Date published: 01.09.08 - not release date

SUN, SEA, SAND … AND THE SOUTH EAST

Pickfords’ Move Monitor reveals UK homeowners are seeking solace in sunnier climes and the South East

With 25th August predicted to be the busiest moving day of the year, Pickfords, the UK’s largest moving company, launches the results of its Annual Move Monitor. Tracking over 19,000 home moves, the research is the largest of it’s kind and has pinpointed the latest moving trends and UK hotspots.
August is the month to move! The hottest month of the year experiences the highest volume of annual moves in the UK, with twice as many moves taking place than in January. The most popular day of the week to move is revealed as a Thursday, with Pickfords predicting the 25th August to be the busiest moving day this year. The looming bank holiday means that people can take advantage of an extra day to unpack and get organised before they have to head back to work.

Moving Down South…

The research has pinpointed the South East as the most popular moving destination in the UK. Out of the 11 regions surveyed, the South East experienced the highest volume of activity (25% of total moves) and was ranked the most popular region for house buyers after attracting and retaining 26% of all movers within the region.
The South West was the next most active area in terms of moves (14% of all UK activity), attracting and retaining the second highest amount of movers to the region (14%), with the Midlands ranked as the third most popular home buying destination (13%).

But despite the highest amount of activity and growth in the South, Scottish cities came out top when it came to the most desirable postcodes with Glasgow (1st) and Edinburgh (3rd) ranked in the top three most popular moving destinations. Nottingham was the second hottest postcode, with Bristol ranked in 4th position and Newcastle Upon Tyne coming in fifth.

Move activity per region %
(movements within and to region)

South East - 26%
South West - 14%
Midlands - 13%
North East - 12%
Scotland - 11%
London - 7%
East Anglia - 7%
North West - 5%
Wales - 3%
Channel Islands - 1%
Northern Ireland - 1 %

UK’s Top Ten Moving Destinations by city:
1.Glasgow
2. Nottingham
3. Edinburgh
4. Bristol
5. Newcastle Upon Tyne
6. Cambridge
7. York
8. Southampton
9. Leeds
10. Sheffield

Movers and Shakers
The Move Monitor has revealed the region movers and shakers:
·Scotland: Top of the pops for people staying put. Of those movers within the region nearly 47% moved within Scotland, only 24% came south of the border
·North West: A moving hotspot. Of 774 moves in the region, 499 (64%) were moves into the North West from other parts of the UK.
·London: which only accounted for 9% of total moving activity, attracted just 275 movers into the city (2% of total moving base). With 854 moves out of the city, London suffered the highest net loss, ranking 6th in the UK’s most popular regions to live.

According to Martyn Hocking editor of 'Location, Location, Location', the UK's best selling property magazine “Improvements to major road and rail links, coupled with technology advancements and flexible attitudes towards home working means that people do not need to be city bound, and can work from rural locations such as the South East and West, which may explain the growth in these areas.

Far, Far Away
Whilst people are heading down south in the UK, the research has shown that more and more of us relocating down under. The Move Monitor has shown that 28% of all Pickfords' customers are heading overseas. Beaches and BBQs are the order of the day as Australia is the number one relocation destination for UK citizens - just under a third of these home movers are heading down under.


Pickfords’ spokesperson Lyndsey Daykin says, “The monitor revealed that whilst Australia remains the firm relocation favourite, Pickfords relocated people further a field than ever before. Organising relocations to 106 countries around the world, from Aruba to Zambia, the Move Monitor reveals that people are prepared to consider all parts of the globe as their home.“

Quirky facts:
·Total number of moves to UK from overseas: 69
·Moved as many people to Lebanon as we did to Luton
·4 times as many people moved to Canada than moved to Cardiff
·Moved more people to Bulgaria and Bahrain than to Blackpool
·31 % of movers to Australia came from the South East
·Most exotic relocations included moves to Mauritius (6) Bermuda (5) Malaysia (20) Macau (7) Egypt (5) Fiji & Bahamas (2) Sri Lanka, Borneo & Turks & Caicos (1)

-ends-

For further media information contact:

Julie Doyle or Helen Mitchem
Pickfords Press Office: icasPR
Tel: 020 7632 2400
Email: pickfords@icas.co.uk

About Pickfords

Established for more than 300 years, Pickfords is the UK’s leading home moving and storage specialist. Pickfords has 63 Move Centres throughout the UK and moves than 250,000 people every year. Allied Pickfords, part of the Allied network, is the international division of Pickfords and with 800 offices in 43 countries, Pickfords is part of the largest global moving company in the world. Pickfords employs 1,800 people in the UK, and is a wholly owned subsidiary of SIRVA Inc.

About SIRVA, Inc.

SIRVA, Inc. is a leader in providing relocation solutions to a well-established and diverse customer base around the world. The company is the leading global provider that can handle all aspects of relocations end-to-end within its own network, including home purchase and home sale services, household goods moving, mortgage services and insurance. SIRVA conducts more than 365,000 relocations per year, transferring corporate and government employees and moving individual consumers. The company operates in more than 40 countries with approximately 7,000 employees and an extensive network of agents and other service providers. SIRVA’s well-recognized brands include Allied, northAmerican, Global, and SIRVA Relocation in North America; Pickfords, Huet International, Kungsholms, ADAM, Majortrans, Allied Arthur Pierre, Rettenmayer, and Allied Varekamp in Europe; and Allied Pickfords in the Asia Pacific region. More information about SIRVA can be found on the company’s Web site at www.sirva.com.