Moveme.com plans your house move

Posted 24 April 2007 11:46am by Graham Charlton with 7 comments

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Moveme.com is a new website which aims to take the hassle out of moving house in the UK, by providing a tool that allows you to plan all aspects of the process.

The site provides a 'diary' to help you to arrange all aspects of the house move - getting quotes from removal firms, redirecting your mail, organising surveys, and so on.

 

The site is clear and simple to use - after giving details of where you are moving from and to, Moveme provides you with a planner in diary form, which reminds you to get all the different tasks accomplished.

You can manage most aspects of the moving process online - for instance, if you need a removal firm, you can request a quote and set up a time for a visit without needing to pick up the phone.

As well as the schedule of tasks which is already in your planner, you can customise your schedule,  add your own tasks, and tick you ones you have completed.

Moveme.com recently raised £1m in seed funding from Brent Hoberman, Robin and Saul Klein and Advent Venture Partners.

We talked to Charles Wasdell, Moveme's marketing Director, about the site:

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Can you summarise how Moveme.com works?

The user tells us where they are moving from and to, then we create a planner in diary form to give them information on everything they need to do to make their move.

We provide a completely comprehensive service, giving information on everything from booking a removal company to changing your satellite TV subscription.

Wherever possible, we let users manage the entire house move process online, or if not we make it as easy as possible. For instance, if you need to move your Sky services, we provide the direct number for that department, to save you the hassle of going through the main number and finding the department you want.

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How did the idea for Moveme come about?

Mark Cunningham and Keith McNeilly, who started the company, worked in the removal business, and initially set up the application as a way to help them manage their work.

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How has the site been received so far?

The site has only been launched on a relatively low-key basis so far. Back in December, the site was receiving around 50 sign-ups a week. Last week this figure was 500. We are aiming for 1,000-a-week over the next month.

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Who do you see as your competitors?

There are companies like Help I’m Moving, which provides help with the removal process, but none which cover all aspects of the house move process as Moveme does. 
 
Also, because Moveme is postcode driven, it will give all correct, contact details for council departments and other services local to the area you are moving to.

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How does the site make money?

The site is free to use, and it is free for businesses to list on the site. We match up customers to a relevant removal firm or conveyancing service, and charge a fee for each quote we refer to them.

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How is Moveme funded?

The founders (NAMES) funded the development of the application themselves, but found that they needed further investment, so they looked for funding.

From the initial meeting with Advent Venture Partners to reaching an agreement took just 6 days. We received an investment of around £1m to develop the site.

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What's planned in the next 12 months for Moveme?

We plan to take the service overseas in future, but want to get ourselves established in the UK market first of all.

We will be introducing improvements to the site, included a simplified sign in process, where customers will be required to input a few details as necessary to start using the site.

We also hope to have more sources of revenue over the next 12 months.

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