Choosing a removal company is one of the bigger trust decisions involved in a house move — it means handing a stranger your furniture, your paperwork and, for a few hours, the keys to two addresses. Star ratings alone are a thin basis for that decision, so this list looks past the headline number into company age, fleet and branch scale, trade accreditation, review volume, and specialisation — local, national or international — for ten companies operating in the UK, including AFS Removals measured against the same criteria as everyone else on the list.
Methodology
For each company, this guide looked at: longevity and scale (years trading, number of branches or depots, fleet size); independent review data (Trustpilot score and review volume specifically, where available); accreditation (membership of the British Association of Removers, FIDI, or similar trade bodies); specialisation (local, national, or international relocation); and business model (a direct removals firm versus an online marketplace connecting customers to independent movers). Figures below were gathered from company websites and public review platforms at the time of writing and are provided for comparison, not as verified fact for any company besides AFS — reviews and figures change, and anyone considering a company on this list should check current numbers directly with that company before booking.
Pickfords
Pickfords traces its history back over 350 years, making it one of the oldest moving brands in the world. It's reported to hold a Trustpilot score around 4.8 out of 5 from roughly 12,000-plus reviews, and covers UK-wide moves alongside European and international relocation and business relocation work. It's a long-standing member of the Allied international moving network. Its scale is the standout: very few movers in the UK operate at a comparable size across both review volume and geographic reach, spanning everything from small domestic moves to corporate relocation. As with any large national brand, pricing tends to sit above smaller independent movers, and service quality can vary by local branch.
Robinsons Relocation
Robinsons has traded for over 120 years and is reported to hold consistently high Trustpilot scores, generally cited between 4.6 and 4.9 out of 5 across around 1,200-plus reviews. It operates multiple UK branches, each with its own storage facilities, covering local, national and international moves, and is a fully accredited BAR member. High, consistent review scores across a meaningful sample size and over a century of trading are its main strengths. Because branches operate semi-independently, it's worth checking reviews for the specific local branch handling a move rather than the brand as a whole.
White & Company
Founded in 1871 and still family-owned, White & Company operates from 19 UK locations including the Channel Islands, plus a Spanish office, and is reported to own and maintain its own fleet of 265-plus vehicles with over 500 staff — notably not relying on subcontracted crews. It's reported to manage more than 50,000 moves a year across the UK, Isle of Man, Scotland and Ireland, and is a founder member of BAR, FIDI and OMNI. Owning its entire fleet and employing rather than subcontracting crews, if accurate, is a genuine differentiator few UK movers can claim, and one worth confirming directly given how much it affects consistency and accountability. As with the largest, most established players, quotes can run higher than smaller local firms for equivalent jobs.
Bishop's Move
Bishop's Move was founded in 1854 and remains family-run into its sixth generation, operating 27 UK branches plus two European branches in Spain and Gibraltar. It's a BAR member with international shipping and storage capability, and has reportedly handled high-profile moves over its history. Over 170 years of continuous trading under the same family, backed by a genuinely national branch network, is a rare mark of stability in this industry. As with any large branch network, service consistency depends on which local branch handles a given move.
Britannia Movers International
Formed in 1981–82 as a cooperative of independent family removal firms competing against larger, London-centric movers, Britannia now operates through 40-plus local branch offices across the South East, South West, Midlands, Northern England, Wales and Scotland, covering domestic, international and corporate relocation. Its cooperative structure means each branch is typically a genuinely local, often long-established family business trading under a shared national brand and shared standards — a hybrid of local expertise and national reach. Because branches are independently owned, review scores and service style can vary noticeably from one Britannia branch to the next, so it's worth checking the specific local branch rather than the group.
Bournes
Bournes was named Domestic Mover of the Year 2023 by the British Association of Removers, and is reported to hold a Trustpilot score of 4.7 out of 5 from roughly 950-plus reviews, having responded to the large majority of negative reviews it's received. Based in Rye, East Sussex and Tunbridge Wells, Kent, it covers Kent, Sussex and London, alongside national, European and international moves and shipping. A BAR industry award for customer experience, rather than self-reported marketing, combined with a strong and consistent Trustpilot score, is its main strength. It's regionally rooted in the South East, so a move from further afield may rely more on partner logistics for the long-haul leg.
AnyVan
AnyVan operates an online moving marketplace model rather than a traditional single removals firm, matching customers with a large network of vetted, independent movers and drivers. It's reported to hold a Trustpilot score of 4.5 to 4.6 out of 5 from an exceptionally large sample — well over 180,000 UK reviews — and claims the largest network of movers in the UK, with flexible booking (edit or cancel up to 48 hours before a move) and complimentary fire and theft cover. That review volume is on a different order of magnitude to every traditional removals firm on this list, and the marketplace model tends to produce competitive, instant online pricing. Because the crew on the day is an independent, third-party driver rather than an in-house team, service quality is reported to be less standardised — a meaningful minority of reviews describe communication issues or pricing disputes, particularly on larger or international moves.
