The 4th Movers and Storers Show, was held in Telford on 21/22 November 2011. Around a thousand members of the UK moving industry, and some visitors from overseas, came together in the only all-inclusive event of the year.
Bringing the industry together
Keith Merrett and Charlotte Parslow, the organisers of the event, acknowledged that numbers, both for exhibitors and visitors, were down a little on previous years, however it was definitely a question of quality over quantity. Most of the exhibitors reported a regular stream of enquiries and considered the whole event very worthwhile. For visitors, especially some of the smaller companies and those just starting out, the products and services on show and the access to business information were invaluable.
As in previous years the show included the Learning Zone – a staged area for presentations - this year sponsored by Strategy Plus. There was a programme of speakers and panel discussions throughout both days on subjects including: search engine optimisation, generating money from foreign exchange, financial support, and much more. The programme also included two ‘big debates’: ‘Industry problems old and new’; and ‘What impact do trade associations have?’. Both sparked some lively exchanges – some might say a bit too lively.
The truck show was sponsored by Basil Fry. Again the turnout was down but the quality of the vehicles and the way in which they were presented was very high. Pound Gates sponsored the central networking area which gave all the visitors the opportunity to relax in comfort while remaining central to the exhibition area. Simpsons Packaging sponsored a packing competition, organised by M&G Transport. And PHS Teacrate brought their sponsorship of Movember, the men’s charity, to the show: Pat Bryan, a professional barber, provided a little male pampering for anyone who wanted a traditional wet shave and separated Dave Ewart and Paul Bullock from their precious tashes, all in aid of the good cause.
Well over 100 people were refused entry to the show because they were suppliers to the industry who were not exhibitors. The organisers said that to admit any suppliers as visitors would be unfair to those companies that had bought stands. A number of stand holders appreciated the discipline and applauded the level of control. The organisers said that the strict policy will be continued at next year’s event.
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The first big debate: out of area addresses and completion dates
The first of the two big debates at The Movers & Storers Show centred around two subjects: the problem of companies promoting out of area addresses; and the problem of lack of notice and Friday completions. The first was dealt with fairy quickly. The second was a more knotty problem.
Neville Moody acted as chairman to keep the peace while Matt Faizey from M&G Transport and William Burdon from Whites took to the stage to stimulate the discussion.
Out of area addresses
The out-of-area address problem was soon dealt with. Some companies had expressed their frustration with companies that advertised addresses that were out of their natural area and, by nature, were on somebody else’s. Matt said that he had experienced the problem and the company had even used his address. He didn’t worry because the acceptance forms came to him.
William said that everyone in an area would be aware of the problem and it wouldn’t take long for the ‘rogue’ company to be exposed. His advice was to ignore it, do a good job at the right price and you’ll survive.
Conversely some said that they felt it was their choice if they wished to canvass for work in other areas. What mattered was that the company was traceable and their actual address was clear to see. It was accepted that there is no such thing as a company’s own area and all companies should decide for themselves how far they are prepared to travel in each case.
The conveyancing problem
This is a particular problem that Matt Faizey is concerned about and has voiced in these pages (see The Mover, November 2011). He was looking for support from other movers. His argument is two fold: solicitors push people to move on Fridays so they can keep the funds in their client account over the weekend; there should be a minimum period between exchange and completion to give movers (and everyone else) more notice.
Matt, who is a member of the BAR Board, said that he had asked BAR to address the problem but nothing had happened. He needed BAR members to bring the subject up at Area meetings and so force the National Council and the Board to discuss it seriously. He also wanted BAR and the Guild to work together to lobby MPs and gain press attention for the problem.
The discussion went on for at least half an hour. Some said they did well out of short notice and Friday moves because they could charge more. Matt maintained that more notice would allow customers to make a more considered decision and, therefore, not be so concerned about the price.
It was said that solicitors, conveyancers and estate agents are unaware of the way in which their actions affect the moving industry and their mutual customers. The government probably won’t do anything unless there is a tax opportunity. Customers should understand that it is they who choose the completion date not their solicitors. The movers are so far down the process that it’s impossible for them to educate the public because all the decision have already been made by the time the mover gets there.
For this reason it should be handled at trade association level. It would give the trade associations a way of justifying their fees to their members.
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The second big debate: Should you join a Trade Association?
For many moving companies the decision whether or not to join a trade association is a major one. What will be the benefits, what will it cost, what are the entry requirements? The second Big Debate at The Movers & Storers Show in Telford tried to shed some light on the subject.
