis on un as well as a new, improved business sessions and workshops.This years conerence, which will be held in the dazzling surroundings o Royal Windsor in the build-up to theQueens Diamond Jubilee Celebrations, includes a great mix o attractions, the centrepiece o which is theBAR Gala Dinner and Awards Night on Saturday 19th May.

The Vehicle Competition at the

Beaumont Estate (11am-1pm) on 18th

May is set to be a memorable display of

vehicles celebrating the classic styles of

the past (including Horse/Steam drawn,

mechanical and bespoke) as well as

modern vehicles highlighting innovation

in design and eco-friendly features.

There are 4 categories for the

Competition and entrance is free of

charge to all Conference delegates.Make sure you register your vehicle(s)

in advance, by registering online or

contact BAR (T: 01923 699 483;

E: [email protected] ).

Dont miss the Drive-by outside

the White House on Friday 18th

May at Midday.

There will be press coverage at this

event.

And last but by no means least,

there will be a Partner and

International Associate WalkingTour of Windsor and Eton on

Saturday morning, 19th May

providing a relaxed environment to

see these historic sights followed by

lunch.

PLUS

Others in particular thrillseekers may

see the BAR Party Night on Friday

18th May as the highlight of their

weekend. The evening kicks off at Thorpe

Park, which is one of the leading

entertainment parks in the UK and is famed

for having some of the most exhilarating

roller coasters ever built! Those with a taste

for adventure will have exclusive use of three

roller coasters for an hour, while those who

prefer to keep their feet on terra rma will be

able to enjoy a drink in the beautiful

surroundings of the Lake View venue.

Afterwards people will split into teams to

enjoy a fully interactive game show

incorporating favourites such as Catchphrase,

A Question of Sport and Countdown, with

unlimited beer, wine and soft drinks!

For those with a penchant for Golf, the

business really begins on Thursday morning

(17th May), when the BAR Golf Challenge

is held at Lingeld Park Golf course. If you

havent played for a while, fear not, there is

room for players of all standards.

Young Movers evening fun also starts on

Thursday 17th May with a very special

Windsor and Eton Brewery Tour, including a

visit to the plant and, of course, tasting all the

different beers that they produce. There will

also be a chance to try three special Diamond

Jubilee beers each created using selected

ingredients from across the Commonwealth.

The rst of these Jubilee beers was launched

on the anniversary of Princess Elizabeths

accession to the throne, when she and the

Duke of Edinburgh were staying at the

Treetops safari lodge in Kenya. The brewery

describes it as a rich, intense Africa Export

Stout brewed from a blend of British and

African ingredients, including coffee and

vanilla and Young Movers owe it to

themselves to verify the brewers claims!

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BAR News

BAR is establishing strategic corporate

alliances with major organisations toincrease BARs brand awareness and

thereby generate more leads for BARMembers via BARs website. The latest

alliance is with Property Overseas Today(www.propertyoverseastoday.com), a

daily news and information site about

overseas properties. This alliance will beespecially useful for BAR Members

carrying out European and internationalremovals. BARs corporate alliances

promote BAR through their websites andother advertising and promotional media.

For more information, see www.bar.co.uk/

consumer/AboutBAR/Partners/CorporateAlliances.aspx.

BAR has therefore decided to remove the

annual on-going membership fee and is

allowing all companies that offer self

storage facilities to join the group with a one-off fee of 209.80 +VAT (fee subject to changeas of July 2012).

We hope this will encourage othercompanies to join the BAR Self Storage

Special Interest Group and for this to be one

less invoice for our current Members to dealwith on an annual basis, Reg Hackworthy,

BAR President told R&S.

The Self Storage Special Interest Group wasestablished in response to the needs of many

Members who now include self storage as an

important element in their service offerings.The Group offers a forum for companies to

promote and develop their self storageoperations and is designed to encourage best

practice in the self storage industry.By joining this Group, Members can enjoy

many benets including the use of the BARself storage logo, licence agreement and terms

and conditions. Members will also have their

company prole displayed on the BAR

website under a dedicated self storage sectionas well as the opportunity to network and share

ideas with other self storage companies.The benets of the Self Storage Special

Interest Group are that Members operating inthe Self Storage sector can have their views

represented within BAR so that we can further

promote and develop this sector,said Reg Hackworthy.