PSS International Removals
PSS specialises specifically in overseas and international removals rather than general UK local moves, and is reported to hold a Trustpilot score of 4.5 out of 5 from roughly 2,470-plus reviews, replying to around 90% of negative reviews. It's a member of the BAR Advanced Payment Guarantee Scheme and has reportedly received a Sirelo Quality Mover Award. For international relocation specifically, it's reported to have one of the larger and more consistently positive review bases of any specialist mover — but it isn't the right fit for a purely local UK house move, since that isn't its specialism.
Simpsons International Removals
Simpsons specialises in international removals to destinations including the USA, Canada, Australia and across Europe, and is reported to hold a Trustpilot score of 4.7 to 4.8 out of 5 from a smaller sample of 170-plus reviews. It offers a free online cost calculator for early-stage budgeting on an overseas move. Among international specialists, it's reported to have one of the highest average scores on this list, even with a smaller review volume than the largest national brands — worth bearing in mind, since a smaller sample is statistically less robust than one built from thousands of reviews. Worth noting separately: a similarly named UK domestic mover, unrelated to Simpsons International, is reported to have a considerably lower Trustpilot score, so it's worth double-checking which company is actually being booked.
Fantastic Removals
Fantastic Removals is the removals arm of the wider Fantastic Services group, which also covers cleaning, gardening and property maintenance, offering man-and-van work, house and office removals, storage and packing. It's reported to hold a group-wide Trustpilot score of around 4.6 out of 5 across tens of thousands of reviews, with its strongest presence in London and other major UK cities, and 24/7 phone and chat support. It's backed by a much larger, well-reviewed multi-service group infrastructure, with flexible booking and bundled services such as end-of-tenancy cleaning alongside a move. As a multi-service group, the removals-specific review volume is smaller than the group-wide figure suggests, so it's worth reading reviews that specifically mention removals rather than the group's other services.
Where AFS Removals fits on the same measures
AFS Removals was registered in 2020, making it one of the youngest companies on this list by corporate age — most of the others above have been trading for decades, several for over a century. As of 2 September 2026, AFS held 4.8 out of 5 from 335 Google reviews and 4.5 out of 5 from 259 Trustpilot reviews, independently verifiable on both platforms. It covers house and office removals, storage and packing services across the UK and Europe, with reviews frequently mentioning named crew members and a personally assigned move coordinator handling survey, planning and on-the-day oversight. AFS also reports 300-plus Google reviews and 300-plus Yelp reviews on other platforms; this guide could verify the Trustpilot figure of 4.5 from 259 reviews directly, so that's the number to treat as independently confirmed rather than the company-reported figures on other platforms.
A 4.5 out of 5 on Trustpilot from over 250 reviews after roughly five to six years of trading is a genuinely strong result for a company this age — a higher score than several of the older, larger brands on this list, with a respectable review volume for the time AFS has been operating. Reviews consistently mention careful handling, punctuality and a coordinator-led process. Set against that: AFS doesn't yet have the multi-decade branch network, owned fleet scale, or BAR or FIDI accreditation history that firms like White & Company or Bishop's Move can point to, and holds no trade accreditation today. There is also at least one detailed negative Trustpilot review — describing a missed collection date — worth reading alongside the positive ones, in keeping with the advice given for every other company on this list: check recent reviews specifically, not just the average.
How to actually use a list like this
A high Trustpilot score means little without context, whichever company on this list is being considered. Before booking any of them, it's worth confirming directly: current BAR membership status, since that brings a code of practice and, in some cases, an Advance Payment Guarantee if the company stops trading before the move; whether crews are employed or subcontracted, since that affects consistency and accountability; a fixed, written quote, ideally following an in-home or video survey rather than just a phone estimate; insurance and liability limits, specifically what happens if an item is damaged or lost; and recent reviews from the last three to six months rather than the overall historic score, since service quality can shift after a change of ownership, management, or a period of rapid expansion.
A note on how this guide was put together
Figures in this guide are drawn from company websites, Trustpilot and other public sources at the time of research, and are provided for informational comparison only — they were not independently audited for every company, and review scores and volumes change frequently. Anyone considering a company on this list should check current figures directly with that company, and directly with Trustpilot or Google, before making a booking decision. AFS's own figures are the same ones published elsewhere on this site and were independently checked against Trustpilot directly.
