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I have known and worked with Glyn Clewley for over six years and have always been impressed and reassured by his professionalism.

In the spring/summer of 2016 we (PR Associates) approached Acton Relocation Management to project manage the relocation of school furniture for a £1.6m school expansion project that we were leading on as we knew we could rely on Glyn to act with complete professionalism and take the pressure from us having to organise this part of the project.

After meeting with Glyn and the school, he wrote the specification and tender documents and tendered the relocation element, always keeping the school and ourselves up to date of progress. Glyn also met with the tendering contractors on site on our behalf. Once the tenders were back, Glyn provided ourselves and the school a tender report to enable the school to place an order for the removal works.

Glyn also oversaw the removal company on site to ensure that the removal/relocation work went smoothly, the school have said that they were really pleased with the support they received.

I would not hesitate in recommending Glyn (Acton Relocation Management) to anyone who requires the project manager services for furniture relocation, it has always been a pleasure working with him.

Richard Pill MCIOB, BSc (hons), BEng (hons) | PR Associates | Chartered Building Consultant   

We engaged the professional services of Acton Relocation Management for a specific consultation project for our oldest and largest client Walgreens Boots Alliance.

The project was based at the client’s head office at the Beeston site in Nottingham within the D90 building. Our client engaged us to review their total working practices with the building containing 4,000 staff. This included a review of their meeting space, number of desks, space for teams working together, and general support facilities which were becoming increasing difficult issues for the staff and management.

Their director, Glyn Clewley worked closely with our client with direct liaison with senior management and staff via formal and informal meeting routes to understand the overall space.  Glyn carried out visual surveys to assess desk occupancy, storage use and needs, meeting space demands, as well as how the building runs. The results were provided in a detailed report presented to the client by Glyn giving them the ability to look at short and long term changes and provide a better working environment.

We found working with Acton Relocation Management was an excellent and comprehensive experience and would look to utilise their services with similar projects in the future. Therefore, I would recommend them to any company looking for relevant consultation services.

Stuart Thacker, Director | Workbox UK Ltd

Glyn has an expert knowledge of the Move Management industry, coupled with significant experience in scientific moves.  With our major relocation project, we needed advice and guidance in the compilation of the specification for tender.

Glyn’s advice and guidance were both targeted and relevant to CRUK’s best interests.  He rapidly became a valuable member of the Procurement team and assisted us to scope the move in such a way to increase efficiency and reduce cost – I would recommend Acton Relocation Management’s services to any organisation contemplating a business relocation.

David Lyon, Head of Procurement | CRUK

I have known and worked with Glyn Clewley on various relocation projects since 2004. These have ranged in scale from small 3 or 4 person office moves to whole department relocations between University campuses in Birmingham. Glyn has always proved to be a reliable and effective support to business requirements, quickly understanding a brief and translating this into a clearly defined project plan.

Late 2014 brought an opportunity for me to engage the services of Acton Relocation Management to support the Local Government Ombudsman by providing relocation experience and oversight through its Accommodation project – contributing to the relocation planning, handling contractor procurement, and move management for the move of our office in York and thereafter our Coventry headquarters office.

LGO benefitted from engaging Acton Relocation Management very early in our Accommodation project, this enabled us to clearly define a timeline with key objectives and milestones allowing LGO to budget, and manage business risks arising from relocating two offices including our core IT infrastructure, all within a five-month timescale.

An important contributor to the successful outcome of the relocations was Glyn’s willingness to integrate into our FM team providing a valuable resource, knowledge and support to a team with limited experience of large scale organisational change.

Throughout the entirety of the project Glyn took an important lead in stakeholder liaison communicating at all levels throughout the organisation and in varied forums – 1:1, presentation to team groups and within senior management meetings.

Glyn showed great knowledge, skill and experience to liaise with contractors. I was content to delegate performance management, ensuring that the movers and furniture clearance contractors were fully briefed prior to work commencing, and full compliance with the relevant Health & Safety requirements was maintained.

