Last November, the 2019 Movers & Storers Show moved south to Coventry. Deputy Editor David Jordan took a trip to the English Midlands to check it out.

The impressive Richo Arena on the outskirts of Coventry was the venue for the 2019 Movers & Storers Show; the biggest event for removals, storage and self storage operators in the UK. The Arena, just off the M6 motorway in the heart of England, was a convenient location for visitors from all over the country.

The show is free to attend if you register in advance, but there are restrictions on eligibility. If you supply products or services to the industry for example, you are classed as a potential exhibitor rather than a visitor and may be denied entry. This is presumably to stop people using the event to promote their companies without paying for a stand or providing sponsorship, which is fair enough I suppose, but may reduce the number of people who attend. This year the organisers gave the attendance figure as 707 over the two days.

The traditional Packer of the Year competition was in full swing as I entered the exhibition hall with teams from removals companies competing to pack an array of different sized boxes into a container against the clock. This is always a popular event and demonstrates the considerable skill required to be a professional mover. This year’s competition was won by Kanagasingam, Sathiyasothy and Nissar Veettil from Easyshipping for the second time in a row.

Speaking of skills, there were also demonstrations by Nick Slater from BAR Training Services who with a team from Simon Long Removals demonstrated how to deal with tricky items, including a fragile grandfather clock and a Victorian barometer.

As usual there was an impressive display of removals vehicles ranging from the ubiquitous 3.5 tonne Maxi Mover low loaders to full-blown removals trucks with luxurious sleeping accommodation and equally impressive livery.  I counted at least six bodybuilders at the show, including SBR who proudly displayed a new Scania P320 hybrid truck built for Matthew James Global Relocations and believed to be the first hybrid lorry in use by a removals company in the UK. A sign of things to come? There were also a couple of quirky items, including a retro Ford Transit van from Ballards Removals and a model removals van of about quarter size, self-built by Army Ants in Preston.

In all there were around 50 stands at the show covering pretty much everything people in the moving or self storage industry could wish for. Activity on the stands was mixed, with some exhibitors scrolling gloomily through their mobile phones, while others were very busy with lots of interest from potential customers. One exhibitor, Select Uniforms, told me he’d had around 40 enquiries on each of the two days – well worth travelling down from Leeds for.

The seminar theatre, sponsored by  insurance specialist Basil Fry and Maxi Mover, featured a varied programme of subjects including a presentation by Rennie Schafer, CEO of the Self Storage Association UK about the future of technology in self storage, a panel discussion focusing on getting the costs right when pricing removals, and a presentation by Sue Schonberger from TwentyCi about making the most of sales leads. The seminar theatre was ably hosted for the first time by Matt Faizey from M&G Transport.