Blog Archives

Apr 28, 2023

Future Publishing

Commercial

Future Publishing chooses Commercial Transfer

Connecting over 400 million people worldwide through their brands, Future groups influence is global.

As part of moving to new furnished London offices near Paddington, Commercial Transfer were asked to complete the full clearance of two sites in Farnborough and relocate part oc the contents to a new site in Reading, clear the old offices ready for re-letting.

Requirements

The project contained three clear phases for the client.

  1. The move: relocating the office to the new premises
  2. The clearance: ethical and safe disposal of unwanted furniture, paperwork and sensitive documents
  3. Reinstatement: Preparing the old office for its new tenants

Solution

Preparation was key for this move, due to the volume and variety of items involved and the locations within central London. We also used a dedicated crew throughout the whole project. With the move & clearance schedule set at 5 weeks, the project started with our crew systematically working through the offices, carefully marking and cataloguing each item into the relevant phases.

Phase 1
Once catalogued, the move could commence with the desks, furniture and personal effects destined for the new premises dismantled and the personal effect packed before transporting across London in our small vehicles to the new Paddington offices. These were then installed into the new workspaces with the minimum of disruption.

Phase 2
With the office move complete, the task began to clear the offices in Canary Warf and prepare ready for their new tenants. Over 1000 bags of confidential waste were cleared, sealed and tamper-tied ready for collection and disposal, and a further 20 skips filled with waste ready to be removed for recycling.

Phase 3
With the space cleared the final phase involved preparing the workspaces for the new tenants. The furniture was moved into the new floor plan and each workstation checked as complete.

Outcome

The move and clearance was completed in the shortest possible time with the original offices reconfigured ready for the new tenants.

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We instructed Commercial Transfer to complete the full clearance of two sites in Farnborough and relocation of part contents to a new site in Reading. 

This was a complex project and involved clearing 29,000 sqft of office space and then 15,000 sqft of warehouse space. Both of these sites had items going for waste, recycling, relocation and storage. Commercial transfer dealt with this with the utmost professionalism. The project was run to tight timelines and Commercial Transfer completed the project on time and on budget. I have no hesitation in recommending their services

Property and Facilities Manager Future Publishing
Feb 17, 2022

Bohunt School

Education

Commercial Transfer moves Coleg Gwent to new £24m Campus

Bohunt school logo

Opened as part of the new 2750-home development in Horsham, the new Bohunt School in Horsham now provides places for over 1600 pupils from nursery to 16.

Commercial Transfer were chosen to relocate classrooms, furniture and specialist science equipment from their temporary location to the new campus.

Requirements

Working around school holidays we were asked to provide a complete school relocation solution – including the specialist moving of the science equipment. Due to the schedule, we were asked to complete the move over a 4-day period between the 20th and 23rd December.

With the classrooms in the new school located over multiple floors our teams had the added challenge of ensuring that all crates and boxes were suitable to be transported via the stairwells without damage to either the building or furniture.

Solution

Together with long-standing partners, construction specialists Wates, we utilised our Education team to manage and move the school and classroom specialists, calling in our team of qualified Laboratory porters to manage the chemicals and laboratory equipment.

  • Move Management: Requiring expertise in both School and Laboratory relocation our Move Manager integrated into the established project team to plan the move programme.
  • Carton & Crate Provision: We provided a combination of standard archive cartons and also provided specialist science crate hire for the duration of the move.
  • Placing and Reconstruction: Using the detailed floor plan, we placed and rebuilt all furniture ready for use.
  • Building protection: as many of the classrooms were over three floors, we supplied and laid all materials required to protect the building, specifically walkways, stairs & stairwells, walls, doors and access routes. Post the move this was removed and ethically recycled.
  • Removal Insurance: Full cover for goods in transit was provided.

Outcome

Delivered on time and in full, the school is now fully operational and welcoming pupils after the Christmas break. The school is now open to 50 teachers and 460 students who are absolutely delighted with the facilities and space they have.

“On Friday 7th January we were awarded Practical Completion for Phase 1 at Bohunt School so I just wanted to pass on my thanks for all the hard work your teams have put in over the last 18 months to get us to this position.”