BAR has removed the annualjoining ee or its Sel StorageSpecial Interest Group (SSSIG)

Corporate alliance withProperty Overseas Today

Self Storage Standard QSS is offering the rst veBAR Self Storage Members an exclusive 10%

discount on the initial assessment of the BS EN 15696Standard (offer expires 30 June 2012).For more details, contact QSS on 01923 699480

10% off on all BAR Servicess selfstorage retail products (offer

excludes own print packaging andcartons) For more details, visitwww.barservices.co.uk

The Membership Criteria consultation document

is now available on the BAR website for allMembers to review.

All Members may give comments and, feedback totheir own Council representative, one of the Directly

Elected Directors or directly to the Director General. Apresentation about the Criteria review will be made at

the BAR Conference in May.R&S is grateful to Geoff

Watson of Doree Bonner who has agreed to publish hisabridged approach to the Criteria in this issue ofR&S

on page 51 as a Member viewpoint. A discussion aboutthe Membership Criteria is also available on the BAR

LinkedIn group.

Membership Criteria:your opinion counts!

Special oers currently available exclusively to BAR Sel Storage Members:

I you would like to apply to join the Group or or more inormation, please contact the Commercial Department:

E: [email protected] T: 01923 699 483

The SSSIG is a small group and as it is still in its early stages o development, it has been agreed by BARthat this group can be run without incurring costs to the Association as a whole.

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BAR News

Michael Jones o Dynamic International Freight Services Ltd

Paul Lofer and Sonia Murdoch o Brycelands Removal Services Ltd

Samantha Pope o Alexanders Removals & Storage Ltd

Stephen and Malcolm Twilley o G W Twilley & Son Ltd

Four new BAR Members came to the New

Met Area meeting held in March. Ian

Studd, BAR Vice-President, presented each

companys representative with their BAR

Membership certicates.

Ian also facilitated an in-depth discussion

amongst the large number of participants at the

New Met area meeting about the new BAR

Membership criteria. We will cover this and the

other interesting topics discussed at the meeting

in the May issue ofR&S.

New Met Area welcomes new BAR Members

Photos:LouiseGale

As many R&S

readers will

know, the BAR

newsletter was

launched in November2011 and is sent to

Members every

Friday. The objective

of the newsletter is to

increase

communication

between BAR and

its Members and to

provide the latest

business

information specic

to the removal and

storage industry.

If you are not receiving the newsletter andwould like to, please send an email to

[email protected]. BAR would welcome

any feedback about the newsletter to make sure

it is as useful as possible to Members.

The BAR Newsletter

The second stage of the DMotY 2012 competition, the mystery shopping

exercise, and the onsite inspections have now been completed. Good luck toall of the shortlisted companies! They are:

AndrewsofKentInternational

Removals & Storage

BritanniaAnchorRemovalsLtd

MaidmansRemovals&Storage MattPurdie&SonsLtd,

Bathgate

MattPurdie&SonsLtd,

Kilmarnock

MJChristopher&Son

ReddawaysRemovalsLtd

RichardHealeyRemovalsLtd

Find out who will win the Award at the

Gala Dinner and Awards night in

Windsor on 19th May 2012.

DMotY 2012: mystery shoppingexercise completed

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BAR News

BAR is in a major drive to

raise its brand recognitionand increase leads generation

for our Members, Caroline

Suard, BAR Director of

Marketing told delegates at the

recent New Met Area meeting.

The association is investing in

its website and marketing

campaigns and is sealing new

corporate alliances to drive trafc

to its home page and hence

generate more customers for its

members.

Caroline believes the two recent

partnerships that BAR hasestablished with Re:locate and

Property Overseas Today will help

raise the associations prole and

increase leads with the overseas

and national sector of the market.

At the same time, BAR has been

working hard on new promotional

campaigns, such as its co-branded

yer with the National Association

of Estate Agents, and on public

relations initiatives, including theBAR Vehicle Exhibition at the

Surrey County Show.

A new interactive map of BAR

Members will also be added to the

BAR website. Other investments

to the website include new pages

dedicated to the Olympics, the

National Employment Savings

Trust (NEST) and funding grants,

and more extensive and in-depth

pages for each BAR Area.

On the online networking and

communications side, BARs

LinkedIn page has over 170members. This is a valuable

complement to BARs more

traditional networking events,

such as regular Golf Days, the

visit to the European Parliament

in March, the Young Movers

events and of course the BAR

Annual Conference.

BAR invests in brand and leadsgeneration

Caroline Suard at the recent New Met Area meeting

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BAR News

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BAR News

Like many a teenager, Judyta says that after

high school she found her universitycourse disappointing, so she chose to

come to London to strike out on her own in the

real world of work. London was for me the

most diverse and interesting environment.

