Relocate abroad, but do your homework first

With 350,000 people leaving the UK every year to start a new life overseas, choosing the correct removals company is as important as choosing your dream destination, according to specialist relocation and storage firm Cadogan Tate.

Relocating internationally has never been so popular, with at least 5.5 million British-born people now living abroad and a recent BBC survey showing that up to 13 per cent of people are now seriously considering living abroad.

Cadogan Tate, in January 2007 alone, handled 145 international moves with increasing numbers of clients choosing to relocate to China, South East Asia and India.

Alan Hughes, General Manager of Cadogan Tate Worldwide Moving Ltd, advises those looking to relocate to do their homework on suppliers and prepare a 12-month plan before making the move.

“Moving home can be a traumatic experience and moving internationally even more so, which is why it is imperative to choose the right removals company,” says Hughes.

“At Cadogan Tate, we offer a Move Management Service as part of every relocation package, where we provide a manager to oversee each aspect of the move, something that has proved particularly beneficial to both corporate and private clients.
“We feel it should be the removals firm who takes care of the entire move process, so you and your family can arrive refreshed, relaxed and ready to explore your new and exciting surroundings.”

When planning an overseas move, clients also need to consider the time and effort it may take at the new destination to unload and unpack, and research the accessibility of your new overseas location to ensure your belongings arrive safely.

When Cadogan Tate moved a couple from the UK to the beautiful island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean, the company had to build two additional working weeks into the schedule for packing and loading the unusually large amount of furniture and items into two 40 foot containers. Shippers only had a one week window for packing due to commitments outside the UK, so two Cadogan Tate crews were booked to complete the packing task within one week.
The shipment was successfully delivered to Mauritius, however the container trucks could not access the mountain-side residence, so the local crews worked long hours to transport all the effects to the house carefully by hand.
To ensure a stress-free overseas move, Cadogan Tate recommends the following tips:

• When choosing a removals company, first of all check out the British Association of Removers’ (BAR) website at www.bar.co.uk
• Are they members of the BAR? (Only BAR Overseas Group members are qualified to carry out international moves)
• Will they send an estimator to view your effects free of charge and without obligation? Every company should be able to do this and this will assist the move process as the estimator will instantly detect items that will require special attention
• Are they members of FIDI? FIDI (Fédération Internationale des Déménageurs Internationaux) is the largest global alliance of independent quality international removal companies
• If you need to put precious items into storage, don’t forget to check out the security precautions the removals firm is taking, i.e. check if they have modern, alarmed storage facilities
• Have they been in business for more than 10 years? Ten years is a good measure as it takes this amount of time to foster and develop relationships with overseas agents
• Do they offer a dedicated project manager to oversee your move? From experience, it is recommended that a removals company provides a service whereby every aspect of the move is managed by a committed member of staff.

Cadogan Tate is a member of FIDI (fidi.com) and only works with moving companies across the globe who are also members of FIDI.

For more information about Cadogan Tate, please visit the website at www.cadogantate.com

Article Source: http://www.propertymagnate.com/articles

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