Wayne Bishop from Silver Fox, who is not a member of any trade association, Brian Maidman from Maidmans, who has been a member of BAR for many years, and Gordon Rafferty, who is a long-standing Guild member formed the panel.
Brian said that being a member of BAR had enabled him to get to know a large number of other moving companies very quickly. This had been vitally important as a source of knowledge, assistance and advice for him. He said that whatever help a member needed it was available through the head office in Watford, through the conference, Area meetings and road shows, or just from other members.
Gordon said he started as a man and van company in 2004. After first approaching BAR he chose to join the Guild as a way of projecting a more professional approach. The advice and training provided had allowed him to grow well in recent years and even remain level this year. But he said that if you are a member of a trade association it was important to use it and sell the benefits to the customer.
Wayne had started his business some years ago and decided to stay independent of any trade association. He said that he had built his brand by reputation, saved the money he would have paid out in fees and had still grown year on year. He admitted, however, that had he been a member of BAR he would have had more opportunity to secure larger moves. In future he would consider joining to help his company expand further.
One major issue was the problem of the amount of effort trade associations make to sell their benefits to the public. The meeting felt that this was inadequate and that this was a major reason why more companies didn’t apply to join. Brian said that he felt that BAR had improved in recent years with the redevelopment of the website and the introduction of the Code of Practice which was a very good tool to promote to the public. Gordon said that the Guild too had enhanced its website but acknowledged that more needed to be done all round to educate the public.
The general feeling amongst the non-member companies seemed to be that until the public is more aware of the trade associations there was limited benefit in joining.
Questions from the audience revolved largely on the subject of standards, formal or otherwise, within the industry. Brian said that everyone wanted to see standards improve. Alistair Dean said that he thought BAR should be the standard, that subscriptions should double and inspections should be made every year.
In what was something of a diversion from the main topic of conversation, Geoff Salt from the Guild asked, on behalf of a joint member, for Brian Maidman to comment on the loss of members’ funds through BAR over the last few years caused by the alleged fraudulent activity of a member of staff. Brian said that it was a sensitive subject and not something that was appropriate to discuss at that meeting.
| Winning the bubbly Congratulations go to Angela Boreham of Alfabet Removals & Storage Ltd on winning the Magnum of Champagne in the Kes Reclamation prize draw at The Movers and Storers Show. Trudie Mitchell presented Angela with her prize at Kes HQ on the Thursday after the show.  Photo: Trudie Mitchell of Kes presents the bubbly to Angie Boreham of Alfabet Removals | Look out! He’s on his way to your office Tim Oliver, who has become a familiar face in every way in the moving business, has joined BAR Services. Tim is, of course, a David Brent look-a-like and has performed at industry events, including the BAR conference in 2008, for some years. He’s now decided to get a proper job and could well be turning up at your office to sell you BAR Services’ wares in the near future. Good luck Tim. Bet you can’t manage a whole day on the road without being asked to do ‘the dance’ at least once. 
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| Kindle Competition Neil Matthews from Pound Gates won the Kindle competition organised by the Moving Home Company on its stand at The Movers & Storers Show. The competition w as both simple and impossible for most of those who tried. It was an electronic version of the game we all played as kids with a pictures composed of eight sliding squares and one blank space. By moving the squares around you had to make up the image. Neil managed to do it in a record time and won himself a Kindle. Happy reading Neil. 
Photo: Neil Matthews and F. Choudry, Sales Director for the Moving Home Company.
| Death of the slug balances Honorary Mo Bros Dave Ewart and Paul Bullock from PHS Teacrate had their tashes whipped away by Pat Bryan, professional barber, at The Movers & Storers Show. Their sacrifice was for Movember, the men’s charity that raises vital funds and promotes awareness for men’s health, specifically prostate cancer and other cancers that affect men. Pat set up his barber’s shop as part of the PHS Teacrate stand at the Show and offered passers by, mainly men, a shave in return for a donation to the charity. Steve Jordan, editor of The Mover, was one who took Pat up on his offer. “I had never had a proper shave before,” he said. “It was a little piece of male pampering, something us chaps don’t do too often.” By the end of the two days Paul, Dave and Pat had raised £300 for the charity. Rumour has it that Dave has already grown his back (on the insistence of Mrs. Ewart); at the time of going to press Paul remains facially naked.
