In this episode Angus Russell, General Manager of Britannia Lanes of Somerset & Bristol discusses how he began his career within the industry some 34 years ago after responding to an advert in The Times for a Trainee Manager at Hoults.

Although Angus wasn’t born into the industry, he does believe he was born to be in this industry having spent most of his youth as an expat, relocating from country to country. In his 34 year career Angus has only worked for 3 companies, Hoults (2 years), Bishops Move (15 years) & Britannia Lanes (17 years currently).

Earlier than usual in the podcast, Angus tells us that his greatest point of being in the industry was convincing his bosses at the time (Bishops Move) that they should be represented at the BAR conference, which Angus then attended. And it was at the BAR conference at The Belfry that Angus met fellow conference attendee Ms Maria Lane, who in 2006 became Mrs Maria Russell, hence Angus’s move from Bishops Move to Britannia Lanes of Somerset & Bristol.

Britannia Lanes started back in 1974 by Sylvia and Mike Lane after they were left some warehouses. Today they operate from 3 locations, Chacewater, Exeter & Bridgwater, with an unmanned Self Store due to open in Falmouth very soon. Britannia Lanes offer containerised storage, self storage, van hire, international, european, commercial & domestic relocation, shredding, and records management.

Angus talks in depth about training and the training services he provides to the industry, and we discuss the general question of what is the return on investment? From this came one of my favourite sentences, “we move dreams and aspirations”.

Angus has faced the challenges of a recession, but he finds the constant changes in legislation one of his biggest challenges, especially when the small businesses (the mum and dad business) have to upgrade on a corporate scale.

Angus wouldn’t change anything from his moving past, stating what you go through builds the character for who you are.

Apart from the obvious highpoint (see above) another of Angus’s highpoint was being made a Directly Elected Director of the BAR, which he really enjoyed.

The one thing Angus would like to change within the industry is the pay and value of the operational staff, but we can only do this by making the public recognise just how highly skilled moving actually is.

Angus’s advice to just starting out in the industry is listen, understand, and then make your viewpoint.

In the next 5 years Angus would like to continue his focus on training, maybe semi-retire (but that’s too hopeful) but without leaving the industry. In the next 10 years (rather than the usual 5), Angus sees the industry becoming more eco-friendly, with hydrogen vehicles being the way to go. And that the millennials will affect the industry as they collect less, resulting in smaller moves.

Outside of the industry Angus enjoys cooking, loves travelling, is into his pyrotechnics and of course spending time with his wife.

And as always we end Moving Matters with 2 funny moving stories, the first involving “milk!” and the second involving a chap looking for employment.

Enjoy!

Links to Britannia Lanes:

Special Guest: Angus Russell.

In this episode Pauline Collins, Partner Relations Manager of The Voerman Group discusses how she began her career 33 years ago in the International Moving market, starting in a Sales Support role at Anglo Pacific – Pauline too is a fellow lifer of this wonderful industry.

The Voerman Group were founded in 1986, their headquarters are in The Hague, The Netherlands, and they have with locations in Moscow and Prague, service centres in Asia and the United States, and affiliations with companies in a variety of locations across the globe. The Voerman Group while predominantly international movers, also provide private and trade groupage solutions, commercial moving, and insurance solutions.

Pauline hasn’t had any great personal challenges to overcome, which she puts down to working with some truly great people, Sarah Rowlands, Paul Evans, Jack Dorrington, Nick Kerr, to name but a few, who supported and encouraged her to be the best version of herself. For the industry, the challenge is identifying and retaining talent.

The one thing Pauline would like to change from her past, and it is only a small regret, is that she didn’t take opportunities to work overseas.

Pauline’s highpoint of being within the industry is obviously being on Moving Matters! But, that aside, it’s the opportunity to meet people from so many different countries and walks of life, who have become good friends, and being recognised for her ability to go above and beyond.

Pauline would like the moving industry to become more sustainable, and I challenge Pauline on the rising costs borne to the customer to achieve this. Pauline would also like the industry to embrace technology more into our processes and thus stop being so traditional.

Pauline’s advice to just starting out in the industry is to be kind to herself, learn how to say no and that you don’t have to rule the world at an early age. Also, be confident in yourself and voice your ideas.

