Leaving London is a different job from moving across it. The drive stops being the gap between two lots of carrying and becomes most of the day, the destination is somewhere we visit rather than work every week, and the thing you are buying is a van and a crew committed to your move rather than an hourly rate. We quote one figure covering all of it.
A dedicated van, which is what most quotes are not
Your move travels on its own. One van, one crew, loaded in London and unloaded at the other end on the date you booked, with nothing waiting for another job going the same way. That is what we quote and it is the more expensive of the two ways to move a long distance.
The cheaper one is a part load or shared load, where your things travel with someone else's and you are given a delivery window of several days rather than a date. It can be forty per cent less and it is a genuinely sensible option for a small load and a flexible timetable. We do not sell it, because a fixed date and a fixed figure are the two things we are for, and a part load cannot promise either.
What the distance does to the day
Up to about a hundred and thirty miles, Brighton, Oxford, Cambridge, Bath, Bristol and Birmingham, the whole thing fits in a day for anything up to a three bedroom house. We load in the morning, drive, and unload the same afternoon.
At two hundred miles, Manchester and Leeds, a one or two bedroom still fits in a day and a house does not. Eight hours of driving plus a full load and a full unload does not fit inside one set of daylight hours, so we load on the afternoon of day one and unload on the morning of day two. At four hundred miles, Edinburgh, everything is a two day job whatever the size. Any quote that promises otherwise is leaving something out, and it is usually the care taken at the far end.
Your things overnight on a two day move
They stay in the locked van, covered by our goods in transit insurance for the whole journey. Nothing is unloaded into a storage facility and reloaded the following morning.
That matters more than it sounds. Long distance damage overwhelmingly happens at transfer points rather than on motorways, and the cheapest way to run a long move is to consolidate loads at a depot. We do not, which is part of why a dedicated van costs what it does.
Clean air zones, and why they are not on your bill
Bath, Bristol and Birmingham all run charging clean air zones that catch older commercial vehicles daily rather than once. Oxford operates a zero emission zone across part of its centre and Edinburgh a low emission zone across its own. Our vehicles are compliant, so none of it is added to your figure.
It is a fair question to put to any cheaper quote you receive. A firm running non-compliant vans either pays the charge and recovers it somewhere on your invoice, or routes around the zone in a way that costs you time at the unloading end.
The far end, which is where these jobs are won or lost
The drive is the predictable part. What is not predictable, unless someone asks, is a four storey Regency terrace in Brighton with no lift, a tenement stair in Edinburgh serving six floors, a Bath street with a weight restriction, or a bus gate in Oxford that fines a van for driving through it.
We ask about the destination as carefully as we ask about the London end, and we plan the final approach before we set off rather than working it out from the cab after four hours on a motorway. It is the single reason our fixed figure holds on these jobs.
Who this is for
Anyone leaving Central London for another part of the country, from a single room going to a university city up to a full family house.
What is included
- A dedicated van and crew for your move alone, on the date you booked
- Two, three or four crew, sized to the staircase at the far end rather than the room count
- Blanket wrapping and corner protection applied in the room before anything moves
- Dismantling and reassembling beds, wardrobes and large tables at both ends
- All fuel and mileage, with no per mile addition of any kind
- The Congestion Charge and ULEZ on the London leg, and any clean air zone at the far end
- The overnight where the distance makes it a two day job, at no extra charge
- Goods in transit and public liability insurance for the whole journey
What is not included
Stated plainly so nobody books the wrong thing.
- Full packing unless you book it alongside, though we always wrap furniture
- Council bay suspensions at either end, which we apply for and pass on at cost
- Storage between two dates, though we will move you into and out of a facility
- Pianos, safes and pool tables at no notice, since those need a week and a look at the staircase
- Part loads or shared vans, which we do not offer at any distance
Access and what to plan for
Both ends decide this job and the far end decides it more. In London it is the usual question of the floor, the lift and whether the van can legally stop, with the difference that a long drive follows, so we push harder for a proper loading position than we would on a local move. At the destination it is whatever that city does: Regency terraces with four floors and no lift in Brighton, tenement common stairs in Edinburgh, weight restrictions and hills in Bath, camera-enforced bus gates in Oxford and Cambridge, booked loading bays in the Manchester and Leeds city centre blocks. We establish all of it before quoting rather than on arrival.
Van and crew
A long wheelbase transit for a small load or a single room, a Luton for one and two bedroom flats, and a larger vehicle or two runs for a house. The constraint at the far end is often the street rather than the volume: several central Bath and Bristol streets carry weight or width restrictions, the Brighton lanes are narrow, and city centre loading bays in Manchester and Birmingham frequently have a height limit that rules out a box van. We check the destination street when you give us the address and quote the vehicle it actually allows.
