Our gallery shows real moves — real crews, real customers, real lorries, real furniture being wrapped and loaded across Sussex. We don’t use stock photography on this site. Every image you see is from a job we ran, a depot we work out of or a vintage van we still own. If you’re trying to get a feel for who we are before you book a survey, this is the page to scroll through.
The removals industry has a problem with stock photography. Browse any random removal-company website and you’ll see the same dozen American crew photos and the same studio-lit cardboard-box shots used across hundreds of sites. None of them tell you anything about the actual company. Our gallery is the opposite of that — every photo was taken on a Sussex job, at our Lower Dicker depot, or at a training session with our own crew. Some shots are professional, some are taken on a crew lead’s phone, but all of them are ours.
This matters because the look of a real removal job tells you things a marketing photo can’t. The pad-wrap blankets are quilted and weighted, not the thin throws stock photos use. The lorries are signed with our logo, the crew wear uniforms with name badges, the boxes are double-walled and properly labelled. When customers visit our depot before booking storage — which we encourage — they recognise the photos here, because they show the same crew, the same vans, the same site.
The gallery groups into four sections. The fleet covers the vehicles we run — from the restored 1963 Bedford that started the company through to the modern Luton, 7.5-tonne, 18-tonne and articulated lorries we use day-to-day. Pad-wrap and packing shows the technique in progress — quilted blankets wrapped around furniture in customers’ rooms before anything leaves the house, fragile items being cushioned in proper materials, large pieces being prepared for transit. Piano moves is the specialist track — we move 60–80 pianos a year and the technique uses dedicated trolleys, skids and ramps that take years to master. Around the depot covers the Lower Dicker base — the steel storage rooms, the loading bay, the materials shop and the training facility where new crew learn the trade.
Three patterns show up in the analytics. The biggest is comparison: customers who’ve received two or three quotes use the gallery to sense-check which firm looks like a real, well-run operation. Stock-photo websites lose this comparison reliably. The second pattern is curiosity: customers booking storage often want to see the actual rooms before they hand over their possessions for months, and the gallery is the next-best thing to an in-person visit (we offer those too — just book one through the office). The third is reassurance after booking: customers who’ve already signed the contract often come back to the gallery in the days before move day, partly out of interest, partly to remind themselves they made a good choice. That’s a good sign for us — it means the photos are doing what they should.
The Lower Dicker site is open Mon–Fri 8:00–17:30 and Sat 9:00–13:00. Drop in for boxes, to see the steel storage strong rooms, or just to put a face to the company before you commit. We prefer an appointment for storage viewings (so you’re not standing around while a crew loads) but for material pickups or quick tours during a quiet hour, just walk in. The full address is Unit J12 Swallow Business Park, Diamond Drive, Lower Dicker, East Sussex BN27 4EL. Call 01323 848 008 to book a slot, or browse the rest of the about-us page for the company history and the team behind the photos.
Every customer-side photo on this page was taken with explicit written consent from the customer involved. We always ask first and we never use a photo where a person’s face is identifiable without a separate sign-off. If you ever see yourself or your home in one of these photos and you’d like it removed, email office@markratcliffemoving.co.uk with “photo removal” in the subject and we’ll take it down within one working day, no questions asked. Depot, fleet and training photos are all our own with no third-party rights attached. The same approach extends to social media — we don’t share a customer’s belongings or address-identifying details on any platform without their written sign-off, even when the photo would make a good post.
Our removals lorries are a mix of modern 18-tonne articulated trucks for full-house removals, mid-range 7.5-tonne lorries for typical 2- and 3-bedroom moves, and smaller Luton vans for man-and-van and city-centre work. Plus the 1963 Bedford that started the company — restored, road-legal and used on special occasions.
Pad-wrap is our signature method. Every piece of furniture is individually wrapped in a heavy quilted blanket inside your home, taped securely, and labelled, before it leaves the room. The result is far fewer chips, scratches and dings than a standard remover delivers. Below: pad-wrapped furniture mid-move and the team loading at customer homes.
Pianos go on dedicated skid trolleys, never carried further than they have to be, and loaded on a padded board (for grands) or upright (for uprights). Below: our piano crew at work.
The Lower Dicker depot is where everything starts and ends — pre-move materials are staged here, the lorries park here overnight, and our steel-strong-room self storage is built into the back of the building. The Bedford lives at the front.
Visit any time by appointment — we’re at Unit J12 Swallow Business Park, Diamond Drive, Lower Dicker, East Sussex BN27 4EL. A coffee’s waiting for anyone considering booking a survey.
Some of our best photos are sent in by customers after their moves — the lorry parked in front of a country house, the crew on a quayside in Bangkok, the team unloading at a Sussex barn conversion. We’re always glad to receive them and (with your permission) we add the best to the gallery.
If you have a photo from a move with us that you’d like to see here, email it to office@markratcliffemoving.co.uk — we’ll credit you (or keep it anonymous, whichever you prefer).
Beyond photos, the best way to understand how we work is to read what customers say about us, look at the specific services we offer, and ideally book a free survey to meet the crew in person.
From the blog
How our signature method works — wrap in your home, never unwrapped in transit, only unwrapped in final position.
Read article →
Step-by-step packing for china, glass, framed pictures, mirrors, electronics — from BAR-trained packers.
Read article →
What to check before you sign — BAR membership, insurance, written quotes, reviews. Plus the red flags that mean "walk away".
Read article →Call us today for a free, no-obligation quote — or use our online form. Whether it's a one-room move or a full international relocation, we've handled it before.