Sam Bushill Project Manager, Wates Construction Ltd
Nov 28, 2021

Coleg Gwent

Education

Commercial Transfer moves Coleg Gwent to new £24m Campus

As one of Wales' largest and top performing further and higher education colleges, Coleg Gwent gives the best possible opportunities to all its students.

Commercial Transfer’s Education team transferred all equipment and effects into their brand new £24 million purpose built campus that is now the home for all post 16 education in the Torfaen borough.

Requirements

As the new £24m purpose built campus became ready, Coleg Gwent needed to move all the furniture and equipment from the Pontypool Campus to the heart of Cwymbran.

​The move required considerable planning to gradually transfer departments across as each phase were completed. The move included a wide range of specialist and unique teaching equipment including workshops, machinery, IT equipment, offices and teaching materials each of which had to be set up in their new location or distributed to other campus'. One final move was planned to transfer the final departments and administration and close the Pontypool Campus.

Solution

Planning the phasing of the move, took many meetings and revisions as plans changed and the Covid pandemic impacted education.

With the final move delayed, Commercial Transfer not only needed to adapt their plans and schedules to meet the revised deadlines but also reconfigure equipment to allow students to return to a safe teaching environment.

Commercial Transfer were able of offer the complete service from end to end.

  • Move Management: Our Move Manager worked with the building surveyor initially to plan the move, then re-plan to react to the changing situation.
  • Crate Hire: Three types of specialist crates were included as part of the move including specialist IT crates and book crates. We also provided security roll cages to move bulkier and delicate equipment without the need to handle.
  • Packing Services: By providing crates, labeling and tracking, the college were able to pack much of the general move themselves, bringing in our specialist teams to pack and equipment such as the library, laboratory & IT equipment and chemicals.
  • Tracking: The final move involved the final 13 departments. Our teams used a coded tracking system throughout the move to ensure that each department and crate was delivered to the right location in the new building..
  • Specialist Vehicles: As the Covid situation evolved, we were able to work with the college to adapt our solution to best meet the changing requirements, we were able to draw on our flexible resources and were able to double our team and lorries at short notice to make the move happen on time

Outcome

Taking just 5 days, for each move, the faculty was up and running with the minimum disruption to research.

Just want to say a massive thanks to you and your team for pulling it out of the bag this week, it's been a pretty seamless and painless move (for us at least!)"

Mathew Dix Assistant Building Surveyor / Syrfëwr Adeiladu Cynorthwyol, Coleg Gwent
Nov 24, 2021

Rhondda Cynon Taf

Government & Council

Commercial Transfer join Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council team to help deliver Covid-19 Field Hospital.

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As the country faced the Covid-19 Pandemic and the rising number of patients putting strain on hospitals, Commercial Transfer were called in to rapidly clear a council facility in Abercynon office building in preparation for a new Enfys (Rainbow) Field Hospital.

Requirements

With the hospital admissions rising and the forecasted patient numbers rising, Rhondda Taf council needed to take steps to ensure the hospitals were not overwhelmed and that the best possible care continued to be provided to those suffering from Covid-19

Having identified a large office building, containing up to 600 workstations, they needed a trusted team that could rapidly and securely pack confidential documents and clear the offices in preparation.

Solution

In less than 24 hours, Commercial Transfers specialist team were on site. With a long standing relationship with Rhonda Cynon Taf County Borough Council, we were able to get a specialist team on site the next day. Working double days, the whole project took less than 24 hours to complete.

  • Packing & Boxing: Providing a wide range of packing crates, our team of technicians packed, labelled and cleared files, desk contents and IT equipment for over 500 workstations.

  • IT Services: Our IT technicians disconnected, cleaned, labelled and packaged over 500 desktop computers ready to be seamlessly reunited with the desk contents.

  • Furniture Dismantling & Packing:  With over 1200 items of furniture to clear our professional furniture fitters came in and rapidly dismantled each piece of furniture.

  • Commercial Removals: Using Commercial Transfers fleet of purpose built vehicles we were able to continuously clear the contents placing in the Councils allocated storage area ready to be reinstalled at a later date.

  • Move Management: Each stage was planned and delivered by the team leader in each team, all personally overseen by our Account Director who remained on site throughout the move.

Outcome

Within days of the requirement being identified the space was clear ready for the military and local authorities to transform the space into a field hospital and create over 150 more beds.