LGO were pleased to engage Acton Relocation Management as a cost effective solution to providing valuable experience and additional resource. We were pleased with the diligent and transparent manner that costs were controlled on our behalf.

I am delighted to have found the same standards I have previously experienced, with the addition of independence and impartiality which has enhanced the service.

I have no hesitation in recommending Acton Relocation Management to any organisation contemplating moves and changes.

Matt Holden, Facilities and Operational Support Manager – Local Government Ombudsman

Glyn Clewley of Acton Relocation Management was engaged by Severn Trent Water Ltd to Project Manage a large relocation exercise at the Raynesway site.

The site comprises a number of office and operational buildings with the moves all taking place over three floors in the main office building housing some 400 staff. For logistical reasons the moves took place over two separate weekends. The moves affected the vast majority of individuals in the building and meant in most cases a move between floors.

Glyn’s role was pivotal in ensuring everything went smoothly, from logging and managing the cabinet relocations (each individual desk has a single drawer allocated) and using sub-contractors to unpack and repack in new locations, to liaising with IT to ensure all computer ports were working for the various STW and Contractors on the site.

Having experienced many similar moves in the past I found Glyn’s role to be invaluable in allowing me as Site Manager to focus on things that affected my own role or my client interests. Despite a couple of minor hiccups that were outside Glyn’s control the moves went very smoothly and clients were largely unaffected.

I am very grateful to Glyn for his hard work and for making the moves pretty painless for me. I look forward to working with him again in the future should the need arise.

Dean Simpson, Service Delivery Manager | Severn Trent Water Raynesway and Spondon Property Services

I worked with Glyn on many occasions during his career at Pickfords, where his attention to detail, organisational skills and dedication to customer service shone through as he managed several relocations for Balfour Beatty Rail.

I was delighted to learn that he had formed Acton Relocation Management Ltd, and was pleased to be able to engage them to manage our Liverpool project.  This proved to be a first class decision, as their planning and management for the entire life-cycle of the project was invaluable.

Specifically, the ability to anticipate risks and issues as the project progressed, and the clarity and command with which they brought together the relevant parties to address these risks – both from within Balfour Beatty and externally – meant that our organisation was always fully aware of the implications, and able to make real time decisions to overcome the issues.

Glyn’s skills, experience, knowledge and professionalism, in managing and liaising with stakeholders (at all levels), contractors and in-house service providers, led to the interiors fit-out, exchange of IT system and subsequent move all being executed to the highest standard.  Moreover, the staff were able to settle in and resume operations within the new environment efficiently and effectively on their first day.

I would not hesitate to recommend the services of Acton Relocation Management to any organisation undertaking a business relocation of any kind, and will certainly be engaging them again to support future moves and changes.

Rob Harrison, Senior Property Manager | Balfour Beatty Group

Acton Relocation Management were appointed by our chosen moves contractor to perform the role of Move Project Management on their behalf.

We were highly impressed and delighted by the professionalism, knowledge and experience that their director – Glyn Clewley – instantly brought to the project. His communication, guidance and direction was clear and concise, and he produced and delivered a move strategy that not only enabled the hospital to maintain service delivery as long as possible, but also regain its operational status quickly after completion of the main moves.

The manner in which he responded to and dealt with staff at all levels for both the NHS and University of Birmingham was exceptional and he exuded calmness and a ‘can do attitude’. He delivered this in a fun and friendly way which removed much of the stress from the difficult move for many people.

His attention to detail ensured that all disciplines – from clinical areas and technically challenging laboratories, through to facilities and catering – achieved their departmental needs effectively.

As with all projects, the organisational needs and financial challenges were a constraining issue, and changing requirements necessitated a flexible approach by the project at all times. Glyn was decisive in his reactions to solve problems and accommodate change, manage our main contractors and liaise with third parties whilst remaining cost conscious throughout, thus providing a value for money service that did not compromise on quality of delivery.

Regular progress reporting and updates on an individual and/or group presentation using clear, concise presentation materials at project executive level kept all senior management up to date with the relocation plan.