 
Above: Dave Ewart and Paul Bullock with and without their hair-based facial accessories.
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| Free Guild Membership The National Guild of Movers & Storers offered four months’ free membership to anyone signing up at The Movers and Storers Show. Unfortunately, if you weren’t there it’s too late. What’s the odds on the Guild having another punt on the idea next year? 
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|  The Krypton Factor comes to Telford
The packing competition at Telford, devised by M&G Transport, looked like it had been created by a fan of the Krypton Factor – the ITV game show that graced our Monday nights until 1995. And so it proved that superhuman skills were needed to complete the task. The idea was simple. Two removal specialists from M&G Transport, Paul Lancett and Richard Mason, packed a storage pallet with cartons and packed items, then unloaded the box. All the contestants had to do was put them back where they belonged in the shortest possible time. Sounds easy enough. Well, know it wasn’t. It was, in fact, very tricky. Nobody managed to get all the packages back in the box and everyone one was penalised 2 minutes for each piece left out. In the end it was the chaps from Britannia Bennetts, Alan Bennett and Nigel Gilks, who did the best job and went home with the trophy.  Just to demonstrate that it was indeed possible, Paul and Richard tidied up after the competition by putting everything away. Mind you, they cheated – they’d done it once before!
Photos: top: against the clock – competitors struggled to solve the packing puzzle. Left: Richard Mason and Paul Lancett – the experts.
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The Mover on show
Thanks to everyone that came to see us on our stand at The Movers & Storers Show. Nikki Gee and Marianne Lee did a great job of looking after the stand while David and Steve Jordan snapped and taped their way around the whole show.
“The show was a great success for us,” said Steve. “It gave us the chance to meet lots of new people and see some old friends too. I suspect David and I have stories to last us until the summer.”
Photo: Nikki Gee (left) and Marianne Lee
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The Strategy Plus Learning Zone Auditorium
Internet marketing company Strategy Plus sponsored a series of seminars at the Show covering a wide range of subjects of particular interest to the moving and storage industry. Below is an account of some of the presentations given in the Learning Zone Auditorium.
Difficulties in securing financial support
Ian Priest: Federation of Small Business
Ian had, as he called it ‘been the wrong side of the desk’ as a banker for a number of years. His presentation gave the audience some top tips to help get the finance they need for their businesses.
Business people say banks won’t lend money. Banks say they want to lend but nobody wants to borrow and that they are approving nine out of ten of all applications made for loans. Ian said that this did not take into account the hundreds that the account managers turn aside on the basis that they are too difficult. “These people are under great pressure to generate income and if it’s difficult they will do something else. They don’t get sacked for not lending they get sacked for making bad decisions.”
Ian said that the only securities that matter are bricks & mortar and cash. His top tips for approaching your bank were:
- If the bank asks for management information, never fail to send it.
- Don’t send raw data, always give an explanation. Don’t let the banker think for himself.
- Demonstrate that you understand your business. Identify the risks and show how you intend to manage them.
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National Marketing campaign
Jane Finch
Moving etc…
Jane Finch from Moving etc... put forward two ideas to help the industry forward.
One was a mentoring programme in which experienced members of the industry would help those with less experience. This was clearly a laudable objective, however, Jane didn’t explain why they might want to do that or what compensation they might receive.
Jane also spoke about the lack of branding for the industry. She suggested a comparatively small levy on industry members would provide enough money to develop a nationwide press and TV campaign. Unfortunately, however, it is unclear what brand values could possibly apply to the whole industry. Jane is planning a meeting to discuss this initiative early in 2012.
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Online marketing
Paul Weston, Daniel Ricardo, Keith Ricardo
Strategy Plus
Strategy Plus, as the sponsors of the Learning Zone, were much in evidence throughout the two days providing information on website design and optimisation and advice on social media.
Paul Weston provided an interesting insight for many into the use of Facebook for business. He said that it was a misconception that it was only for young geeks: 40% of users are over 45. Facebook is another route to market for most businesses that capitalises on the statistic that 78% of people say they trust referrals from friends.
Paul explained that having a personal Facebook page was useful as it showed business people who you are. The closest business relationships we all have it with people that know something about our out-of-business lives. But if you are using Facebook for business you need a separate business page. Developing and using this page will help you develop what Paul called ‘social proof’: confidence that you are genuine, knowledgeable and keep your promises.