After six months I started with Excess

International Movers Ltd whom I knew were a

well-known moving company in Wembley. I

immediately loved the unique atmosphere of

the place and found the work engrossing.

Judyta started out as an administrator of

European moves. As an ambitious and

competitive person by nature, she soon worked

her way up through coordination ofinternational moves, supervision of the

administration and sales team, and now to a

managers position in the Removals

Department.

This has been a big achievement for me,

Judyta told R&S. I am so happy to have the

opportunity in this industry, which is so

unpredictable and so boundless I am in touch

with people from all over the world every

day.

As part of her increasing international

exposure, last year Judyta took part in her rst

Annual International Association of Movers

Conference, in Denver. With close to twothousand attendees, it was an ideal place to

connect with our major customers, trade

partners or completely new professionals. It

was a great lesson for me and an unforgettableexperience as I could divide my time in

between networking, educational sessions and

scheduled meetings.

Training to meet every challenge

Judyta takes training seriously. She is

combining her full-time employment at Excess

International with Business and Management

courses at the Open University and short

industry courses. I have taken part in

seminars and training events organised by

BAR Training Services which helped me

greatly to understand different aspects of themoving process and the business itself, she

says. I know Im very lucky to have the

chance to combine work experience with

theory.

It may be that this extraordinary level of

activity goes some way to explain the appeal

of Judytas unusual hobby: For the last three

years I have been making time to practise

dancing with re. Its a good workout, and also

a great way to contemplate and think about all

the different events that have occurred in the

past weeks!

On the networking side, Judyta is a new

member of the BAR Young Movers group. TheBirmingham Young Movers event in October

2011 was her rst event. I loved the concept

of open networking and the unconstrained ow

of ideas and discussions in a completelyrelaxed atmosphere, Judyta says. Its

obvious that the young people in this business

will play the most important role in shaping

tomorrows moving business.

In her time at Excess International, she has

already witnessed rapid change in the industry.

Just a couple of years ago, social media didnt

play a big part. Now, almost everyone is

making endless efforts to improve their

visibility on the Internet.

Its such a rapidly changing business that

we have to invest in innovation and always be

thinking one step ahead.Judyta believes that Young Movers can

improve their use of social media by creating

an online networking facility, which would

help those who cannot always participate in

the get-togethers.

Judyta Szyszka: she canstand the heat!Since Judyta Szyszka moved to London our years ago, shes taken tothe world o international removals with enthusiasm and risen rapidlyup the ranks. Clearly one o lies enthusiasts, Judyta brings toremovals the same energy and concentration that she devotes to herhobby dancing with fre!.

Young Mover Profle: Judyta Szyszka

I am so happy to have

the opportunity in this

industry, which is so

unpredictable and so

boundless I am in touch

with people rom all overthe world every day.

Our companys sole purpose since its inception in 1977 is to serve the membership tosupply good quality, innovative packaging products at low prices. This is achieved by buyingjointly on your behalf and passing on the discount achieved from this bulk purchasing power!

As a member, we should be your preferred supplier but are we? For many of you the answerwill be yes but for those of you that say no then we would like to know why?

Your feedback is important so please ring us on 01342 870087 or you can simply [email protected] look forward to hearing from you.

Are we your preferred supplier - if not, why not?

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BAR NewsBAR News

A

ccording to the latest gures, the totalnumber of UK domestic moves in

February 2012 increased by 3.04%

compared to February 2011, revealing positiveand encouraging results.

It is pleasing to note that the European markethas seen a sizeable increase of 16% in the

number of moves to European countries inFebruary 2012 compared to February 2011,

whilst the Overseas (non-European) market has

seen a decrease of 8%. These gures show asimilar trend to those reported in January 2012

(2011), where moves to European countriesincreased by 29% compared to the same month

for the previous year and moves to Overseas(non-European) countries decreased by 22%.

BAR Members identied the top European

removal destinations for February 2011 asFrance, followed by Spain and then Switzerland.

The top European removal destinations forFebruary 2012 were Spain, followed by France,

Germany and Italy.BAR Members identied the top Overseas

(non-European) removal destinations for

February 2011 as Australia, followed by NewZealand and USA. The top Overseas (non-

European) removal destinations for February2012 were USA, followed by Canada and then

New Zealand.

The number of vehicles in use for February

2012 compared to February 2011 remains stable

and shows no change. The number of staff

employed in February 2012 fared better thanFebruary 2011 with an increase of 1.34%.

