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Machine movement in Preston and across Lancashire
We provide machine movement in Preston for aerospace, vehicle and engineering firms, food producers, distribution sites and hospitals across the city and central Lancashire. The work covers single machines and whole production lines: installing new equipment, relocating a business from one site to another, re-laying a shop floor around a new cell, loading and transporting plant, storing it between sites, and taking out machinery at the end of its working life. Several of the larger employers around the city vet everyone who comes on site, so we start that paperwork as soon as a date is pencilled in.
We work across Preston, Fulwood, Penwortham, Bamber Bridge, Lostock Hall, Leyland, Chorley, Longridge and Kirkham, and we move machinery across the UK. Most enquiries get a price the same working day from a desktop survey.
What a machine move involves
Each move has four stages. The machine is disconnected and made safe, rigged and extracted, transported, then positioned, levelled and set down on its mounts. Some need a crane and a low loader; others never leave the building and are done with jacks and skates. The choice comes down to the weight, the route out and how long production can stop.
What we move in Preston
| Equipment | Where it usually is | How it moves |
|---|---|---|
| Machining centres, grinders and CNC plant | Aerospace and precision engineering buildings in central Lancashire | Raised on jacks, run out on skates and loaded by gantry or crane |
| Presses, line equipment and test rigs | Vehicle and engineering works at Leyland, Farington and Moss Side | Split at the joints, moved between shifts and rebuilt in sequence |
| Fillers, conveyors and refrigeration plant | Food and cold storage units along the M6 and M65 | Uncoupled section by section and reinstalled to the site’s hygiene rules |
| Fabrication and sheet metal machinery | Red Scar, Roman Road, Walton Summit and Cuerden | Loaded onto a low loader in the yard and set down at the new unit |
| Laboratory and plant room equipment | Hospital and university buildings in the city | Walked in on air skates or brought through a hatch by gantry |
| Sortation and handling equipment | Distribution sheds at Bamber Bridge and Buckshaw | Stripped out in phases while the rest of the shed keeps trading |
Tell us the weight, size and destination and we will come back with a method and a price. Our machine movement service page covers the process in full.
Contact us
Get In Touch
Please leave a few details and a member of our machine movement team will be in touch to discuss your requirements in more detail.
Where we work in and around Preston
Our machine movement work in Preston is spread across these sectors.
Aerospace and advanced manufacturing
Assembly and test halls here hold machining centres and test rigs on precise floors. We bring machine tools in and shift cells when a programme changes. A new machine goes onto its prepared foundation and is set to the marks your engineers give us. See our aerospace sector page.
Leyland, Farington and Moss Side
Vehicle building and heavy engineering south of the Ribble means presses, paint and test plant, and line equipment that moves when a model changes. Much of it happens between shifts. See our automotive sector page.
Food, cold storage and distribution
Estates along the M6 and M65 run food production and chilled warehousing. A filling line might go in over a weekend, and a lost contract can mean stripping conveyors out of a whole shed. See our food and beverages page.
Red Scar, Roman Road, Walton Summit and Cuerden
Engineering, fabrication and trade firms fill these estates. When one outgrows its unit or clears a bay for a new laser, we handle the move out, the lorry and the install. See our industrial sector page.
Hospitals and universities
The city has hospital and university estates with plant rooms and labs. Chillers, air handling units, imaging equipment and lab kit come in and out while staff carry on around us, on routes agreed with the estates team. See our healthcare and pharma and education pages.
New development at Cottam and Buckshaw
New units at Cottam and Buckshaw need machinery installed as tenants fit out. We time each delivery to the fit-out programme and put the machine straight onto its base. See our construction sector page.
Access and planning for a machine move in Preston
Points we check on most Preston jobs:
- Getting loads in and out. Junctions 29 to 32 of the M6 reach every part of the city. The Ribble crossings between Preston and Leyland carry heavy local traffic, so oversized loads are timed around them. Low bridges and weight limits are checked before we quote.