He concluded by providing some tips on how to develop a Facebook page and how to get engagement on it. He said that when people click the ‘Like’ button, they connect you with all their followers and provide the opportunity for your comments and ideas to go ‘viral’.
Daniel Ricardo gave tips on how to convert website visitors to business. He spoke about creating a good initial impression, ensuring simple navigation, the importance of headlines and using strong images to break up text to make it more readable. Daniel said that it was important to get customers to trust you on the web. Techniques for doing this included: showing profiles of staff members, having a full postal address and contact details, showing logos of affiliated organisations, providing testimonials and offering guarantees where appropriate.
Daniel also spoke about search engine optimisation and the use of Google tools such as Google Analytics while Keith Ricardo provided advice on interactivity on your website.
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CPC Driver Update
Liz Heaton
Driving Standards Agency
Liz Heaton from the Driving Standards Agency gave a brief presentation about the Driver CPC qualification that will become mandatory in 2014 for everyone who drives an LGV professionally.
She explained that the Driver CPC was designed to provide Continual Professional Development for professional drivers that would help improve road safety and ensure that drivers were fully aware of changing regulations.
The requirement is for all professional drivers to have completed 35 hours of training before the 2014 deadline. New drivers who started driving after 2009 will also need to take an initial qualification. The training is a continual process and may be done in blocks of 7 hours to suit each individual. There are around 1,100 approved training centres in the UK with over 2,600 courses to choose from. The DSA maintains strict quality control on training centres reserving the right to drop in unannounced to perform inspections and seed mystery shoppers when appropriate
Liz said that the quality of the training at centres was very high, however the DSA was keen to hear from drivers if they had any complaints and a dedicated complaints email address was available:
It will be an offence to drive without a Driver CPC, to ask an employee to drive without one and to fail to carry a driver qualification card. The regulation will be enforced by VOSA.
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Making of a TV programme
Mark Herrington
Pickfords
Mark Herrington from Pickfords explained how his company had been involved in the making of the Channel 5 TV programme earlier this year.
He said that the first step had been for the production company, Tiger Aspect, to make a four-minute taster film to help them sell the idea to the TV companies. Filming had begun in April last year. Pickfords were required to find enough willing customers to take part, which proved very difficult. At the beginning they didn’t offer any inducements to but when it became obvious that not enough were willing to take part, a number of incentives were introduced. These included discounts and charitable donations however, Mark said the whole cost to Pickfords was not in excess of £20,000.
Pickfords had had no editorial control over what was broadcast. The management at Pickfords had only seen the final cut two days before it was due for broadcast. The programme had used only one camera man – who turned up on a motorbike. There were no retakes or cuts so that the moves were not delayed in any way.
Pickfords had benefitted with a dramatic increase in traffic to its website and the halting of a negative trend in enquiry levels. He also hoped that the industry had benefitted by Pickfords showcasing what was involved in a move.
Filming for the next series took place over Christmas and New Year for screening this spring.
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Bring on the trucks
Gleaming and polished, the trucks rolled into the Telford International Centre for the 2011 truck show. Only three could drive away with the silver but all deserved applause.
There were three categories: best small removals van; best vehicle from a small company, best vehicle from a large company.
The judges had an easy job in the ‘small company’ category as only Jason Winters entered with his Mercedes Actros fitted with an Ekert body. It was greatly over engineered but fabulous and designed to last for a generation. He would have been a worthy winner in any company.
The ‘large company’ category was more competitive with the judges torn between the Mercedes Actros from Apak Removals, the sparkling MAN from James Removals, or the more traditional, but beautifully turned out DAF 45 from Abels. In the end it was the MAN and the enthusiasm of its driver Gary Venugopal that won out.
The small van category gave the judges the greatest heartache. The choices were very different: a 1953 Morris 8 van from F. Rainbow and Son; a Renault Master Low Loader from APAK; a similar (but not quite so clean) Vauxhall from MoveCorp; and the beautiful Iveco Daily from Matthew James. After much deliberation the judges chose the APAK Renault over the Iveco purely on the grounds of practicality as a removals vehicle, ignoring the potential for overloading that the vehicle represented.
The prizes were presented by the competition’s sponsor, Philip Wildman of Basil Fry.
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And the winner is ...
Left to right; Gary Venugopa from James Removals with his stunning MAN, Jason Williams and son Luke with the Ekert Mercedes and Nathan Pearson and Tom Saunders, with the APAK Renault.