After eight years of working in the insurance industry, and some time teaching English as a foreign language in China, Adam Manton chose a total change of career and started WeMove in Bournemouth.

“I decided I didn’t want to live that life anymore,” said Adam, now 32. “There was a lack of challenge and I wanted more of a sense of adventure. While in China I met other ambitious business people who were also working on ideas for start-ups. It gave me the confidence to do my own thing.”

Back in the UK Adam got a job on a building site. One day a van driver arrived at the building site operating a simple man and van removal business - but charging more than £200 a day for the service. Adam was impressed and adopted the idea with his brother, Jack. They called it VanMan and business began to pick up. Adam decided to launch properly, and to learn from his experiences in China. He spent six months fully researching what the business might be and how it might differentiate itself from competitors.

WeMove launched in the spring of last year with three members of staff and remains a start-up company, but one with a very clear focus on service. Adam said, “We identified that the biggest factor in moving was that it was stressful and so settled on the tag line: Moving is stressful, but moving day doesn’t have to be …”

Asked specifically what gaps he had identified Adam said: “I identified that companies provided a lack of clarity around what to expect and communication was often poor. We found simple things helped reduce our customers’ stress levels. As an example, our automated texts that confirmed estimate timings and removal bookings made a huge difference to customer satisfaction.”

The company operates from the Store & Secure (see The Mover, November 2017) offices behind CastlePoint in Bournemouth, and now has ten people working there from its three vans on most days. It already has ambitions to expand to other parts of the South.

Adam’s early vision was to launch a company which was new and, ideally, original. And yet, he finds himself doing house removals. “I simply realised you could do something which is old – but find ways of doing it much better,” he said.

Photo: Adam Manton (left).