- Site clearance. Some of the larger employers around Preston vet everyone who comes on site. Vetting and inductions can take weeks, so we build them into the programme from the first call.
- Floors and ground. West of the city the Fylde is flat and in places drained mossland, so crane pads and trailer routes may need mats. Indoors we check pits and slab joints on the skate route.
- Production gaps. Manufacturers here give us a night shift or a weekend. Setting up and de-rigging come out of that time, so we plan the move to finish with hours in hand.
- Road closures. If the load-out needs part of a road or footway, we arrange the traffic management and road closure with Preston City Council or Lancashire County Council.
Moving large or heavy machinery by road
A vehicle and load over 44,000kg gross, 2.9m wide or 18.65m long is an abnormal load. Up to 80,000kg the highway and bridge authorities need two clear working days’ notice through ESDAL, rising to five above that, when the police need notice too. Loads over 2.9m wide or 18.65m long also need two clear working days’ notice to the police. Above 150,000kg or 6.1m wide a Special Order is needed, applied for about ten weeks ahead. We handle the notifications ourselves or with your haulier. From Preston, heavy loads join the M6 within a few miles, with the M55 and M65 serving the Fylde and east Lancashire.
Postcodes and areas we cover
We work in every PR postcode, from the city out to the Fylde and the Ribble Valley:
- Preston: city centre, Deepdale, Ribbleton, Fulwood, Ingol, Ashton and Cottam
- South of the river: Penwortham, Lostock Hall, Walton-le-Dale, Bamber Bridge, Leyland, Buckshaw and Chorley
- The Fylde: Kirkham, Wesham, Freckleton and Lytham
- North and east: Longridge, Garstang and Clitheroe
- Wider area: Blackburn, Accrington, Southport and Lancaster
We also move machinery right across the UK.
Why Preston firms choose Synergy Lifting for machine movement
- Moves fitted to your shifts. Night and weekend work is agreed at the start, planned back from when your line must run again.
- From Walton Summit to the Fylde. One team plans the job, whether the plant moves across a bay or to another town.
- One firm from start to finish. Our own people run the crane, skates, jacks, gantries and transport, so the job is never handed between contractors.
- Qualified and accredited. CPCS and NPORS operators, lifts planned to BS 7121, equipment inspected under LOLER and PUWER, SSIP approved, Constructionline Gold Member, certified to ISO 9001 and ISO 14001, and members of the Construction Plant-hire Association.
More than machine movement
Preston machine moves often need one of these services too:
How a machine move works
- Send us the weight and dimensions, where the machine is now, where it is going and your dates. Photos help.
- We price it, usually the same working day from a desktop survey. Complex moves may need a site visit first.
- We prepare the method statement, risk assessment and lift plan.
- On the day we rig, extract, transport and position the machine.
- It is set down and levelled, ready for your engineers to reconnect and commission.
Common questions
How early should we book a move on a site with vetted access?
As early as you can. The move might take a day, but inductions and approval of the method statement can run to weeks. Give us the site details when you first call and we will tell you a realistic date.
Can you move all the machinery from one unit to a new estate?
Yes. We survey both buildings, agree the order machines leave and arrive, and move them over one or more weekends so the new unit comes up line by line. Storage covers any gap between the two leases.
Who disconnects and reconnects the machine?
Mechanical disconnection and making safe is usually ours, and we position the machine precisely enough for commissioning. Electrical and control reconnection is coordinated with your own engineers or the machine manufacturer, and who covers what is agreed at survey stage.
Can you move a machine that has broken down?
Yes. Breakdown work is prioritised because production has usually stopped. Call us with the machine details and we will give you a firm attendance time on the call.
Get a quote for machine movement in Preston
- Phone: 01253 928 180
- Email: preston@synergy-lifting.co.uk
Tell us the weight, the size and both addresses, and add photos if you have them.
We also provide machine movement in Blackpool, Wigan, Warrington and Manchester. See all the machine movement locations.