International Removals

International house removals can be a headache - but not with Ballards. Our seasoned removals team is here to ease the pressure of moving, wherever your destination.

We can move you and your possessions anywhere in the world; this includes packing, transporting, delivering, assembling and unpacking your goods. Plus, we’ll handle all the customs paperwork for you.

Moving around the world

Moving abroad is a big step. While it’s an exciting time, there’s a lot to carefully consider.

As experienced international movers, we can support you throughout your move, making sure you’re settled in your new home quickly and easily.

Wherever you’re going in the world, Ballards have it covered, thanks to our expert international house removals. We’re proud members of the British Association of Removals and FIDI, a global organisation representing international movers, so we have bundles of experience and reliable partners around the world who understand the country you’re moving to, and will provide specialised local support when you arrive at your destination.

International house removals service

We strive to make sure our international house removals go smoothly and as stress free as posisble. Simply provide us with a destination and we’ll do all the heavy lifting. Let us know where you’re moving to and our estimator will sit down with you to go through the details and assess what you have to move, how it will need packing and what container size you will need. We can also give you guidance on specific aspects of your overseas removal, such as timescales, transport of unusual items, or how to take your pets with you.

Overseas shipping by Full Container Load (FCL Service)

For international removals, the safest way to move your furniture and possessions overseas is by shipping container, usually referred to as FCL (Full Container Load) Service. One 20ft shipping container is usually large enough for the contents of a 3 bedroom house. For larger consignments, 40ft containers are also available.

Gary
Gary
2024-02-01
Moved my daughter and her partner last week two men both polite and professional
Lisa Conroy
Lisa Conroy
2023-12-14
Absolute excellent service from the Ballards team from start to finish. Professional at all times. We had the pleasure of Jason, Ian and Dave on removal day, they were superb. Couldn't have asked for smoother move. Would most definitely recommend 👌
Kathleen Henderson
Kathleen Henderson
2023-12-14
When they collected our furniture the staff were professional and respectful of our home the staff that returned it were equally as good placing everything carefully were asked to
ian pollard
ian pollard
2023-12-11
What a very personable, very professional crew Ballards provided for our move. The guys obviously enjoy their job, taking great care and looking unhurried, but somehow managing it all with speed. Took all our stress away. Fantastic.
Lindsey Thacker
Lindsey Thacker
2023-12-06
Hi there. Just a message concerning our removals on the 4th and 5th December. Our crew-Ian Sadler, Dave Talbot, Bradley Leech and Will went out of their way to make sure our move went as smoothly as possible. They had awful weather, a difficult drive over The Peak District and still were obliging and cheerful whilst moving our belongings. Great team!
Louise Holmes
Louise Holmes
2023-11-29
Just wanted to say thank you for a great service, your team of men did a fabulous job moving us. They were polite, courteous and a good laugh making the day less stressful for us. I would highly recommend them for any service.
Mark Doerr
Mark Doerr
2023-11-25
Ballards have just moved us into our new home in Nottingham. The provided the ‘pack up’ service. Brilliant service, very helpful, arrived promptly and were very careful with our possessions. Mark and the team were very efficient in unloading to the new house. They were a very friendly team. Would thoroughly recommend.
Sally Gibbs
Sally Gibbs
2023-10-22
Ballard’s removed all of our furniture from our house into their storage facility with great professionalism and a friendly service. Although we thought it would be with them for a few weeks due to several mishaps our chattels remained with them for 6 months. We eventually moved onto our new property this week and Ballard’s arrived spot on time as arranged and very carefully unloaded our 4 containers into the appropriate rooms in our bungalow. This they did again professionally, efficiently and with a friendly smile. We have since unpacked and everything was as we left it, not one breakage. Thank you so much for all your help. We would 100% recommend Ballard’s for all your removals and storage.
Lima Sopoaga
Lima Sopoaga
2023-10-18
Great company to deal with they have moved me from UK to France & helped with a small move to Japan. Everything is taken care of & you’re well looked after. Would highly recommend this company. Thanks again to Matt & the team

Packing for your overseas move

For international house removals, professional packing is essential for an overseas move as many countries don’t like owner-packed goods. In fact, these are the ones most often selected for intensive customs examination on arrival - which can cause costly delays. It’s also important to note that standard boxes (such as the kind that you might pick up from the local supermarket) may not be accepted, particularly if they have previously contained food.

  • Our team of professional export packers will come to your home to pack everything up over a period of 2-3 days. We’ll provide appropriate, high-quality, export packing materials and will pack everything carefully to ensure that your goods arrive at your overseas destination safe and sound.

  • Any items that don’t fit into cartons are carefully wrapped in paper blankets and carded if necessary. We can even make bespoken wood cases for fragile items.

  • During the packing service, our crew inventories all of your items in detail to help gain customs clearance on arrival. You’ll be given a copy of this for your own reference and the original is sent to the destination office, along with other documents needed for clearance. Ballards will supply all the crucial customs forms for your new location and assist with the completion to ensure that everything runs smoothly, every step of the way.

  • Once the packing is completed, our team will take time to carefully pack and load each item onto the shipping container on the day of the international removals. For added security, a seal is secured on the door of the container which is only opened by customs on arrival if selected for examination, or on delivery if you’re able to accept immediate delivery to your new home.

  • The shipping container is taken to the port to be loaded on the next available vessel and you’ll be kept updated on sailing times so you can keep track of your belongings and know when to expect them at your destination.

  • Once your container arrives at the destination port and has successfully cleared customs, our agents can then arrange temporary storage, should you need it, or transport the container directly to your home.

  • When you’re ready, the container will be delivered to your new home, where our local agents will unload, unwrap, unpack and reassemble all of your furniture, ready for you to start your new adventure.

Moving small loads overseas

Looking for minimal international removals services? If you are just bringing a few items and can't fill a 20ft container, don't worry! We may be able to help through our network of third parties around the world. Just give us a quick call and we’ll see what we can arrange for you.

This service includes all the items from the do-it-yourself option, too!

Insurance for international house removals

Although we take every care when packing your goods, occasionally when transporting your property by air or sea freight, problems can unfortunately occur. We strongly recommend taking out Goods in Transit insurance to cover the whole trip, just in case see our Removals Insurance page.

happy customers

Areas we cover

If you're searching for a 'home removals company near me', then look no further. Our UK removals service is based in Nottinghamshire, near to Lincolnshire, Leicestershire, most of Derbyshire and South Yorkshire, but we cover removals UK-wide. We also undertake removals to Europe and other international destinations.

We might be local, but we’ll take you anywhere.

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Office hours 8 am – 6 pm Mon-Fri.
Give us a call or complete the form and we’ll get back to you within 30 mins - or by 10 am the next working day if you catch us outside of office hours.

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