To take part in next months industry statistics,

look out for the email from the CommercialDepartment which will contain a link to the

online survey.

It is important for BAR to receive thesestatistics from Members as it helps BAR gain a

better understanding of the industry and allowsBAR to send regular reports to the press and

relevant industry bodies.BAR would like inform Members that there will

be a completely new redesign and format to the

industry statistics following the March 2012

(2011) report. Full details to follow soon.

Industry Statistics: February 2012

BAR would like to thank thoseMembers who have participated inthe Industry Surveys.

Take part in the online industry

surveys and automatically beentered into the monthly cash drawto win 100.

For more inormation, please contactthe Commercial Department:[email protected] or call01923 699 483

Please note all inormation received is aggregatedand treated in the strictest o confdence.

20.00%

15.00%

10.00%

5.00%

0.00%

-5.00%

-10.00%

+3.04% -8.00% 0.00%+16.00% +1.34%

-8.00%

+3.04%0.00%

+1.34%

+16.00%

Industry Statistics: February 2012 compared to February 2011

8/2/2019 RS April 2012


BAR NewsBAR News

8/2/2019 RS April 2012


BAR NewsOlympics Monitor

>> Olympics monitor

This regular section oR&Sis designed to help Members prepare or the transport challenges that we acethis Summer as the UK hosts the largest sporting event in its history.

BAR hosted a well-attended workshop in

February in Watford run by Transport

for London specically for the removals

industry.

The workshops are part of TfLs freight

awareness programme to offer free travel

advice to businesses to ensure their staff,customers and suppliers can get around

quickly and make and receive important

deliveries during the London 2012 Games.

During the workshop, it was announced that

anyone looking to relocate within the London

area during the summer should take note of

the events and trafc management measures

used to ensure reliable trafc ow during the

Olympic period, as this will have a direct

impact on household goods deliveries. It will

also affect anyone wishing to move in or

around London from 25th July to 14th August

and from 27th August to 11th September.

Removal companies may also be affected ifthey receive goods from suppliers. For this

reason, BAR is advising Members to contact

their suppliers (packaging suppliers,

stationery, etc.) to ensure they have a

contingency plan in place during that period,

to think about how their staff will come to

work, inform customers and visitors, and pre

order wherever possible.

TfL is organising these free workshops, bothinside and outside the Capital, to help the

transport sector and its customers from across

all sectors continue to operate effectively this

summer.

The workshops will continue until the end of

this month and can be booked via t.gov.

uk/2012freight.

The seminars offer practical insights into

how best to plan for the challenges and

commercial opportunities that the Games will

bring, and attendees can ask questions directly

relevant to particular business sectors.

For more information about the Olympics,

advice on how to get ready, and to see howLondons roads will be affected day by day

visit www.getaheadofthegames.com/

The London 2012 Organising Committee has

released details on temporary trafc and

parking restrictions across the city.

LOCOG says that temporary resident and

business parking protection areas will be needed

around Games venues. These will prevent

spectators from trying to park around the venueand protect parking for residents and local

businesses.

In other areas the operating hours of controlled

parking zones might be temporarily changed to

protect resident and business parking spaces

while events are being held.

Where there are no parking controls around a

venue, a new temporary parking zone will be

needed to prioritise parking for residents and

local businesses. Residents and businesses

within the parking protection area will be

entitled to visitor permits so that friends and

family can visit during the Games.More information can be found at www.

london2012.com/making-it-happen/local-access-

and-parking/.

The latest local area plans are available on the

member area of the BAR website.

BAR 2012 Games workshop

Parking restrictions in London

Freightawarenesscampaign

launched

Freight operators and their customersare being targeted with a major new

campaign to ensure supplies keepmoving during the London 2012

Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The new marketing campaign fromTransport for London urges people who

make or receive deliveries in Gamestransport hot spot areas to plan ahead

so they can continue to operateeffectively and protably this summer.

The 16-week campaign featuresadvertising in a variety of locations

including on petrol station fuel pumpnozzles, at motorway service stations, at

major ports, and on radio stations and in

trade magazines. It encouragesbusinesses which make or receive

deliveries to plan for road restrictions,familiarise themselves with the Olympic

Route Network (ORN), consider out-of-hours deliveries and allow extra time for

their journeys.

