The Convent Garden Market Authority is re-developing the fruit and vegetable market over the next 4 - 5 years. Pickfords Business Solutions was appointed to relocate this busy produce market to its new home in the redeveloped site.
Background
- New Covent Garden Market is the largest wholesale fruit, vegetable and flower market in the UK
- The fruit and vegetable market provides high quality fresh produce for restaurants across the capital
Requirements
- Pickfords Business Solutions was appointed to relocate the New Covent Garden Fruit & Vegetable market to a new international distribution centre
- Pickfords created a move plan that included up to 110 crew members and 17 vehicles each day, utilising 500 moving crates in 200 cages within 10-12 hour shifts
- Plants of unusual size or shape were specially planned for to protect against damage, including the use of specially made Dutch trolleys for certain species
- Movement of the largest stall began nine days prior and completed before the rest of the Market
Challenge:
120 pallets of perishable stock, office assets, racking, pallets and equipment
- No downtime: the relocating tenant must continue to distribute stock during the disruption of the relocation
- Legislation: Perishable goods can only be out of a temperature controlled environment for an hour
- Deadline: Pickfords had to meet the deadline of an eight hour window for the relocation
Solution:
- Pickfords spent three months planning the relocation, working closely with the managers of the market and the tenant
- A Technical Move Manager visited site once a week for four weeks leading up to the relocation to ensure all the Tenant’s requirements were met.
- An onsite project team managed resources on the day, deploying a team of 26 specialist removal men and three 17 tonne vehicles
- The moveplan dictated that the teams work swiftly within the window of one hour and shuttle the perishables from one location to another to hand out to the distribution centre for racking.
- Perishables packed in oversized pallets were re-palletised into more manageable units.
Result:
- The move was completed within seven hours against the target of eight
- All perishables were moved within the window of an hour, complying with health legislation
- The tenant was able to continue servicing his high volume, contract based clients, despite the relocation of his stock during the working day.