Removalizer

Last years industry statistics revealed an encouraging outlook for the domestic removals market. The domestic industry saw a rise in moves of 2.43% in April 2011, compared to April 2010.

The number of removals to European countries in April 2011, compared to the same month in 2010, has decreased by 9%. The overseas removals market (non european) has also seen a decrease but not as dramatic as the European removals market with a decrease of approximately 3%.

The top European removals destinations for April 2010 were France followed by Switzerland and then Ireland. The top European european removal destinations for April 2011 were France followed by Switzerland and then Germany.

The top overseas removals destinations for April 2010 were USA followed by Australia and then New Zealand. The top overseas removal destinations for April 2011 were USA and Australia followed by New Zealand and Canada.

The numbers of vehicles in use for April 2011, compared to April 2010 remain stable and show no change, which is hopeful for the removals industry. The number of staff in April 2011 compared to April 2010 shows a positive increase of 3.48 %.

I will continue to report monthly industry statistics. To take part in the new industry incentive scheme, look out for further posts, LAst week however it was recorded that house sales were the lowest ever on record

The movement of freight and removals during sunday’s in the summer months has always been prohibited in Germany mainly because it is said that the congestion prevents the German people from returning from holiday stress free, I always found this strange as the roads were always quiet on a saturday anyway.

Between 2009 and 2010, the amount of removals moved by GB registered vehicles in the UK increased by 11 per cent to 139bn tonne kilometres according to road freight statistics published by the Dept of transport in October. Over the same period, the amount of goods lifted increased by 4 per cent to 18.8bn vehicle kilometres (11.7bn vehicle miles)

Since the 1990′s there has been a change in the type of vehicle accounting for HGV activity, the DFT said. The percentage share of freight moved by rigid vehicles declined from thirty one per cent in nineteen eighty nine to twenty five per cent in nineteen ninety nine and to twenty two per cent in two thousand and ten.

In two thousand and ten the amount of goods lifted by UK registered goods vehicles travelling to or from the United Kingdom was ten point six  million tonnes a ten per cent increase from 9.6million tonnes in 2009

For a number of years now it has been a bone of contention about removal companies who don’t have the capability to hold an operators licence to use 3.5t vans with large bodies on to carry out large removals clearly putting the vehicle in a dangerous state through overloading, sadly the authorities seem to turn a blind eye to this practice apart from the automatic weighing facility on the M6 at Knutsford which weighs the vehicle as it passes over the carriageway then sends you a summons, there are various reasons for the refusal of an operators licence, the main one’s being Good repute, financial standing, certificate of professional competance, and suitable parking facilities, the other advantage the 3.5t boys have is they do not have any drivers hours restrictions which allows them to quote for a move to London to be carried out in one day with a further advantage that such vehicles do not have to be fitted with speed limiters, in the area of driver training, there are no requirements other than to have an ordinary car driving licence. This in turn breeds contempt or a widespread lack of knowledge and or respect for laws and regulations relevent to the carriage of goods or the responsibility of driving a goods vehicle.

Internet removals enquiries are not a new idea but they seem to be evolving into an expensive method of marketing.

Some of them can be as much as £4 per lead which is all well and good but only if the customer answers the phone as most people do not answer their mobiles in my opinion because of the fear of either debt collectors chasing them for money or marketing company’s trying to sell them something, contacting them by email is also non productive.

The economic downturn has had a significant impact on the funds invested in training. Spending on skills development has plummeted by 52%over the past year, according to the Chartered Institute of personnel development’s 2010 Learning and development survey, I must admit I still get phone calls from these government funded training company’s trying to sell courses which have little or no use to  our industry such as business studies or storage operative, I could teach someone warehouse skills in about an hour myself.

Despite the fall in spend, most firms have tried to maintain a level of training with efforts focused on managing costs more efficiently. With  the economy slowly recovering from recession, the talent that employers say they are looking for65% front line people management skills.

The National Federation of removals Property Professionals (NFOPP) is calling for legislation storage to protect consumers who have lost millions of pounds to dodgy estate agents. The letting agents industry body, which includes the National Association of Estate Agents and the Association of Residential Lettings Agents, aims to promote the highest standards of professionalism and integrity among those working within the property industry, and to encourage members of the public to proactively seek out our members when involved in any kind of property transaction.NFOPP CEO, Peter Bolton King, told BAR conference participants that he appreciated that movers want to know how many people are buying and selling property and most importantly how many moves result. He had too report on unfortunate news that sales transactions in 2010/2011 are only 50 per cent of what they were in 2006/7. People now appear to be moving every 10-11 years rather than every 6-7 years as they did during the boom. Peter was able to share more positive statistics with BAR delegates; the lower interest rates for 300 years, and Peter does not agree with some economists who see another crash coming or rates going up steeply. He predicts rates will go up by not more than a quarter per cent by the end of 2011.