Glyn proved that his considered and pragmatic approach to devising a relocation plan, based on knowledge and experience, interspersed with respect for and input from stakeholders, is the recipe for a highly successful business move. I would not hesitate to recommend Acton Relocation Management to any organisation planning to move their business, and hope to have the opportunity to work with them again soon.
Mike Clarke, Project Manager | New Birmingham Dental Hospital and School of Dentistry

Dear Glyn,

I wish to thank you on behalf of Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust for all you did within the project to open the new Birmingham Dental Hospital and School of Dentistry. This project was a £50 million+ project with sizeable teams leading on a vast number of areas including construction, design, operational, clinical and project management to deliver a building to meet international standards in patient care, education and research.  This was the first new dental hospital in the UK in over 40 years and probably the last of this size in the foreseeable future.  This will have been the first time that the majority  of the Trust and University staff  were involved in any sizeable move. Experience in moving an office does not equip one for a full working hospital move. You looked on the move as far more than a physical move from one place to another. You understood what was being delivered and were as interested in the whole project as all of those involved from the very early days.

I set the scene above because it was in this context that your involvement was so critical to the success of the new build. When you joined the project you took a complete lead on everything to do with the actual move, guiding the Project, Operational and Clinical teams on both the high level principles and the immense detail that was required.  This was achieved in April 2016 with immense success.

The expertise, knowledge and experience you brought to the project was invaluable. You had a sound, positive approach to what was required and the planning structure with which to deliver it. Your management skills in the whole aspect of Move Management were not elsewhere in the project so your involvement was vital. However what was of exceptional quality, and something with which I was personally incredibly impressed, was the way in which you were able to tailor your approach to meet all situations. Your communication skills are excellent. You presented to hundreds of staff and students in the lecture theatre, individual team meetings of up to 30 people and then of course many one-to-one meetings with managers and staff to address the complex nature of the move.  The opening was delayed for technical building reasons and you had to meet with senior executives to brief them on issues and in particular to advise on critical areas on how to move forward most effectively. You presented information in many different ways including email, posters and meetings to convey the issues to everyone and guarantee excellent staff and student liaison.

You made it your business to learn about and understand the dental hospital and school business which was evident in how you were able to lead teams, understand their issues, provide solutions and support the development of a first class facility.  You gained the trust and respect of staff by your approach.  Your understanding of the business led us to many decisions that would otherwise not have been considered. You helped identify office storage areas of a modular design to enable the requirement to provide all post graduate dental trainees to have a personal storage space. This had not been identified in the early office equipment planning phase but with your guidance, tenacity and support we were able to achieve a change late in the planning phase with a wonderful outcome for our staff.  It has been superb to see how much this meant to staff when they moved in – and it would not have been achieved without your involvement.

You continually reviewed the Move Plan and identified ways in which it could be delivered more quickly, more cost effectively and more efficiently. You were responsive to the issues that arose from the delayed opening. One example of this was the advice to change the plan from overnight moving to a weekend – this saved enormously on staff time, significantly reduced costs, reduced lost time for administrative teams and enabled the hospital to get back up to full working more speedily.  You also changed the Move Plan regarding the production laboratories which prevented patients being without a service as would have been the case with the initial plan. These examples typify some of the many attributes you brought to the project – a strong personal interest in the outcome for staff and students in how the building would work for them.  This  showed them how much they were valued and your responsive approach to issues as they arose showed that you truly cared.   No question was ever too small for you to consider as you appreciated the importance of it to the individual. You treated everyone very respectfully at all times. This reflected the Trust’s values, and your interest in these and conveying them in how you worked demonstrated your integrity and commitment to the organisation in which you were working. Throughout the project the Trust was naturally very aware of the need to ensure cost effective planning. I value how you supported us in doing this, guiding us on financial planning of the whole Move Plan. I would encourage everyone to involve you right at the outset in any project as this will certainly result in a value for money service.

