A REMOVAL company from South Zeal certainly got a lift this week — it was named as a finalist in a top national competition.

Reddaways Removals Ltd, a family firm, has been selected by judges as one of six finalists in the national British Association of Removers (BAR) 'Domestic Mover of the Year'.

This is the first such competition and Reddaways will find out if it is the top in the country when the winner is announced at the annual BAR conference in Brussels on May 3.

Reddaways, a removals and storage firm based at Hillways in South Zeal, has been established in the area since 1935, with the Clinch family taking it over in 1968.

It is run by directors Geoff Clinch, 50, his brother Michael, 48, and their mother Marion.

Geoff's wife, Linda, works in the office, as does Mike's daughter, Helena. Altogether there are eight full-time and four part-time staff.

Reddaways have ten vans who deliver removals all over the UK, Europe and worldwide.

Currently it is working on transporting to Auckland in New Zealand and has dealt with many people moving worldwide, including regularly to Canada and Australia. It also has a container storage business.

Geoff told the Times: 'By being put forward in the top six in the country it means that we are doing it right. To be included with far larger removal firms than us, and considering there are 400 members, it's quite an achievement.

We always try to do our work as professionally as possible and this proves that we are doing just that.'

In their application to BAR Geoff said such an award 'would be a fitting tribute to our team of totally dedicated staff, who continually provide the high quality service and efficiency that is expected of us from our customers.  We constantly aim to raise the standards required from a BAR member'.

Judges from BAR visited its South Zeal base on March 19, and inspected the company, which included its offices, vans and storage facilities as well as health and safety procedures, employment training and also if paperwork was all up-to-date and in order.

The scoring system is validated by the Office of Fair Trading.

Geoff said staff training was an important aspect in removal, especially when transporting objects that meant so much to their customers.

He said: 'If we do a good job we will be recommended by people to others, so our reputation is important to us.

'We've had people who moved ten or 20 years ago, who have come back to us when they have moved home again.'