In the next 5 years, Pauline personally still sees herself at The Voerman Group and with the company being so diverse there are always opportunities within the group. For the industry Pauline hopes it will be more sustainable, and with shipment sizes shrinking companies will have to diversify, and continued consolidation of companies.

Outside of the industry Pauline enjoys exercise, especially running having participated in triathlons and half marathons, but today is more for pleasure. Pauline has recently taken up Yoga, she enjoys eating out, is quite partial to the odd Gin & Tonic, and is part of a WI.

And as always we end Moving Matters with a funny moving story regarding a pickup truck in Cape Town.

Enjoy!

Links to The Voerman Group:

Special Guest: Pauline Collins.

In this episode Darrel Baker, Director of Humphreys Removals discusses how he began his career some 30 years ago, even though his passion was to be a professional footballer. Starting as a warehouse picker and progressing to forklift driver, operations manager, and estimator at Humphreys Removals, before he and his wife were given the opportunity to purchase the company in 2019.

Today Humphreys Removals provide local, distance, European and International domestic moves, through its network of contractors (BAR members) that Darrel has built up over the years due to Humphreys Removals having no trucks, drivers or porters.

Darrel recalls the wonderfully superb series of The Moving Story, which featured Elite Removals, and was filmed over 2 seasons at Humphreys Removals – If you have never watched an episode then I encourage you to find it online if you can.

Darrel had an immediate challenge shortly after taking ownership of Humphreys Removals, Covid, which was then followed by the Stamp Duty holiday, where trying to book a contractor proved problematic unless 4 weeks’ notice was provided!

Due to Darrel starting right at the bottom of Humphreys Removals and progressing through the ranks Darrel wouldn’t change anything from his moving past which he found it quite enjoyable.

Darrel’s highpoint was obviously taking over Humphreys Removals, but he has another too, the people (or characters) within the industry and the friendships created.

Darrel would like to change people’s perception of the moving industry, not just the value but in thinking it’s a straightforward and easy job, when we all know it’s quite the contrary. And I challenge Darrel on perception because when it comes to value, I believe movers need to change, not just the public.

Darrel’s advice to just starting out in the industry again is to take any training opportunities the company is willing to offer with both hands.

In the next 5 years Darrel would like to get his current contractors more involved, more overseas work and to apply for BAR membership. Industry wise, Darrel believes it will get harder, hence why he is trying to diversify his services.

Outside of the industry, Darrel is a season ticket holder with his son at QPR (Queens Park Rangers Football Club), he has a fetish (collection) for trainers, and enjoys socialising, mini-breaks, and spending time with the family. But basically, its just football really!

And as always we end Moving Matters with a funny moving story regarding a fellow packer finishing early.

Enjoy!

Links to Humphreys Removals:

Special Guest: Darrel Baker.

In this episode Wesley Bourne, Managing Director of Bournes Moves discusses how he began his career at the tender age of 15, where his first payroll date was August 22nd, 1994 and became a 5th generation removal man.

Bournes was established back in 1875 by Thomas Bourne, starting as a coal merchant and general haulier. In the 1960’s brothers Eric & Roy Bourne joined the business (sons of Stanley Bourne, who was the grandson of Thomas Bourne) and took over from Stanley in 1974. In 2016 Wesley together with his brother Leon (sons of Eric) and cousin Tom (son of Roy) took over ownership of Bournes Moves. Wesley is also Chairman of the advisory board of Harmony Relocation Network, a recently appointed director at MTC Ltd and is a member of the BAR Overseas Moving Group committee.

Today Bournes Moves currently provide a variety of moving services and is operated across 4 branches (Aylesbury, Cranleigh, Tonbridge Wells, with headquarters being in Rye), employing just over 100, running approximately 30 trucks and each branch has a fully containerised warehouse.

Wesley has had a few challenges, firstly the modernisation of the business, secondly scalability to manage future growth and thirdly the succession of the company.

The one thing Wesley would like to change from his moving past was providing a home delivery service to fulfil the void that was created from losing a major contract.

Wesley’s highpoints are that he has achieved most things he set out to achieve, he was on the young driver scheme for his HGV licence, he’s proud to be involved with the BAR, being Chairman of the Harmony board, but his biggest is that his kids are old enough to know what he does for a living and think he’s cool.

Wesley would like to change the way movers appreciate their value within the industry as he believes other industry sectors do this much better.