What we bring
- Moving blankets and furniture covers
- Ratchet straps and load bars
- Sack truck and furniture trolley
- Corner protectors for wooden pieces
- Floor runners and door protection
- Tool kit for dismantling and reassembly
- Crates and wardrobe boxes on request
What it costs
Where in that band you land is set by these.
- The distance and the drive time
- The floor at the destination
- Whether there is a lift at the far end
- The volume, and the vehicle it needs
- Whether the job runs over two days
- Parking and loading at both ends
- The date, and how close it is to a term start
How much notice we need
A fortnight is comfortable and a week is workable for anything up to a two bedroom flat. Where a bay suspension is needed at either end, the council lead time sets the floor and it runs to several working days, longer in the destination cities where we are not applying every week. The dates that book out first are the last Friday of any month, the start of the academic year in Oxford, Cambridge and Leeds, and the whole of August in Edinburgh.
How to book
- Send both addresses in full, not the postcodes, since the destination street decides the vehicle
- Tell us the floor at each end and whether either building has a lift
- Give a rough idea of the volume by bedroom count, plus anything unusually heavy
- We come back the same day with one figure covering the whole job, including any overnight
- Confirm the date and we apply for any suspensions needed at either end
- Pack and seal everything before the day, because a long distance schedule has no slack in it
What tends to go wrong
Three things we see repeatedly on this kind of job, all of them avoidable with a bit of notice.
A quote that turns out to be a part load
The cheapest long distance quotes are usually shared vans with a delivery window of several days rather than a date. That is a legitimate service and a completely different one. Ask any quote directly whether the van is dedicated to your move and what happens if the window slips.
Nobody asked about the stairs at the far end
A third floor flat in a Brighton Regency terrace or an Edinburgh tenement is a three crew job, and a firm that quoted for two will either renegotiate on the pavement or do it badly. If the questions you were asked were all about the London end, the figure is a guess.
A house priced as a single day at two hundred miles
Eight hours of driving plus a full load and a full unload does not fit into one day. Something gets rushed, and it is the unloading, in the dark, at the end of a very long shift. We quote two days where two days is what it takes and we say so up front.
We hold goods in transit and public liability insurance, and we are a registered waste carrier for the clearance work. Certificates go to your building management directly where they ask for them. Full detail is on the about page.
Long Distance Removals: common questions
How much do long distance removals from London cost?
A one bedroom flat is £450 to £750 to Brighton, Oxford or Cambridge, £600 to £950 to Bath, Bristol or Birmingham, £700 to £1,100 to Manchester or Leeds, and £1,050 to £1,600 to Edinburgh. A three bedroom house runs from £900 to £3,100 depending on the distance. Every figure includes VAT, the fuel, the mileage and the Congestion Charge on the London leg.
Do you charge per mile?
No. The whole job is one figure agreed before we start, with the fuel, the mileage, the crew, the wrapping and the charging zones inside it. A per mile addition is one of the most common ways a cheap long distance quote grows, and it is not something we do at any distance.
Do you do part loads or shared vans?
No. A part load is cheaper, often by around forty per cent, because your things share the van and you get a delivery window of several days instead of a date. If the date matters less to you than the price, it is a reasonable thing to look for elsewhere. Everything we quote is a dedicated van on a fixed date.
Is it done in one day or two?
Up to about a hundred and thirty miles, one day for anything up to a three bedroom house. At two hundred miles a flat is one day and a house is two. Edinburgh is always two. When it is two, it is quoted as one job with one figure and your things stay in the locked van overnight under our insurance.
How far will you go?
Anywhere in mainland Britain from Central London. The nine destinations we have written pages for are the ones we run most often, not the limit. The price is worked out the same way wherever you are going.
Do you move offices long distance?
Yes, and the same rules apply: a dedicated vehicle, crates delivered in advance, desks dismantled and rebuilt, and the buildings at both ends dealt with directly. Business moves are invoiced on standard terms rather than paid on completion.
What about clean air zones and low emission zones?
Bath, Bristol and Birmingham run charging clean air zones, Oxford a zero emission zone over part of its centre and Edinburgh a low emission zone. Our vehicles are compliant so none of it is added to your figure. It is worth asking any cheaper quote the same question.
Can you store my things between two dates?
We do not hold goods on our own premises, but we will move you into a storage facility and back out of it when the new place is ready. The facility fees are paid to the facility and the moving is quoted by us, as one job rather than two if both dates are known when you book.
Related services
- House Removals in Central LondonWhole house moves with the wrapping, the parking and the access planned in advance.
- Flat and Apartment Removals in Central LondonWalk-ups, mansion blocks and concierge buildings, including the lift booking.
- Packing and Storage Runs in Central LondonFull or part packing, plus moves into and out of self storage in both directions.
- See all 10 services →
Long distance across Central London
We cover all 37 Central London areas. Each area page has the parking and access detail specific to it.
Get a fixed price for long distance in Central London