CFAS Spring 2020 Journal

THE COMMERCIAL MOVING GROUP OF
THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION OF REMOVERS
CELEBRATES 30 YEARS OF OFFICE MOVING
EXCELLENCE
This year, the Commercial Moving Group (C.M.G.) of the British
Association of Removers (B.A.R.), is celebrating 30 years of offering high
class commercial moving services throughout the United Kingdom and
mainland Europe. It came into being on the 30th of January 1990, at a
meeting in London of what was considered to be the largest and best
commercial movers in the UK, when a steering committee was formed,
consisting of very experienced removers in their own right - Aubrey
Appleton (Bullens), Ken Beer (GBN), Simon Darvall (Business Moves
Group), Tony Factor (Exclusive) And Tony Sullivan (Harrow Green)
This committee was charged with determining Group rules, structure, aims,
and objectives, and led to the formation of a Council, which held its first
meeting in January of 1991, under the chairmanship of Ken Beer.
The Group quickly became the recognised,
premier brand within the office moving
industry, and it has remained in that place
ever since, its members adapting over
time to an ever changing and developing
marketplace. During those 30 years, it
brought into being, and promoted, a
Commercial Mover of the Year Competition
for its Members, which had the added
benefit of continually raising standards in the
industry. In 2008, the Group assisted in the
creation of an externally validated Standard
for commercial moving, mandatory for every
Member, which evolved 2 years later into
a British Standard BS 8522 - now widely
recognised as an essential requirement
by commercial service users in Tender
documentation.
The days of just moving masses of office
furniture have been replaced with working
alongside system furniture businesses,
providing move management skills, computer
and server relocations, for all types of
businesses in both the public and private
Sectors, including, for example, complete
Library, University, and Hospital moves. With
this changing environment, and the move to
flexible workspace, came the challenge of
dealing with redundant furniture in the most
environmentally friendly way, and this is now
commonplace following a large commercial
relocation and a service the CMG members
have adapted to. The essential requirement
of the Group’s members being to seek out
opportunities to re-use, revive, and recycle,
supplying recognised charities, schools and
colleges, even to the extent of moving such
items overseas where the need is great,
especially in developing nations. Some Group
members have invested in remanufacturing
machines to put new life into old furniture,
with the final solution to break up the furniture
for recycling, with this, furniture is stripped,
and segregated into different component
parts, providing the audit trail most clients
require, the ambition of all CMG members
being to work toward zero landfill.
The Group is constantly looking for ways
to improve its service offering in the light
of requirements by its Clients coupled with
legislative imperatives, and has the ambition
to be the only port of call in its marketplace
for cost effective, quality moves. Its growing
membership currently consists of 52
Companies, countrywide, all offering the
full range of Office and Commercial moving
services. A Directory of these Members can
be obtained from
www.bar.co.uk/why-use-a-cmg-member