The short answer
Pickfords is one company: 56 UK branches, one set of standards, one Trustpilot profile rated 4.8 from 12,862 reviews. Britannia is not a company in the same sense - it is a cooperative of independently owned removal firms trading under a shared brand. There are 40+ Britannia locations, and each one is a different business with its own crews, vans, pricing and reviews.
That single structural difference is the whole comparison:
- Choose Pickfords if you want predictable, centrally set standards and one organisation accountable for the whole job, including complex or international moves.
- Choose Britannia if the specific member quoting you is a strong local firm with excellent reviews of its own - because a good Britannia member is a good independent remover with a national network behind it.
The mistake to avoid is treating "Britannia" as a single quality signal. It is not. A five-star Britannia branch in Kent tells you nothing about the Britannia branch quoting for your move in Yorkshire.
Last checked: 28 August 2026. All Trustpilot scores, review counts and company details below were verified on this date. Ratings move - re-check before you book.
Britannia vs Pickfords at a glance
| Britannia | Pickfords | |
|---|---|---|
| Business model | Cooperative of independently owned member firms, founded 1981 | Single national operator, part of the SIRVA Worldwide group |
| National coverage | 40+ locations across the UK | 56 branches, covering every UK and Ireland postcode |
| Local branch variation | High - each member is a separate business | Low - centrally set standards across branches |
| Customer review rating | 4.6 central profile; individual members typically 4.8 | 4.8 |
| Number of reviews | 1,122 on the central profile; members hold their own, e.g. 1,049 / 412 / 161 | 12,862 on one profile |
| Quote process | Free survey, video survey app, or phone | Free home or video survey; quotation in 24-48 hours |
| Home/video surveys | Both offered | Both offered, with a dedicated video survey app |
| Packing services | Yes, full and part packing | Yes, full and part packing |
| Storage | Yes, at member depots | Yes, at company facilities |
| International removals | Yes - FIDI and FAIM accredited, IAM member | Yes - FIDI and FAIM accredited, BAR Overseas Group member |
| Insurance / liability | Cover offered; limits and excess vary by member | Cover offered; limits and excess set centrally |
| Own crews vs partners | Member's own crews for your local move; overseas agents for international legs | Own branch crews in the UK; FIDI agents for overseas destination services |
| Price transparency | No published pricing - survey-based, and set independently by each member | No published pricing - survey-based, set centrally |
| Cancellation terms | Vary by member - always request in writing | Set out in the company's terms - request in writing |
| Complaints route | BAR Advance Payment Guarantee and the Furniture and Home Improvement Ombudsman | Same BAR scheme and ombudsman |
| Best suited to | Movers who have checked the local member and like what they see | Movers who want scale, consistency and one accountable organisation |
| Main advantage | Local firms with real local knowledge, backed by a national network | Consistency, infrastructure and a very large review base |
| Potential disadvantage | Quality varies between members; you must do the local homework | Less local flexibility; a strong independent may beat it on price or attention |
Both hold BAR membership, BS EN 12522 or equivalent quality standards, ISO certification, and FIDI/FAIM accreditation for international work. On paper-level credentials, this comparison is close to a draw. The difference is in how the work is actually organised.
How Britannia actually works
Britannia Movers International was founded in 1981. In its own words on its About Us page, it is "a cooperative" and "a group of independently owned member businesses", in which "each member would hold an equal shareholding in the Group". It began with seven family businesses and had grown to around 50 member companies by the mid-1990s.
In practice this means the Britannia name is a shared brand and a shared set of standards - covering vehicle livery, packing standards and training - sitting on top of separate limited companies.
