We used Allied Pickfords on the way out, and unfortunately we had quite a few problems with them (loads of our stuff was left behind in a warehouse in Wiltshire when it should have come out to NZ in a shared container (we had too much for a 20ft container, but not enough to warrant the expense of a 40ft) - quite a lot of the stuff that did arrive was damaged by being badly packed in the boxes and the container, as none of the boxes were clearly marked as to whether they included fragile items.
So personally I wouldn't recommend them, but I know others have used them with no problems. We had 5 quotes I think (PSS, Britannia, Anglo-Pacific, Pickfords and Bargates) and went with Pickfords as they seemed to be the most professional outfit, though they didn't give us the cheapest quote, and they are an international company so don't sub-contract the NZ delivery part. I would also highly recommend shopping around for marine insurance - we used Letton Percival rather than taking Pickfords own insurance, they charged something like 1.53% of the total value of the shipment rather than the 3% that Pickfords wanted so that saved us around 900 GBP. Other thing is that its always worth haggling with the removal companies over the cost that they quote, I think we got them down about 500GBP but probably could have done better.
Good luck with getting your quotes - I know Zummerzet_Lou and Banjo.Jon are just getting quotes in now for their move too, you should compare notes.
Hope this is some help
Maggie
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