Peter Hendy, Londons TransportCommissioner (pictured), said

Although its called the London 2012Games, businesses operating in the

venue towns and cities across thecountry may be affected. That means if

youre delivering to or based in locations

such as Cardiff, Eton Dorney,Manchester or Weymouth and Portland,

as well as London, you will also need toplan ahead. Busier roads at peak times

and restrictions on parts of the UKsroad network mean that deliveries could

be disrupted if businesses dont put plans

in place now.

8/2/2019 RS April 2012


BAR NewsBAR Services

With an already experienced board,which includes Rob Lane,

Anthony Robinson, Matt Purdie,

John Luxford, Stephen Vickers and GeorgeSutherland, BAR Services felt that Chriss

wealth of knowledge in the removal industrywould benet the company in moving

forward.Chriss career in the removal industry

began in 1990 with a position as removals

porter for Britannia Whitby Oliver of York.This developed into a role of surveyor/

estimator seeing Chris attain hisinternational certicate of professional

competence by completing all four BARtraining exams. Chris rst management role

followed with Britannia Devereux in 1994.

In 1997, Chris returned to Britannia WhitbyOliver where he spent four successful years

as Transport Manager, helping to developand grow the company. Two further

successful managerial roles with BritanniaBradshaws and Britannia Cestrians followed

and in March 2008 Chris took over the

running and ownership of Anchor RemovalsLtd, taking it into the Britannia movement.

The business has beneted from Chrissleadership and seen an increase in turnover

of 300% in just three years.Chris says his involvement in the BAR

began as far back as 1993, but it only really

took shape when I became Chairman andTreasurer of the North West area in 2002.

This was followed by his appointment asArea National Councillor in 2003 and then

National Council Chairman in 2006. He isthe longest serving holder of that post to

date. Due to commitments of owning my

own business I stepped down in 2009, andtwo years later once my business was

established, I returned to take an active partin the BAR once more as an elected member

of the BAR Services board, says Chris.Chris has been in his position as Director

of BAR Services for a few months now. It

has been highly enjoyable and indeededucational. My arrival coincided with the

Board agreeing and implementing a newcontract with our management team

Contrast UK, he says. My experience sofar tells me that Miranda Hyder and her

team at Contrast UK retain a strong working

relationship with the Board that is reectedin the innovative and proactive way in

which the organisation works.Chris mentions that BAR Services always

reacts to the needs of BAR Members byexploring new products that may be of

benet. Just recently, General Manager,

Miranda Hyder unveiled a new, stronger,higher grade of box (known as RB ute) that

because of its advanced technology can savemembers money.

Quality service includes materialsHaving experienced the deepest recession

ever seen by the removal industry, Chrisknows all too well the temptation for any

company to concentrate purely on cost at theexpense of quality, not just in packaging but

in all aspects of the business. He is adamantthat this may not necessarily be the best way

forward. My view is that if you deliver a

high quality service (including materials),then your reputation can only be enhanced

and you achieve the greatest marketing toolof all which is customer recommendation.

For this reason, his company has remaineda rm client of BAR Services. Speaking as a

client rather than a director, Chris says for

all intents and purposes the company isowned by BAR Members, is for the

Members and any success that it has bringsbenets back to the Members. This includes

reinvestments in products, innovations and,

of course, the customer rebate.With his BAR Services Director hat back

on, he concludes Our aim will always be togive back to the Members what they are

putting into our organisation and this canonly be good for everybody.

Having secured Contrast UK to oversee

the management for the next ve years, theBoard can now assist Contrast to be

dynamic in developing and promoting itsideas, products and prices to not just for the

membership as a whole but to otherindustries. Chris states a strong commitment

to his role as Director: as my industry

experience grows, I hope I can continue tocontribute pro-actively to what the company

is trying to achieve.

Chris Smallwood on being a BARSBoard DirectorBAR Services welcomed Chris Smallwood rom Anchor Removals on to its Board o Directors in May 2011.

BAR Services has seen an increase in requests or

fat screen TV boxes that can saely move and

ship LED, LCD and plasma screens. With these

products becoming increasingly more

sophisticated, their price has increased as a

result. Transporting expensive televisions can

prove challenging, particularly on overseas moves

and the use o a good quality box can negate

costly insurance claims.

Shipping or moving these screens requires a

heavy duty and robust box BAR Services new

fat screen TV box ts this prole perectly.

Manuactured in a heavy duty, double wall

corrugated (150k/150TBC) this box will provide

the ideal protection. It is currently available in

brown and its size is 1200 x 340 x 830mm. (For

those who preer imperial units, this means the

box will hold any plasma screen up to 47.) BAR

Services is currently exploring which urther sizes

will be added to the range and these will be

available in the near uture.

