Same-day or next-day removals from Sussex to northern France, with part-loads almost every fortnight. Suited to second homes, small moves and full relocations alike.
Removals to Pas-de-Calais and Picardy from the UK are a different sort of French move. Calais, Boulogne, Arras and Amiens are so close to the tunnel that many of our customers here are not emigrating at all: they are furnishing a weekend place on the Opal Coast, splitting their time between Sussex and France, or taking a few rooms of furniture to a flat near the station. Because the distance is short, the move itself is fast. Because the goods are often going to a second home, the paperwork deserves more thought than people expect.
Calais and Boulogne-sur-Mer are the gateways: Calais for the tunnel and the ferries, Boulogne for its fishing harbour and the walled haute ville on the hill. Along the Opal Coast between and beyond them — Wimereux, Le Touquet, Montreuil-sur-Mer — are the seaside houses and apartments that so many British buyers use as a bolt-hole an hour or so from home. Inland, Arras is known for its two great arcaded squares and Amiens for its cathedral and the floating gardens along the Somme.
Pas-de-Calais and the old region of Picardy now sit together in Hauts-de-France, which also takes in the Somme Bay and its quiet villages. We deliver across all of it. For customers heading on to the capital, the Paris removals service leaves on a fixed weekly schedule and can share the same planning.
Not everyone here is part-time. Arras and Amiens have become permanent homes for people who want a French city with good rail links, affordable town houses and the reassurance of being close to the tunnel, and a few customers each year move to the coast for good after years of weekend visits. The move is the same either way; the paperwork, as below, is not.
For second-home owners, the survey is also a chance to think about what a holiday house really needs. Beds, a sofa, a table and the kitchen basics make a place usable; the dresser and the good china may be better where they are. We will help you draw that line, and the part-load service means a second consignment later in the year is no great expense if you change your mind.
Access here is usually friendlier than in the south, but it has its own habits. Seafront apartment buildings on the Opal Coast often have compact lifts and managed car parks, and summer weekends bring crowds and full parking bays, so a weekday delivery is easier to plan. The brick terraces of Arras, Amiens and the older parts of Boulogne tend to have narrow frontages and steep internal stairs, and a large wardrobe may need to be dismantled before it goes anywhere near the landing.
Smaller moves are common on this route, and they are where good packing matters most, because a part-load shares space with other customers’ goods. We pack in strong double-wall cartons, label every one with its room and an inventory number, and wrap each piece of furniture in the home. If you are fitting out a holiday flat piece by piece, we can combine an item bought in Sussex with a delivery that is already running, rather than sending a lorry for one sofa.
This is the region where the customs question most often has a different answer. The transfer-of-residence relief, which lets used household goods into France without import VAT or duty, applies when you are moving your main home. A weekend flat in Le Touquet or a cottage near the Somme Bay usually is not, so the ToR1 route will not be available and the move is structured differently. We explain the options at the survey, before you decide how much to take.
The other point is time. Without a French visa and titre de séjour, British citizens can spend up to ninety days in any hundred and eighty in the Schengen area, which is why many people here live on a back-and-forth pattern. If you are moving permanently, residency runs through the préfecture — Arras for Pas-de-Calais, Amiens for the Somme — and we prepare and file the ToR1 papers for you. Either way, every load still clears customs at Sevington before the crossing, however short the drive on the other side.
One practical note: British electrical appliances need adapters on French sockets, and some are simply not worth taking to a holiday home. It is usually easier to buy a fridge and a washing machine locally and keep the lorry space for the furniture you care about.
This is as quick as international moving gets: same-day or next-day delivery after collection. A load packed in Sussex in the morning can clear Sevington, cross on the tunnel and reach Calais or Boulogne the same day; Arras and Amiens are a short drive further. We run part-loads to the region almost every fortnight, which suits smaller moves and second-home furnishing well.
The border itself is the one fixed step. Every load is sealed and cleared at the Sevington inland border facility near Ashford before the crossing, and a wait of anything from half an hour to an hour and a half is normal. We build that into the day, so the lorry still makes its booked crossing and you are not left waiting at the French end.
For customers splitting their time, the quick turnaround also works in the other direction. If a piece of furniture is going back to Sussex, or a second home is being emptied, we can plan a return consignment in the same way. Ask us at the survey and we will tell you what makes sense.
And because the drive is short, your goods spend very little time on the road, which means less time for anything to shift in transit and a smaller gap between leaving your Sussex home and living in the French one.
A sole-use vehicle can go on the date that suits you. A part-load goes with the next departure, so the date is set by the schedule rather than by you, in exchange for a lower cost. If you need to hold things back for a few weeks, we keep them in storage until the next shipment at our Lower Dicker depot.
Mark Ratcliffe Moving is a family business in East Sussex, founded in 2017, and northern France is one of the routes our crew knows best. Small jobs get the same care as full houses: our team wraps and loads every piece themselves, and nothing changes hands before it reaches you. Use our packing service for the whole home or order export cartons and packing materials to pack yourself. Mirrors, glass tables and pictures bound for a seaside flat get export packing and crates, with a made-to-measure crate for anything truly valuable, and our piano movers handle instruments of every size.
We are a BAR Overseas Group member removals firm and work to BS 8564 for moves abroad. For the rest of France, see our removals to France guide; for other countries, our removals to Europe from East Sussex. Read our reviews, find out more about Mark Ratcliffe Moving, or call 01323 848 008.
Moving further into France? Our road service runs regularly to these other regions as well.
Same-day or next-day delivery after collection is typical. The load clears customs at Sevington, crosses on the Channel Tunnel and is a short drive from Calais. Arras and Amiens add a little more driving but are still reached within the same short window.
Yes. We run part-loads to Pas-de-Calais and Picardy almost every fortnight, so a few rooms of furniture or even a handful of pieces can travel on a shared vehicle.
Usually not. The relief is for moving your main home to France. For a second home, the customs position is different and we go through it with you at the survey.
Without a French visa and residence permit, British citizens can spend up to ninety days in any hundred and eighty in the Schengen area. Moving permanently means applying for residency through the préfecture.
Yes. We hold goods at our Lower Dicker depot in East Sussex and put them on the next suitable departure, so you do not need to wait at home for a lorry.
Call us for a free, no-obligation quote, or use our online form. Whether it is a shared part-load or a whole house, we have handled the route before and we will handle yours with care.