Pickfords Business Solutions relocated Warwickshire Museum's archaeology, geology, social history and natural history collections to a new store, including the collection of Peter Spicer, one of Britain's finest taxidermists.
Requirements
- Detailed plan to incorporate staff, third parties and Pickfords Business
Solutions.
- Planning the handling and moving large, bulky and heavy objects.
- Planning the handling and moving of a diverse range of objects, including
archaeology and uncased taxidermy.
- Overcoming access issues into the site with a relocation plan taking into
account third parties and domestic housing around the site.
Logistical planning
Museum staff and Pickfords Business Solutions worked together to produce a comprehensive plan to reflect the requirements of the service, and to account for limited staff levels at the site.
Museum and Pickfords staff worked together in planning methods of working at the site. This included:
- Identifying the range of suitable equipment needed to remove objects and specimens: from large, bulky items to micro-fossils.
- Overcoming difficulty with large vehicle access: the store was surrounded by housing and had a narrow area for parking. Pickfords and the Museum staff timed moving items such as a horse-drawn cart and large fossils to reduce the risk of potential damage and lessen the impact on residents and traffic.
- Working around the physical elements of the building: the store had stairs which required Pickfords to accommodate the layout by devising methods of handling and placing boxes into roller cages to transport to the lorry.
Pre-move projects
The Museum Curatorial team worked with volunteers to pre-pack objects ready for Pickfords to move to the new store. All boxed items were colour coded by collection with a location in the new store. This assisted in the smooth transition of objects from the old store to the new store.
Completion
The project to move the collections took approximately 4 weeks to complete. The process was on schedule throughout.
“It has been a genuine pleasure to work with the Pickfords team over the past three weeks. All the men were enthusiastic and interested in the objects and their importance. They approached the project with good humour and professionalism. They worked well as a team and communication was excellent, particularly in what was achievable on each of the days. Jermaine, Ken and the rest of the team worked incredibly hard and deserve thanks for a successful move.
Special thanks to the following people:
Will showed excellent listening skills throughout the process and became
someone I could rely on in maintaining standards in moving the items and where the archive should be placed.
Andy was outstanding when dealing with the complex arrangements of the basement store. He remained enthusiastic and was methodical throughout the process.
Pat was excellent in identifying and offering solutions to various challenges,
completing the work effectively and on schedule.
Martin worked very hard throughout the process. He is a chirpy, enthusiastic person who throughout the project showed how he was committed to getting the work done to the highest standard.
Ken was enthusiastic and very methodical throughout the entire process. Ken works incredibly hard.
Brian is a credit to Pickfords and shows excellent leadership skills with his team and negotiating with colleagues and staff on site. Brian tackled each day with enthusiasm and with commitment to the project to the highest standards.”
- Becki Morris, Collections Assistant, Heritage and Culture Warwickshire