Wesley’s advice to just starting out in the industry again (which he didn’t find out himself until he reached his thirties) is invest in yourself by undertaking training, reading books, listening to podcasts or even hiring a business coach.

In the next 5 years Wesley would like to think he is still leading Bournes Moves but that is more a question for his board, industry wise Wesley thinks we have challenging times ahead with cost increases in labour, equipment and assets, supply and capacity shortages, and even though in recent times customer have been paying more for our services demand is going to drop, lets just hope our prices don’t!

Outside of the industry, and before children, Wesley would usually be found on a golf course, but not so much these days. Weekends are family time and Wesley does manage to switch off from work, spending time with the children at their activities, walking the dog, running and gym during the week which allows for cooking and drinking wine at the weekends.

And as always we end Moving Matters with a funny moving story regarding a barb wired fence.

Enjoy!

Links to Bournes:

Special Guest: Wesley Bourne.

In this episode John Payne discusses how he began his illustrious career of over 40 years within the industry, starting at Davies Turner in Battersea, London at the tender age of 18.

John has worked in a variety of roles within several organisations during his time within the industry, including Britannia Movers International, AGS, Anglo Pacific and more recently EuroGroup. Today John has started up his own business offering consultancy services to the moving industry and has teamed up with The Red Group (probably better known as Red Recruit). John believes he can help all sizes of companies, from the single man and a van to the larger companies due to his experience.

John also offers other services, such as surveying, but will not be seen behind the wheel of a truck as he surprisingly does not have an HGV licence!

John’s biggest challenge throughout his career has been technology, it’s changed the way businesses advertise, market themselves, and more importantly the way we interface with our clients (and we take a nostalgic trip down memory lane and provide a history lesson for our younger listeners).

John would like to change the way we interface with customers today, as it is much more electronic, yet in the past it was done with more direct dialogue with the customer, speaking to them one-to-one and getting them to buy into and trust you. John believes it has become far less personal today than in the past.

John has one clear highpoint of being in the industry, and that is the opportunity to see the world, attending overseas conventions, visiting agents, and even representing BAR at FIDI in South Africa. Another of John’s highpoints is developing and mentoring other people, which he finds very rewarding, and we discuss further how to spot these individuals.

John would like the industry to be seen as a profession by the customer and would like to see some form of regulation to achieve this but believes it will probably never happen as he has seen the efforts made towards lobbying politicians and government which have always been met by a brick wall.

John’s advice to just starting out in the industry again is to have a goal and a vision and do not let anybody put you off trying to get to where you want to get to or achieve what you think you can achieve, but more importantly listen to others and learn.

John believes that in the next 5 years, for himself hopefully there is enough out there for him to for fill his career aspirations, for the industry, there maybe innovations that change the way we work (just like video surveys have in recent times), the adaptability of smaller vehicles, smaller crews and smaller operators working together will be the way forward, and on the international side moves are getting smaller and with remote working these days there is a shrinking volume of work.

Outside of the industry John has several hobbies which include golf and freshwater fishing, at home John has a lovely wife and a couple of dogs, John is a passionate Arsenal fan and follows some nonleague football, and finally John does enjoy quality food.

And as always we end Moving Matters with an interesting moving story regarding a famous female singer, and a funny moving story about a discreate move to Australia.

Enjoy!

Link to John Payne:

Special Guest: John Payne.

In this episode Rachel Houghton, Managing Director of Business Moves Group discusses how she began her career in the industry joining BMG in 1998 as the telesales girl in the Birmingham branch.

Business Moves Group (BMG) not only move businesses they also do the technical distribution, consisting of; installing and decommissioning ATM machines, installing medical equipment into hospitals and gaming machines into bookmakers. BMG employ approximately 200, run a fleet of 63 commercial vehicles (with another couple on order), and currently operate 6 branches covering the whole of the UK.

Rachel states that the commercial relocation world is evolving with different needs, such as space planning and change management, but the last 2 years has been challenging for all, and not just due to Covid.

Apart from the banking crisis, Brexit and Covid, Rachel hasn’t faced that many challenges, but being a young woman in the male industry was different, which we discuss in more detail.

Due to Rachel being very young in a senior role the one thing she would change from her moving past is to have more maturity in dealing with people, something she has learned from experience and hard work.

Rachel has many highpoints of being in the industry, her phenomenal career progression within the initial 5 years and restructuring the business (twice), but her biggest highpoint is mentoring team members and helping to develop their careers.