Your attention to detail was a key aspect of your leadership and a key issue for the success of the move. How you made interesting what could in some areas be considered a dull subject was another attribute you brought to the project. To hear people talking excitedly about the number of shelves in a cupboard, how many crates would fit into an area and the colour and number of their destination showed how you helped engage with staff and ensure that they were involved in the decision making.  You actually made it fun for them and I certainly know that the project team felt the same way. You were dealing with extremely valuable dental and research equipment and you reassured staff of its safety during transportation and planned it to minimise disruption to research projects and education timescales. It was not an easy task as staff were extremely busy with clinical service and education pressures, however you always showed them that you were pragmatic and fully committed to the success of their hospital. You worked with them and they really appreciated this.

You managed to help us all understand that detail was important.  You had a very kind but firm way of steering the move, foreseeing when things could be off target and gently but persuasively cajoling people along. You always kept a clear focus on the critical move points and always made absolutely certain that they were achieved. There was no point at which you were ever going to leave a critical issue to fail. You had clear targets, clear timelines and knew everything which was required to meet them. This is a major strength you have and a major reason why the move was a success. You supported each and every one of us in all aspects of the move. Knowing that you were there guiding, leading and managing it provided us with great confidence. I personally found your involvement incredibly supportive and encouraging at all times.  You brought a wonderful element of humour to the project which was always appreciated. There were many stresses in the project but you managed to make the Move Planning stress free –  knowing that you were there taking responsibility for its success. Throughout the whole project I never saw you anything but calm. Your “can do” attitude was inspiring. When faced with a problem you took a considered decisive approach which in turn provided great confidence for the team. I can honestly say that prior to your involvement we did not appreciate the complexity of the move – but you came and lead us to success.

As problem arose you were right there with our team helping to solve them. You contributed to helping solve team problems even when they were not directly related to your specific work area using the experience you had from other moves to set us up for success. Flexibility in all aspects of the project was critical to delivering it on time, and you certainly were a very flexible colleague, always willing to rearrange meetings when clinical staff had urgent issues which prevented them meeting with us. You were available early mornings and late evenings to fit with the clinical times and working patterns of staff. Once the move started you were once again there every day, early and late, Bank Holidays and Weekends,  guiding us, reviewing the plan, checking it was on target and when ahead of schedule being able to respond to this in a way that still met service and staff needs. We moved on time. Everyone was settled well into the build and the comments made about your involvement have all been positive.

I am happy to recommend you for anything to do with moving. I even know you could move mountains if asked!  Thank you for being such a wonderful colleague, an absolute leader in taking us to the new build  and for the outstanding expertise you provided to us all. It was an absolute pleasure working with you and I know I can speak for many others who share this view. You certainly instilled in me the importance of detail in move planning and a total love of shelving! Finally and very importantly thank you for becoming a great and much loved friend.

Kath Jakeman, Associate Director | Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

Glyn Clewley handled the planning and project management for the transfer of the University of Birmingham Research Laboratories, as part of the entire relocation of Birmingham Dental Hospital and School of Dentistry.

From the outset of our dealings, we were impressed with his knowledge, attention to detail and understanding of laboratory moves, along with the combination of his easy manner and professionalism in working through our requirements.

He demonstrated and maintained his level of control by constant engagement with my colleagues and I, he was always available to answer questions and give guidance and direction, making the whole relocation process comfortable and achievable.

His ability to liaise with contractors ensured that the movers and ADR carrier of hazardous materials were fully aware of the tasks before them and compliant with the relevant Health & Safety requirements.

He also identified and oversaw the specialist handling of many critical pieces of equipment such as our -80˚ freezers which had to be moved ‘live’, several liquid nitrogen dewars complete with biohazardous samples, and particularly heavy yet delicate bench items like our 250kg Bruker Skyscan High Resolution micro CT.

Nothing was ever a problem, and my team and I would recommend his project management services to anyone planning to relocate a laboratory facility.

Gay Smith, Laboratory Manager | University of Birmingham, Birmingham Dental Hospital and School of Dentistry