A letter from the Hayes office
Hayes, West London · UB3
Dear visitor,
France is the corridor we run most. From the Hayes depot a loaded van is on the M4 in fifteen minutes and on the boat at Dover a few hours later — the geography is friendly. The destinations vary: a flat in the 11th arrondissement, a stone farmhouse near Sarlat, a coastal place above Antibes. We've done all three this season.
What changes country to country is the paperwork ritual. France runs on the carte de séjour, the avis d'imposition, and a particular tolerance for the right form filled in the right order. We do the EORI and ToR1 at the UK end; the douanes filing at the entry point; and the bilingual coordinator handles the gardien (or the syndic, or the regional courier) on arrival. You don't learn the rituals on your first move; we have on yours.
What's included.
Everything below is in your written quote.
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Door-to-door pickup from your Hayes address
A surveyor walks the property — anywhere across Hayes, Yiewsley, West Drayton, Northolt, Southall. The same crew loads in west London and meets the destination team at the frontier.
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Bilingual French coordinator
Native French-speaking; handles gardiens, syndics, regional couriers — all the destination-day calls you don't want to make in your second language.
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EORI and ToR1 filing
UK-end customs paperwork, both filed on your behalf with HMRC. Free; we handle the application if you don't already have an EORI.
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French douanes paperwork
Bilingual customs inventory and entry-point declaration — handled at the French frontier, not the day before delivery.
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Goods-in-transit cover
All-risks underwritten cover from the moment the crew picks up in Hayes until they hand over keys at the French address.
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Storage either side
Indoor depot in Hayes; partner depots in Lille, Lyon, and Marseille if dates need flex.
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Custom packing for fragile items
Pianos, art, glass, wine — itemised at survey and packed accordingly. We've learned what survives the Channel and what doesn't.
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Move-day attention from the family
It's a family firm — someone who answered your first call is on the move-day phone too.
What you'll need.
- Carte de séjour · French residency permit
- Required for stays over 90 days in any 180. Apply at the prefecture for your destination département. We hold off the move until your appointment is confirmed if needed — the boxes wait better than your patience does.
- EORI number · UK Economic Operator Registration
- Free from HMRC for any UK-EU goods movement. We file the application if you don't have one.
- ToR1 declaration · Transfer of Residence relief
- Most household goods owned more than six months move duty-free. Filed by us at the UK end.
- Avis d'imposition · French tax notice
- Required by some long-let landlords and notaires. Newcomers won't have one; speak to a French notaire on substitute documentation. Outside our scope to advise on.
- Bilingual customs inventory · Inventory document
- Itemised list with values, in English and French. Prepared from the surveyor's notes — you don't fill this one out yourself.
Where we go.
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Paris
The 75 to 78 départements. Permit-restricted zones in the centre — the Marais, the Quais, parts of the 1st and 4th. We work the parking permit chain with the mairie if needed.
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Provence
Aix, Avignon, the Lubéron villages. Stone steps, narrow lanes, the occasional crane lift for an upstairs piano. We bring the kit.
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Dordogne
Périgord stone houses; rural drop-points. We carry our own generator and ramps for properties off the mains — it comes up about half the time in the Dordogne.
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Brittany
Saint-Malo, Rennes, Vannes. Sometimes the ferry through Portsmouth or Plymouth makes the schedule kinder than the Channel run.
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Côte d'Azur
Nice, Cannes, Antibes. Gated developments; concierge clearance. The destination team handles the syndic so you don't have to chase one down on move day.
How quotes work
A surveyor visits your Hayes-area property in person before any figure is written down. The written quote is a single fixed figure: transit, customs, insurance, door-to-door handling. The variables are volume, distance to the French address, access at both ends, and whether the dates allow consolidated routing. No menu of bolt-ons.