Hi, we’re thinking of moving back to the UK next year after 17 years in the US and wonder if anyone would recommend a good removal company please. Also have two cats.
Thanks in advance

I have the same question as you! I'm hoping to move from central MA to Lincolnshire by the end of the year. I have been in contact with Isaacs Moving and Storage (with a location in MA). I did a video call showing my possessions today and will get a quote in a few days. I'll let you know how I get on.

Thanks

Has anyone actually used anyone already that they would recommend? Moving from upstate New York to Pembrokeshire possibly

We used Schumacher (based in NJ) earlier this year from CT to Buckinghamshire. Price was competitive and we were very pleased with the service on the US side. They assisted with all the paperwork, packers were great and so was their tracking. Our container was delayed a couple of times but this was due to the ports/shipping lines rather than the movers, everything to do with shipping was crazy at the beginning of the year. Hence door to door ended up at about 13 weeks, much longer than expected. Things fell apart a bit on the UK side though. Unfortunately, they just pass you over to a UK removal company , who were not so good. I guess it was just bad luck who we ended up with? I seem to remember a similar experience when we moved to US, the UK side were great but then the US movers were not so good as your service is just contracted out on the other side.

Appreciate your help - thanks

I'm in the process of moving from US to UK, and hope to have all my worldly goods delivered on 24th April after being picked up on 4th Jan in Texas. It's taken a bit longer than I'd been led to expect and seems to be due to (a) delays in getting my goods onto a ship in TX (that took nearly 4 weeks instead of the expected 2) and (b) time to clear customs in the UK, which is always going to be unpredictable. Anywho - you asked for recommendations. I got quotes from a 'normal' US moving company that did international (I think it was Armstrong) and from Schumacher Cargo Logistics. I found Schumacher overall easier to work with. The normal moving company quoted me an all-in price and I found it difficult to get any kind of breakdown of how that price was calculated. Schumacher quoted me a cost per cubic foot and cost of insurance - easy peasy lemon squeezy. This was a huge help when it came to making some decisions about whether I should bring a couple of larger items of furniture or plan to buy new in the UK (cost to ship based on size vs cost to replace.) They also told me about TOR 1 form (US movers did not even mention it) and they were very clear about what paperwork was needed by when. So far, my only issue with Schumacher has been with the overall time from pick up to delivery being longer than I'd expected - but check in with me again after delivery to see if my opinion changes :-)
As for pets - there have been some other threads here talking about pros and cons of various approaches. I'd planned to bring my aging cat with me, sadly he died just a few weeks before our planned departure. Rather than do it myself, I'd decided to bite the bullet and pay a pet transportation company that was based in Texas (they seem to do quite a lot of military moves, so have international experience.) I didn't use them in the end, obviously, but was glad that I'd decided to use them rather than deal with the paperwork and logistics myself. So for your pets I think your biggest is whether you are going to pay for someone else to handle everything (a significant chunk of change) or do it yourself. If you use a company, the IAPTA website is one source to search for companies local to you.

I used three different companies (US to UK, UK back to US, US back to UK).

The first US to UK move, I used Wheaton Worldwide. It was a partial shipment (a "lift van", I think, though it might have been a pallet). One big piece of advice I'd give from that experience is to ensure you are there to take delivery at your home, and tick all the boxes off the list as items are brought in. I belatedly found that I had several items and boxes missing, but because I'd signed to say "delivered", I didn't have a leg to stand on. Don't let the deliverers hurry you, take your time.

Second US to UK move was Rinkens. They essentially delivered a shipping container to my house and it sat for a few days for me to load it (I paid a local company to do much of the lacking and loading, as it was more than a one-person job). They then picked up the container, which was sealed (so you can be sure at the other end that nobody has broken the seal and/or taken anything). Same at the other end - container dumped at the side of the road, and I had a couple of days to unpack it.

I was happy with both companies, other than the issue at the UK end with Wheaton's - this wasn't Wheaton's fault. Bear in mind that the company you hire at the US end is not the same as the company who delivers and unpacks at the other end. Worth asking your US-based company who they would subcontract to at the UK end, and do some research on that company, also. Of course with Rinken's, it is irrelevant, because they deliver the whole container to your home and you unpack (or you can hire locally to help with unloading).

These two experiences were in 1999 (Wheaton) and 2006 (Rinkens), so things may not be the same now.

Absolutely this! For peace of mind check that movers ON BOTH SIDES are professional, qualified and have a good reputation. FIDI FAIM Certification is a good place to start (the quality standard for international moving), and check out reviews on independent sites like Trustpilot and Google for movers on the UK end.

We are moving back from California to Berkshire, and I had the same question. Anyone used a removal company recently they can recommend (whether at the US or UK end)? I'm going to try the recommendations in this thread from a couple of years earlier, but wondered if there were some recent positive experiences and suggestions?

We recently used Clark & Rose (UK based) to move our stuff (no furniture) from Ontario, Canada to the UK. Very happy with them so far. Our things are in storage here with them waiting for us to have a place to move them to.
Best of luck with your move.

Thank you! We also not moving furniture, and also plan on using interim storage - so looks very similar. Appreciate the advice.

I'm thinking of a move back to the UK from New England and I'm researching the big movers like North American, Allied Van lines, United Van lines . One question that I haven't seem explicitly answered is what to do about a UK delivery address for my furniture etc. I could fly to the UK and rent a place before my US home is sold, but that might bring up issues of residency. I'd rather sell my US home and ship my furniture and then return to the UK and find a rental. Are movers ok starting a shipment without a delivery address?

I would think they would need an address, even if it is a storage facility. They may even hold it in the USA until you have arrived in England and can give them a UK address.

Each of my children used my address when booking the shipment then after they flew to England were able to change the delivery address before their goods arrived (no way was there room at my place). In both cases it looked like they were going to have to direct it to storage but at the last minute completed their house purchases before their goods arrived.

?? What issues of residency can there be? You can't actually ship your furniture without a delivery address. Afraid I don't understand what you are trying to do.
Shippers can store your furniture for you.