Rachel would like the perception of the moving industry to change as the industry itself is one we should all be really proud to be a part of.

Rachel’s advice to just starting out in the industry again is to get some comfy shoes! But on a more serious note, don’t just learn the moving industry, learn your client’s industry, and understand their changes and trends.

Rachel believes that in the next 5 years moving will continue to get physically smaller, and the industry needs to do more to be sustainable and environmentally friendly and move more towards a workspace culture. And Rachel very much sees herself still at BMG, bringing the next generation up through the ranks.

To recruit new talent BMG work with local schools, offering work experience within a removal organisation, offer holiday jobs for college students, but they mostly attract new staff by word of mouth. Rachel believes that today people no longer want a job for life, they want a career for life.

Rachel is very proud to have recently won (October 2021) Transport & Logistics Businesswoman of the year at the Great British Businesswoman awards, and that BMG won the Partners in Relocation award for its work with Aviva at the PFM Awards 2020.

Outside of the industry Rachel loves to be down by the sea on coastal walks, cycling, and a glass of wine! Rachel’s main relaxation is being outdoors getting some fresh air.

And as always we end Moving Matters with a funny moving story, regarding Rachel's start in the industry pre BMG, and another on BMG regularly being accosted by the Police while out on site.

Enjoy!

Links to Business Moves Group:

Special Guest: Rachel Houghton.

In this episode Damien Pahulu of Frontier Packers discusses how he began in the industry after relocating from New Zealand to Australia in 1999, starting as an offsider (porter), and then a driver and now is a contractor for a large moving company in Brisbane, Australia.

As a contractor Damien is purely operations based and does international, domestic and government moves, where he and his team pack and load containers which are sent on rail or B-double trucks. Damien’s company, Frontier Packers, run a single truck and a Ute, with a crew of three.

Damien’s challenges were discovering that he wasn’t really cut out for managing large groups of people, even though he kept trying, but also his initiative into training videos was not well received by the global company he worked for at the time, so he made his own and released them on YouTube (link below).

The one thing Damien would like to change from his moving past is to have backed himself into going out on his own a lot sooner.

Damien’s highpoint of being in the industry is meeting company owners and learning from them.

Damien talks about AFRA, the Australian Furniture Removers Association, of which he is not a member, however, the company he contracts to is.

Damien would like to change three things within the moving industry, changing the mindset that more competition from the cheaper removers is bad, operation staff to dream bigger not only within their role but within the industry, and finally, to change or remove some of the rules set by the relocation companies regarding the forms that must be completed! And I challenge Damien on his mindset that more cheaper removers are good for the industry.

Damien’s advice to just starting out in the industry again is to give himself the confidence to back himself sooner and go out alone.

Damien believes that in the next 5 years technology will play a big part within the industry (maybe an Uber for porters), as too will be self-driving trucks.

Damien lives and breathes removals, but when he does switch off, he loves spending time with his family, and visiting family members and friends.

And as always we end Moving Matters with a funny moving story, regarding a wedding portrait (photograph).

Enjoy!

Links to Damien:

Special Guest: Damien Pahulu.

In this special episode of Moving Matters we have 18 funny moving stories to re-share from the early episodes of the Podcast.

Featuring in this episode are;

Enjoy!

Special Guests: Anthony & Karen Groves, Calvin Tickner, Ciaran Mullarkey, Daniel Braddock, Danny Pollard, David Trenchard, Geoff Archer, Greg Wildman, Ian Palmer, Ian Studd, John Burridge, Nigel Shaw, Paul Bullock, Richard Webster, Rob Horrobin, Robert Bartup, Tommy McNee, and Tony Tickner.

In this episode Alan Bennett, Director of Britannia Bennetts of Malvern discusses how he began in the industry some 40 years ago at the tender age of 16, for Ernest Batty Ltd (a 5 vehicle BAR member) where he remained until the company went into liquidation in 1985.

We discover that Bennetts of Malvern Limited (prior to Britannia Bennetts of Malvern) started on 27th March, 1987 and today is ran by Alan and his wife of 24 years Judith where they operate 4 HGV’s, 4 low-loaders (2 of which are from the van-hire side of the business), 8 removal staff, 4 office staff and a 20,000 sqft warehouse (on a 2 acre site), where half houses 350 containers and the rest is 130 Self-Storage units, with a further 130 Self-Storage units being fitted in the new year.

