Mike Harvey, Managing Director of 1st Move International in the UK, has announced the company’s 25th anniversary and return to pre-pandemic profits following COVID.

Mike called the milestone “a tremendous achievement” after an incredibly challenging period saw the company shut up shop for three months in 2020.

"Reaching the 25-year milestone is a tremendous achievement in this industry," said Mike. "We've faced economic ups and downs, changes in regulation, new competition and disruptions like COVID-19. But through it all we've kept our commitment to providing rapid, reliable and quality-focussed international moving services."

Mike added: “It’s certainly been a journey for all of us. Any company involved in international removals will know that COVID was, without question, the single biggest challenge that they have faced. Services like ours depend on reliability. However, we are pleased to say that our industry appears to finally be over the aftershocks of what happened. Global supply chains seem to be working smoothly, we’re now over the backlogs which were created, and cargos are moving properly again. As far as we’re concerned, the pandemic is finally over.”

Mike credits the company's return to profitability this year to improvements made during the pandemic. “We carefully analysed our operations and implemented changes to enable managed growth while controlling costs,” he said. “That included internal efficiencies and enhancing our customer service model. The result is the implementation of systemic and cultural change within our own organisation which is helping us manage risks and maintain business stability.”

1st Move International is based in Avonmouth, Bristol, and has been solely dedicated to managing international removals since 1998. The company’s approach is different from most international removals firms. Rather than ship full container loads it provides a pallet-based service.

Photo.  Mike Harvey.