Since the official establishment of the British property removal industry in the early nineteen hundreds, the government has had to regulate the way things are done so that removal service providers and consumers are on the same page, and also to regulate profit and tax revenue generated by the many service providers that make up the gild.
At the start of the twentieth century, when the government imposed certain rules and regulations over the freight and trucking industry for the first time, there weren’t that many removal companies around. Indeed, the new industry was gaining momentum and more and more entrepreneurs were beginning to see the potential for profit making, but it was after imposing the first set of regulations that caused the industry to boom and flourish. How so?
The new regulations did not intend to limit or cripple the freshly established industry but only to put certain framework around removal companies – nothing uncommon in a western capitalist society. The new state rules bounding the removal industry actually stimulated competition amongst existing removal companies as they were competing for the same amount of customers, though at different prices now as profits were taxed etc. Many of the removal companies active at the time saw this as an opportunity to improve their service quality – a higher standard removal service would attract more customers, despite the government regulations which were somewhat limiting.
Those business savvy managers who used the new government regulations to their advantage were the so called founders of the modern or professional removal industry in the UK. In the first two years of regulations being in effect, there were forty new removal companies established and launched nationwide. Ever since then the property removal industry in the UK has been growing at a steady pace which has resulted in over ten thousand removal companies currently registered in Great Britain.
With increased competition, also came more freedom of choice and new services were made available to customers. It wasn’t long before additional service options like overnight moving, packing, supply of boxes and packing materials, storage, cleaning, furniture assembly etc. became a standard for many removal companies. In the past such services would have been provided by different companies, but now these comprehensive relocation solutions are carried out by a single company selected by customers.
Since quality and service coverage were the focus, removal industry prices slumped a bit as there were many offers to choose from. Nowadays, a professional mover or moving company can be hired for about thirty to forty five pounds an hour. Back in the early days, hiring a mover or a removal company would have been at least thirty percent more expensive.
One other issue which needed to be addressed by the government was the growing number of customer complaints. Not that the removal companies were doing dodgy jobs, it’s just that the industry was growing and so were its problems. More customers simply meant more complaints. Ten years ago, there were an excess of eighteen thousand customer complaints. Four years later in twenty o eight, there were twenty three thousand recorded complaints – the number had grown notably. In twenty twelve the UK government stated the removal industry was the fifth most frequently checked one and since then complaints have dropped to about thirteen or so thousand. In result the removal industry has improved its stance and gained back face in front of many disgruntled customers.