We discuss what the deciding factor was with Alan joining Britannia Movers International, which Alan points out is a co-operative and not a franchise that everyone seems to think it is (including me).

We discover Alan’s challenges, the house purchase collapse in 1989, the 2008 financial crash, but the biggest one has been Covid.

We discuss that the one thing Alan would change from his moving past would be to have undertaken a business life coaching course from the beginning, which after 20 years he has self-taught from reading books and watching YouTube.

We discover that Alan’s highpoints of being in the industry include taking on Judith, who became Alan’s wife and business partner. Alan claims that she’s the executioner of his ideas (I may have to get Judith on to confirm or deny that claim!). Other highpoints include joining Britannia (where Alan has just been appointed to the board), joining BAR, buying his first truck, and of course seeing his staff develop.

We discuss what Alan would change within the moving industry, reducing the VAT threshold is one, and although Alan has no problems with 3.5 tonne vehicles, he would like to change the enforcement of them, and finally completion dates.

We discover that the advice Alan would give himself just starting out in the industry, apart from a business/life coaching course is to just treat people with respect.

We discuss what changes Alan sees in the next 5 years, in the industry Alan believes the days of the HGV truck is slowly and sadly fading away as we utilise low loaders more and more. Personally, Alan wants to retire at 60 and give something back to the community, for no money, maybe even provide some business life coaching.

We discover that outside of the industry Alan enjoys home life on his 5-acre sheep ranch, cycling, walking the dog on the Malvern Hills, however, he really enjoys trips in his most luxurious purchase, a Morgan sports car, bought of course with the permission of Judith.

And as always we end Moving Matters with a funny moving story, regarding a trip to the Isle of Wight.

BONUS: Alan plays a game with me, the removal man’s slang, from when he started in the industry!

Enjoy!

Links to Britannia Bennetts of Malvern:

Special Guest: Alan Bennett.

In this episode Warren Leggett, Director of Warren’s Removals & Storage discusses how he began in the industry only 7 years ago, in 2014 to be precise, working at the weekends and hiring vans due to not owning his own. But at the end of 2015 Warren made the leap to go alone and leave his secure full-time employment (as a medical supplies delivery driver).

We discover that today Warren’s Removals & Storage have 8 x 3.5-tonne vans, have just taken delivery of their first 18-tonne truck, have 3 storage locations housing a total of 105 wooden storage containers and 107 shipping containers, and employ 19 staff (15 removals and 4 office).

We discuss that Warren also has Warren’s Elite, which offers ‘elite’ services to professional people who simply do not have the time to be involved in the moving process, therefore, Warren’s Elite will unpack, replicate the positioning of the items from the old property to the new, put-up pictures, blinds, curtains and even TV wall brackets!

We discover that Warren has OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder), in every aspect of the business, but especially in customer service. And we cover one of my bugbears within the moving industry, uniforms.

We discuss that Warren’s biggest challenge is staffing, which often creates a domino effect across the team when a staff member goes missing in action. However, Warren does enjoy giving his staff opportunities, and is putting 3 of them through their HGV test in the new year.

We discover that Warren would not change anything from his moving past, however, he does wish he had taken an alternative route into storage.

We discuss Warren’s highpoint, and he has many, citing; buying his first van, offering employment opportunities, moving successful people, his first 2 shipping containers arriving at his new yard, and his latest being the delivery of his first 18-tonne truck.

We discover the one thing Warren would like to change in the industry is the conveyancing system.

We discuss what advice Warren would give to himself just starting out in the industry again and it would be to quit drinking sooner, something Warren did 2 years ago, and thanks to his clear headspace he was able to fully focus on the business which has just grew and grew.

We discover where Warren see’s himself and the industry in the next 5 years, and Warren has no 5 or 10 year plan for the business as he prefers to just go with the flow, however, he would like multiple depots across the UK. Industry wise he see’s it getting very modern, with much more use of social media.

We discuss social media in more detail, including the various ways to go about it, and Warren provides a very good Facebook case study.

We discover that outside of the industry Warren struggles to switch off, which he does admit is a problem. Warren’s wife works within the company (accounts) and together they have a young daughter.

And as always we end Moving Matters with a funny moving story, regarding an apple.

Enjoy!

Links to Warren's Removals and Storage:

Special Guest: Warren Leggett.