The fat screen TV box has been widely used by

Britannia Movers or export use. David Aldridge o

Britannia Croydon explains Unless the customer

has the original box the TV was bought in, the fat

screen TV box provides the next best protection.

Removal companies can pack the TVs themselves

with export wrap and sheets o board but it never

provides the same protection. The TV can rst be

export- wrapped, then put in to the box and

padded out, thus providing the optimum in

protection. When you look at the cost o the box in

relation to the cost o the TV, it makes good

business sense to invest in these boxes.

I you would like urtherinormation and costs on this

product, please contact the BARServices sales team on 01342870087 or alternatively [email protected]

Product o the MonthFlat screen TV box

8/2/2019 RS April 2012

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8/2/2019 RS April 2012


Industry News

34

QSS is planning to host an auditors training course for

ISO 14001. This would be provided by one of the

leading quality organisations, LRQA, at the QSS

ofce in Watford.

There will be a xed total cost which would be shared

according to the number of delegates (max 10 persons) so

the more that attend, the cost per head will reduce.

For BAR Members who are interested in achieving ISO

14001, this could be a very cost-effective way of gaining

that knowledge (and a valuable training qualication) -considerably cheaper than signing up on an individual basis.

Additionally, the course content will be more relevant than

others as it would be aimed specically at removals and

storage activities.

The value o AccreditedCertifcation

QSS Update

Training or ISO 14001Environmental Standard

As a certication company, QSS is

accredited by the United Kingdom

Accreditation Service (UKAS), the sole

national accreditation body recognised by

government to assess, against internationally

agreed standards, organisations that provide

certication, testing, inspection and calibration

services. In turn, UKAS itself belongs to the

International Accreditation Forum (IAF), the

global association of accreditation bodies.

The IAF recently carried out a survey of

businesses in 40 different economies aimed to

clarify the drivers for seeking certication,

asking, among other topics, what was the

perceived benet derived from the certication

process.

The following extracts from their report are

reproduced by kind permission of UKAS:

Over 4,000 responses were received from

businesses of all sizes operating across a

diverse range of industries. While the majority

of respondents were responsible for managing

quality within their organisation, over a quarter

of respondents were either nance directors,

marketing managers or other senior

management personnel. This indicates that thevalue of certication is recognised across the

spectrum of business functions and not just in

the traditional quality management arena

Internal business improvement and increased

sales: 83% of all respondents reported that

certication had added value to their

organisation. As a more quantiable measure,

nearly two thirds of UK respondents have seen

an increase in sales as a direct result of the

certication.Internal business improvement

was given by nearly half of all participants as

the main driver for seeking certication, whilst

approximately one third said it was a

requirement of their customers. However,

respondents overwhelmingly stated that

certication was important to their customers.

Despite only 12% citing it as the main reason

for gaining certication, over 80% conrmed

that certication had helped them meet

national regulatory requirements. Taken

together, these gures indicate that

certication is something that organisations are

choosing to seek primarily to improve internal

operations and to provide customer condence,

rather than something that is done

begrudgingly merely to tick compliance boxes.

Its not just the larger companies that are

realising these benets as nearly 2/3rds of

respondents work in small to medium sized

businesses, with over half of those coming

from companies with less than 50 employees.

The IAF has an on-

going initiative to

capture feedback

from the market in

order to delivervalue-added

outcomes. The

ndings of this

survey conrm that

businesses are

generating

signicant benets

and added value

from accredited

certication. Not

only is it being used as a tool to deliver

internal business improvement and regulatory

compliance, but businesses conrmed that it

has a positive effect on revenue. For further

information on QSS and its assessment and

certication services,

please contact Chris Waymouth, Chief

Executive, on 01923 699480 or at

[email protected]

The fndings o thissurvey confrm that

businesses are

generating signifcant

benefts and added value

rom accredited

certifcation.

8/2/2019 RS April 2012


CMG News

BAR is currently evaluating the reports

and the scores of the three CMotY

2012 judges, Graham Briscoe, BethGoodyear and David Bunting.

The CMG members who entered CMotY2012 are (in alphabetical order):

BCL

Business Moves Group Ltd Company Moves

Delivery Services

EdesUKLtd

Greens Removals &Storage Ltd

Harrow Green Removals

JohnsonsBusinessMoves

JT&SonsRelocations

Maidmans Removals

rs april 2012

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