The evidence you can check yourself
The clearest proof is that Britannia members keep their own identities, domains and review profiles:
| Britannia member | Trades as / website | Trustpilot |
|---|---|---|
| Britannia Movers - East | alancookremovals.co.uk | 4.8 from 1,049 reviews (90% five-star) |
| Britannia Bearsbys | bearsbys.com (Kent) | 4.8 from 412 reviews (95% five-star) |
| Britannia Leatherbarrows | leatherbarrows.co.uk (Christchurch) | 4.8 from 161 reviews (87% five-star) |
Three separate businesses, three separate websites, three separate review histories. None of them is the central Britannia Trustpilot profile, which sits at 4.6 from 1,122 reviews.
Note what that implies: those three members alone hold 1,622 reviews between them - more than the national profile carries. Britannia's customer feedback is spread across dozens of member profiles rather than concentrated in one place, which is exactly why the headline national score is a weak guide to the service you will get.
What to check before accepting a Britannia quote
- The exact legal company name on the quotation - not "Britannia", but the limited company that will invoice you.
- That company's own reviews on Trustpilot and Google, searched by its trading name.
- Its own BAR membership, confirmed on the BAR website rather than assumed from the brand.
- Whether the quote is fixed or an estimate that can move on the day.
- Whether VAT is included in the figure quoted.
- Who physically performs the move - that member's employed crews, or someone else.
- Cancellation terms, in writing, including what happens if your completion slips.
- Waiting-time charges, and the hourly rate once any included window is used up.
Pickfords: one national operator
Pickfords traces its origins to 1630, when a William Pickford worked as a carrier south of Manchester, and the present business trades as Pickfords Move Management Limited, incorporated in April 2012 and registered in London (Companies House number 08044368). It is part of the SIRVA Worldwide relocation group.
It operates 56 branches covering every postcode in the UK and Ireland, which makes it the largest single moving operator in the country. Services span domestic removals, packing, storage, international removals, business relocation and specialist services including pet shipping.
How Pickfords jobs are fulfilled
For UK moves, Pickfords uses its own branch network and crews. For international moves, it is accredited under FIDI's FAIM standard and is a member of the BAR Overseas Group. FIDI membership creates agency relationships with other accredited movers worldwide, and destination services - unpacking and delivery at the far end - are performed by those overseas agents.
That is not a criticism and it is not subcontracting in the sense people usually worry about: no UK remover maintains its own crews in every country, and using an accredited destination agent is the industry-standard arrangement. It is simply worth knowing that on an international move, the people who deliver your belongings will usually not be Pickfords employees.
Where a large operator can lose
Scale brings consistency, but it can cost you flexibility. A well-run independent - including a strong Britannia member - may quote lower for a straightforward local move, offer more give on timing, and put the same crew and the same named contact on your job from survey to delivery. If your move is a simple two-bedroom local relocation, national infrastructure is capability you are paying for and may not use.
Reviews compared
All figures checked 28 August 2026.
| TrustScore | Reviews | 5-star | 1-star | Responds to negative reviews | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pickfords | 4.8 | 12,862 | 88% | 4% | 68%, usually within a week |
| Britannia (central profile) | 4.6 | 1,122 | 83% | 9% | 91%, usually within 48 hours |
| Britannia Movers - East | 4.8 | 1,049 | 90% | 3% | - |
| Britannia Bearsbys | 4.8 | 412 | 95% | 3% | - |
| Britannia Leatherbarrows | 4.8 | 161 | 87% | 3% | - |
How to read these numbers
Review volume changes what a score means. Pickfords' 4.8 is supported by nearly 13,000 reviews across the whole country over more than a decade - a large enough sample that a handful of bad moves cannot hide, and a genuinely strong result at that scale. Britannia Bearsbys' 4.8 comes from 412 reviews, which is a solid sample for a single local firm but describes one business in Kent, not a national operation.
A 5.0 from 40 reviews is not stronger evidence than a 4.8 from 12,000. It is less evidence.
Compare like with like. The fair comparison is not "Pickfords vs Britannia". It is "the Pickfords branch covering my postcode" against "the specific Britannia member quoting me" - and for the Britannia side, the member's own profile is the only one that describes the crew who will turn up.