 

Hospital Bed Covid Ward

Rhondda Cynon Taff County Borough Council have worked with Commercial Transfer on a number of projects over many years and once again, they did not disappoint. They are efficient, professional and nothing is too much trouble for them. It is a pleasure working with Commercial Transfer, and we would fully recommend them.”

​Corporate Estates Team
Nov 23, 2021

Cardiff Council Library

Government & Council

Commercial Transfer refreshes books for Cardiff Community Library

Libraries however large or small make a positive difference to people's lives and communities through the love of reading.
As an approved supplier for Cardiff Council for over 20 years, Commercial Transfer were brought in to swiftly and efficiently move 200m of books from the central store to refresh a  community library.

Requirements

Regular updates to library stock is not uncommon and refreshing Cardiff Community Library with some new books may seem a simple shelf to shelf move.

​But with over the height of Blackpool Tower in books to pack and
re-shelf without disrupting their sequencing this called for Commercial Transfers library specialists armed with their purpose built book crates and crate tracking.

Solution

As Cardiff Councils relocation partner for over 20 years, one phone call is all it took to prepare the Commercial Team team to make the move. Having made similar moves in the past, each of the team methodically cleared each shelf at a time into book crates designed to be exactly the length of a single library shelf. These were then sequentially catalogued and reverse loaded the van.

At the library, the team were then able to simply reinstate the books into their new home one shelf at a time in exactly the same order.

  • Crates: Our extra long book crates are designed to perfectly hold and protect a single shelf of books, including oversize or multimedia. These are all included in our move planning.
  • Packing: All our book packing is acid-free to protect them during transportation and storage.
  • Specialist Vehicles: Working within Cardiff, the team chose smaller vans from the fleet for greater maneuverability on the small and congested streets.
  • Move Management: Our Senior Move Manager worked with Library's stock manager to develop the move plan and together working together to ensure the minimal disruption to opening times and customers.

Outcome

Within hours the library was up and running with minimal disruption to loans and library activities.

Nov 20, 2021

Southern Gas Networks

Commercial

Commercial Transfer joins Southern Gas Networks to move & consolidate their stores without disrupting supplies.

24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, SGN teams are working behind the scenes and out on the streets managing the network that distributes natural and green gas to 5.9 million homes.
Commercial Transfer were asked to join the team to move and consolidate their stores into a central location without disrupting the technicians - and support SGN's plan of becoming a Net 0 business.

Requirements

As SGN continue to deliver their Net 0 plan and reduce its carbon footprint, the requirement to move and consolidate three smaller stores along the South Coast to a central location was identified.

The requirement included the need for the:

  • Minimal disruption to supply
  • Lowest environmental impact

Solution

To keep the SGN team working the move was made over a 10 day period using 3 dedicated crews. This approach rather than a single large move, not only kept the SGN teams operating, but also kept the move as environmentally friendly as possible by reducing wasted space in the lorries.

Using our smaller vehicles we were able to shuttle between the locations to optimise loading and also to allow the stores to be consolidated in transit. This approach kept the number of trips to a minimum without compromising availability of the stores.

Commercial Transfer were able of offer the complete service from end to end.

  • Move Management: Our Move Manager worked with the team to carefully plan the move keeping stores available during the move.
  • Crate Hire: Three types of specialist crates were needed as part of the move. The purpose-built crates are sized correctly for the receiving vehicles reducing trips and environmental impact.
  • Packing Services: By clearly labeling and planning the move - taking the contents of the sites section by section and shuttling between sites - no downtime was experienced by the engineers.
  • Dedicated Crews: Despite the longer move duration, the Commercial Transfer team were constant - reducing infection risk and ensuring continuity.

Outcome

Commercial Transfer was able to offer the flexibility during the move to keep disruption to a minimum - and no downtime was experienced by the engineers or delays by SGN customers.

This move couldn't have gone smoother - we can't believe that we were able to make the move and consolidation without any customer disruption. To make it all in an environmentally friendly way is down to the creative thinking of Commercial Transfers' planners - thank you. Commercial Transfer again have proven that they are partners we value and can rely on"
Scott Harvey Southern Gas Networks
Nov 19, 2021

UWE Bristol

Education

Commercial Transfer joins UWE to deliver Bristol's Nightingale Hospital

As the pandemic escalated, and country locking down, Commercial Transfer received one of their most time critical calls in their 40 year history - to urgently clear and store the UWE conference centre in preparation for Bristol's own Nightingale hospital.

