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Machine movement in Derby and across Derbyshire
We provide machine movement in Derby for aerospace and precision engineering firms, rail manufacturers and their suppliers, vehicle and component makers, and the hospitals and utilities around the city. The work covers single machines and whole production lines: installing new plant, relocating a business from one site to another, re-laying a shop floor around a new line, and removing equipment for resale or scrap. We also transport and store machines between sites, and recover them after a breakdown. Streets in the Cathedral Quarter are narrow, so a load-out there is planned around where a vehicle can stand.
We work across Derby, Pride Park, Spondon, Sinfin, Chaddesden, Mickleover, Allestree and Littleover, and out to Belper, Ashbourne and Burton-on-Trent. Most enquiries get a price the same working day from a desktop survey.
What a machine move involves
The machine is disconnected and made safe, rigged, extracted and taken to its new position, where it is levelled and set down on its mounts. Bigger moves, and anything going between sites, bring in a crane and a low loader. Plenty stay under one roof, on jacks, skates and gantries. We pick the equipment to suit the weight and the route out of the building, and plan the programme around how long you can stop production.
What we move in Derby
| Equipment | Where it usually is | How it moves |
|---|---|---|
| Machining centres, grinders and machine tools | Precision engineering firms around Sinfin and across the city | Jacked up, skated to the door and gantried onto a trailer |
| Presses and press tooling | Automotive component suppliers around the city | Split into sub-assemblies where needed and rebuilt on the new foundation |
| Rail workshop and test equipment | Rolling stock manufacturing and the rail supply chain | Skated along the shop between production slots |
| Fabrication and welding plant | Industrial units on Pride Park, Spondon and Infinity Park | Craned out of the yard, or skated if it stays indoors |
| Chillers, generators and air handling units | Hospital, university and commercial plant rooms | Lifted onto the roof or into the yard, then skated to its plinth |
| Transformers and water treatment plant | Substations and treatment works across Derbyshire | Delivered to hardstanding, jacked off the trailer and skated in |
Tell us the weight, the size and where it is going, and we will say how we would move it. Our machine movement service page covers each stage in more detail.
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 Derby
Our Derby machine moves come from a handful of sectors.
Aerospace and precision engineering
Around Sinfin and across the city, aero engine work supports a long chain of machining and inspection firms. A machine tool or test rig here is seldom the heaviest thing we move, but it has to land in exactly the right spot, and the area round it has to stay clean while we work. See our aerospace sector page.
Rail
Derby has built rolling stock since the 1870s, and its rail supply chain still serves operators and manufacturers across the country. We move workshop machinery inside manufacturing buildings and shift maintenance equipment inside booked possessions. See our rail sector page.
Automotive and component suppliers
Component makers supplying the car industry bring press installs, tooling moves and line changeovers. That work is done in planned shutdowns, with the new equipment set down and level before the line restarts. See our automotive sector page.
Pride Park, Spondon and Infinity Park
East and south of the centre, new units sit alongside older industrial yards. Firms taking a new building on these estates often bring their machines from elsewhere in Derbyshire, and the older yards have plant to clear when a tenant leaves. See our industrial sector page.
Hospitals, universities and utilities
Scanners and plant room machinery are moved while hospital and university buildings are in use, so we agree the route and the hours with the estates team first. Across Derbyshire we also replace substation equipment and water treatment plant. See our healthcare and pharma and power and renewables pages.
Access and planning for a machine move in Derby
Points we check on most Derby jobs:
- Getting loads in and out. The M1 passes east of the city at junctions 24 and 25 and the A52 connects to it, with the A38 through the city and the A50 along its southern edge. We check the route for low bridges and weight limits before we quote.
- Cathedral Quarter streets. The streets here are tight, and a trailer or compact crane may have only one place to stand. We confirm that position before the date is fixed.
- Floors and ground. Old factory floors, pits and cable ducts are checked before a skate route is set. Land along the Derwent is low-lying, so we confirm ground bearing for any crane and use mats where needed.
- Shutdowns and possessions. On a live manufacturing site we allow time for inductions and permits, and fit the move inside the stoppage you give us, at night or over a weekend if that suits the site.
- Road closures. If a load-out takes part of a road or pavement, we can arrange the traffic management and road closure with Derby City Council or Derbyshire 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 Derby, heavy loads usually reach the M1 along the A52, or head south and west on the A38 and A50.
Postcodes and areas we cover
We cover every DE postcode and the districts around Derby:
- Derby: city centre, the Cathedral Quarter, Darley Abbey, Pride Park, Alvaston, Chaddesden and Spondon
- Suburbs: Mickleover, Littleover, Allestree and Sinfin
- Derbyshire: Belper, Ripley, Heanor, Ilkeston, Wirksworth and Matlock
- South: Swadlincote, Burton-on-Trent and Barton-under-Needwood
- Wider area: Ashbourne, Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Uttoxeter, Loughborough and Mansfield
We also move machinery right across the UK.
Why Derby firms choose Synergy Lifting for machine movement
- Engineering moves are our core work. Machine moves, press installs and accurate placing inside working buildings are the centre of our business.
- Stoppages planned from the start. We take your shutdown, shift pattern or possession times at survey stage and plan the job back from the restart date.
- One firm from start to finish. Our own people run the crane, skates, jacks, gantries and transport, so you deal with one contractor for the whole move.
- 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
Derby moves regularly need another service alongside, so we also offer:
How a machine move works
- Send us the machine’s weight and dimensions, where it is now and where it is going, with your dates and a few photos.
- We price it from a desktop survey, usually the same working day. Complex moves may need a site visit first.
- We write the method statement, risk assessment and lift plan.
- On the day we rig and extract the machine, transport it and put it in position.
- We set it down and level it, ready for your engineers to reconnect and commission.
Common questions
Can you set a machine down to a fine tolerance?
Yes. Exact placing matters on a lot of Derby aerospace and rail work. Give us the tolerance and any vibration limits and we plan the jacking, skating and final adjustment around them, then measure the position before handover.
Can you move a machine inside a shutdown or a rail possession?
Yes. Send us the start and finish times with the machine details, and we will build the programme to finish inside them, working nights or weekends where the site needs it.
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 Derby
- Phone: 01332 408 863
- Email: derby@synergy-lifting.co.uk
Send the machine details and both addresses, with photos if you have them.
We also provide machine movement in Nottingham, Chesterfield, Leicester and Stoke. See all the machine movement locations.