One point in Britannia's favour on the central profile: it replies to 91% of negative reviews, typically within 48 hours, against 68% within a week for Pickfords. Responsiveness to complaints is a reasonable proxy for how a company behaves when something goes wrong.
Price comparison
Neither company publishes prices, and any site quoting you a firm "Britannia price" or "Pickfords price" is guessing. Both price every job from a survey - in person or by video - because the cost depends on variables that cannot be known in advance:
- property size and the actual volume of goods, measured in cubic feet
- distance between addresses, and whether the job runs over more than one day
- access at both ends: parking, stairs, lift availability, carry distance, narrow lanes
- packing - none, part or full, plus materials
- dismantling and reassembly of furniture
- storage, if your dates do not line up
- moving date - Fridays, month-end and summer cost more
- crew size and the number of vehicles required
The only reliable way to compare them is to get written, fixed quotations from both, for the same date, the same inventory and the same services, then compare the totals including VAT. A quote that excludes packing materials or assumes a two-person crew is not comparable to one that includes them.
For a benchmark before you start, our removal cost calculator gives an instant estimate from your postcodes and property size, and our guide to average removal costs sets out what a typical UK move costs by size and distance. If you want the Pickfords side in more detail, see our breakdown of Pickfords removal costs, and for how quotes are built in the first place, how removal companies calculate cost.
12 questions to ask both companies
Ask every one of these, and get the answers in writing. The replies will separate the two quotes far more reliably than the brand on the van.
- Is the quote fixed, or an estimate that can change on the day?
- Does the price include VAT?
- Who will physically perform the move - your own employed crew, or another company?
- Are any parts of the job subcontracted, including storage and any international leg?
- What Goods in Transit insurance is included, and what is the cover limit?
- What is the insurance excess, and what is excluded - self-packed boxes, for instance?
- Are packing materials included in the price, or charged separately?
- Are dismantling and reassembly included, and for which items?
- What happens if completion or key release is delayed on the day?
- What are the cancellation charges, and at what notice do they apply?
- Are waiting-time charges applicable, from when, and at what rate?
- Is storage operated directly by you or through a third party, and where is it?
Our fuller list of questions to ask removal companies covers the follow-ups worth asking once you have these answers.
So which should you choose?
There is no honest single winner here, because the two are structured differently enough that the right answer depends on your postcode and your quote.
Britannia may be the better choice when the member quoting you has an exceptional local reputation - a high Trustpilot score on its own profile, backed by a decent volume of reviews, its own BAR membership, and a survey that felt thorough. In that case you get a strong independent remover with national reach behind it for long-distance and international work.
Pickfords may be the better choice when you want the consistency and infrastructure of a large operator: a complex or long-distance move, storage as part of the job, an international relocation, or simply the reassurance of one organisation accountable end to end with a very large public review record.
In both cases, the deciding factors are the same - the written quotation, who is actually doing the work, the insurance cover and excess, the cancellation terms, and the reviews of the specific branch or member serving your postcode. Get both quotes. The comparison that matters is the one on paper in front of you.
Alternatives to Britannia and Pickfords
Neither company is the cheapest way to move, and both sit at the traditional full-service end of the market. Worth comparing against:
- AnyVan - a marketplace matching your move to drivers with spare capacity. Usually cheapest for single items, studios and one-bed moves; see AnyVan vs a removal company for where the trade-off sits.
- Shiply - another reverse-auction marketplace, with the same strengths and the same caveats around insurance limits and fixed crews.
- reallymoving and Compare My Move - quote-comparison services that pass your details to several removers at once.
- Getamover - a comparison service aimed specifically at full removal jobs.
- Strong independent removers - the category most people skip. A well-reviewed local firm with its own BAR membership frequently beats both national brands on price for a local move, and is the same kind of business as a good Britannia member without the brand premium. Our roundup of the best removal quote sites is the fastest way to reach several at once.
Whichever route you take, the rule does not change: compare written fixed quotations, for the same inventory and the same date, with VAT and insurance stated on both.