Requirements

In March 2020, as Covid-19 took hold of the country, Nightingale hospitals were springing up across the country to provide extra beds for the escalating cases. One Thursday afternoon our MD took a personal call requesting Commercial Transfer to urgently clear and store the contents of UWE's conference centre as part of the nationwide effort to create more hospital beds. The project needed to be completed by the following Monday to allow for the next stage of the ambitious 15 day completion to be started.

Solution

Springing into action, the site was quickly assessed and our warehouse readied. In less that 12 hours, we had updated our schedules and 4 covid-safe crews were on site ready to go. Working around the clock, and through the weekend these teams meticulously packed, labelled and cleared over 28 of our largest lorries and packing into to our storage facility for holding.

  • ​Crates: Using our in-house crate department we were able to provide all the specialist packing crates needed for the move.
  • Personnel: Our experienced & fully trained team can be deployed at short notice safely operating within Covid guidelines.
  • Packing: Using established and certified processes, the exhibition space could be catalogued & stored and ready to be returned when Nightingale is no longer needed.
  • Storage: Our large flexible storage space at our Bristol depot could easily accommodate storing over 20,000 sq ft of conference equipment, offices and furniture at short notice in a dry, temperature controlled atmosphere.
  • Specialist Vehicles: With a fleet of vehicles available it was possible to select the correct vehicles for the items being cleared.
  • Move Management: Our MD & Senior Move Manager worked with University and wider project board to meticulously plan the gruelling schedule.

Outcome

Delivering on time and in full, it was one of the most important projects Commercial Transfer has been involved in in its history. We are proud to have played a crucial part of the in the overall success of the project and the support of our heroic NHS in saving lives.

We knew the project was going to be demanding, and have been delighted with how Gary and the team jumped into action and got the job done. Commercial Transfer again have proven that they are partners we value and can rely on"
Nicholas Loughlin Assistant Director of Facilities & Business Change
Nov 19, 2021

UWE Bristol

Education

Commercial Transfer joins UWE to deliver Bristol's Nightingale Hospital

As the pandemic escalated, and country locking down, Commercial Transfer received one of their most time critical calls in their 40 year history - to urgently clear and store the UWE conference centre in preparation for Bristol's own Nightingale hospital.

Requirements

In March 2020, as Covid-19 took hold of the country, Nightingale hospitals were springing up across the country to provide extra beds for the escalating cases. One Thursday afternoon our MD took a personal call requesting Commercial Transfer to urgently clear and store the contents of UWE's conference centre as part of the nationwide effort to create more hospital beds. The project needed to be completed by the following Monday to allow for the next stage of the ambitious 15 day completion to be started.

Solution

Springing into action, the site was quickly assessed and our warehouse readied. In less that 12 hours, we had updated our schedules and 4 covid-safe crews were on site ready to go. Working around the clock, and through the weekend these teams meticulously packed, labelled and cleared over 28 of our largest lorries and packing into to our storage facility for holding.

  • ​Crates: Using our in-house crate department we were able to provide all the specialist packing crates needed for the move.
  • Personnel: Our experienced & fully trained team can be deployed at short notice safely operating within Covid guidelines.
  • Packing: Using established and certified processes, the exhibition space could be catalogued & stored and ready to be returned when Nightingale is no longer needed.
  • Storage: Our large flexible storage space at our Bristol depot could easily accommodate storing over 20,000 sq ft of conference equipment, offices and furniture at short notice in a dry, temperature controlled atmosphere.
  • Specialist Vehicles: With a fleet of vehicles available it was possible to select the correct vehicles for the items being cleared.
  • Move Management: Our MD & Senior Move Manager worked with University and wider project board to meticulously plan the gruelling schedule.

Outcome

Delivering on time and in full, it was one of the most important projects Commercial Transfer has been involved in in its history. We are proud to have played a crucial part of the in the overall success of the project and the support of our heroic NHS in saving lives.

We knew the project was going to be demanding, and have been delighted with how Gary and the team jumped into action and got the job done. Commercial Transfer again have proven that they are partners we value and can rely on"
Nicholas Loughlin Assistant Director of Facilities & Business Change