Merry Christmas

A quick note from Joe and me.?

We are now into the last few hours now until we lock the doors on another year! What a year?it’s been, the ever present?Co-vid back drop has set the tone for a year full of change, difficult decisions, wild optimism and unbridled pessimism. It has been a year of extremes!

Brexit was a very difficult start to the year, we now understand the processes and can navigate the challenges using our gained knowledge and the expertise of our trusted agents and partners. This set the tone for the year of meeting challenges head on and rising to them.?

We moved into spring with the 31st March Stamp Duty Relief looming large, this was a very hard period for both our office team and the guys on the road- there was a real sense of desperation amongst our moving customers that had tens of thousands of pounds riding on getting moved before the end of March. It wasn’t until the Budget in the middle of March and we saw some respite and the Relief was extended. Massive credit to all the moving team dealing with desperate and frustrated customers on the phones and during the moves. There seemed to be a real appetite for?exchange and completion on the same days during this period- this resulted in lots of late key releases and the knock on for that was that the guys had lots of late finishes- this is still a huge problem and something needs to change but it seemed to be exaggerated during spring and summer of 2021.?

In Early April we took full ownership of Bespoke Moving solutions, this has been a real highlight of the year and we have moved some wonderful people to some incredible places. Aside from acquiring a business, the biggest and best thing we have gained from this deal is the friendship, support, help and guidance from the former owner of Bespoke, Roger Aiken

During the summer the threat/ risk of Covid seemed to have dropped and the removals side of things ticked along seeing a bit of a lull after the chaos of March! We were then faced with significant strains on the supply chains and our container fleet were at the sharp end of this- the Evergreen Boat stuck in the Suez?was the part of this crisis that was picked up and heavily reported on by the media. Our drivers had to deal with agitated delivery points, busy ports and the traffic was back to pre-pandemic levels, we covered as many deliveries as we could with containers being collected overnight and at weekends. It seemed that the Suez canal reopened, the media then picked up on the driver shortage and this was front and centre of the news for several weeks. We know we have a strong driving team, we tried to stay ahead of the curve to ensure we retained our driving team and we are really pleased that the driver shortage seems to have righted itself over the last few months and our existing team remained largely intact with some new faces joining the team. The one positive from the driver shortage been so widely reported, is the new found understanding and respect the general public have for our drivers.?The haulage we do is ‘real long distance trucking’ the guys spend a lot of time away from home and it really does become a way of life. Without this part of our team and millions like them, the shelves really would be empty!

Our Tipper fleet has remained consistently busy throughout the year, mostly delivering aggregate and collecting Muckaway from around Lincolnshire during the day and road plaining at night. This side of the business has been largely insulated from some of the external influences we have felt in other areas of the business. Consistency is one of the most underrated achievements in the world. Our Tipper team have been consistent all year, unwavering and steady. With dusty, hot and dirty long days in the summer followed by muddy, cold and dirty long days in the winter! Our whole business is built on relationships and nowhere is this more evident than with the strong relationships we have built and cemented during this year with our key customers.?

With the Stamp duty deadline set to end on 30th September we saw our moving customers turn into angry beasts again with a huge number of House sales/ purchases didn’t go through in time to benefit from the Stamp duty relief. During September both our warehouses and both self-store sites hit 100% capacity with clients attempting to preserve their house sales very often without having somewhere to buy. Our warehouse storage is carefully managed and last minute moves into and out of storage seem to have become the norm, our warehouse team absorb this pressure and enure we are in a position to fulfil our customers’ requests. The fallout following the Stamp Duty stampede has kept us busy until the end of this year and into next year.??

It’s been a roller coaster! This is just a snapshot of some key elements that have shaped the year. As business owners we have had some difficult decisions to make this year, we haven’t avoided these decisions or conversations, as a business we are stronger, leaner and more efficient than ever before, ready to move into 2022 with the same momentum, clarity and strength that have enabled us to navigate through this year.

None of this is possible without the commitment, skill, knowledge, flexibility, understanding, respect, trust and empathy that our whole team demonstrate on a daily basis. Across all elements of our business both customer facing and back office?(removals, haulage, tipper, warehouse and administrative) we truly believe we have the best team in the business.?

May we take this opportunity to say thank you to you and your families for everything you do to enable us to all work in such a positive and vibrant environment. Have a very merry Christmas, enjoy the time with your loved ones. Here’s to a Healthy New year.?

Thank you for everything you do.?

Merry Christmas.?

Matt and Joe