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Machine movement in Peterborough and across Cambridgeshire
We provide machine movement in Peterborough for engineering firms, food processors, distribution operators and energy sites across the city and the Fens. We move single machines and whole lines: new installations, factory relocations, moves within a building for a new layout, and removals for resale or scrap, plus loading, transport, storage and breakdowns. Much of the land around the city is peat or made ground, so we check what a yard will carry before planning any heavy standing on it.
We cover Peterborough, Fengate, Orton, Hampton, Werrington and Whittlesey, and out to March, Wisbech, Stamford, Oundle, Spalding and Huntingdon. Most jobs are priced the same working day from a desktop survey.
What a machine move involves
The machine is disconnected and made safe, rigged and jacked or lifted clear, carried to its new position and set down level on its mounts. A crane and low loader handle the heavy outdoor legs. Inside a building we use jacks, skates and gantries. The machine’s weight and the route out decide which kit comes, and your downtime decides the order we work in.
What we move in Peterborough
| Equipment | Where it usually is | How it moves |
|---|---|---|
| CNC machines, presses and machine tools | Engineering works at Fengate and the city’s industrial estates | Jacked up, put on skates and walked to the doors or a new bay |
| Grading, washing and packing lines | Food and produce sites across the Fens | Split into sections, moved and rebuilt in line order |
| Conveyors, sortation and mezzanine steel | Distribution parks off the A1 and A47 | Stripped out in stages so the warehouse keeps shipping |
| Silos, tanks and cold store plant | Processing and storage sites around March, Wisbech and Spalding | Lifted by crane onto a trailer and set on prepared bases |
| Generators, transformers and switchgear | Energy, waste and utility sites around the city | Trailer to hardstanding, then jacked and skated onto the plinth |
| Chillers and air handling units | Hospital, school and commercial plant rooms | Craned up to the roof or wheeled on skates through the plant room door |
Send us the weight, size and both locations and we will work out the method. Our machine movement service page covers the process step by step.
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 Peterborough
Our Peterborough machine movement work comes from a spread of sectors.
Fengate and the industrial estates
Fengate and the city’s other industrial estates hold engineering, fabrication and trade firms. Some need a new machining centre squeezed into a crowded bay, others are moving the whole business to a bigger unit. See our plastics and metals page.
Distribution on the A1 and A47
Warehouses along the two trunk roads run day and night. When a contract changes, conveyor and sortation sections get removed, moved or added, and we stage the work around trailer movements and shift changes. See our industrial sector page.
Food and produce processing
At the packing and processing sites across the Fens we install graders, washers and packers, take out old equipment and shift cold store plant, working to each site’s hygiene rules. See our food and beverages page.
Energy, renewables and waste
Energy from waste, renewable and utility sites around the city have generators, transformers and pumps moved during planned outages. We build the job back from the outage date. See our power and renewables and waste and recycling pages.
Rail and the main line
Peterborough is a major point on the East Coast Main Line. Maintenance equipment and trackside plant can only be moved inside a booked possession, with clearances and isolations agreed beforehand. See our rail page.
Hospitals and schools
Chillers, air handling units and generators get swapped in hospital and school plant rooms while the buildings carry on, so we agree routes through corridors and yards with the estates team first. See our healthcare and pharma page.
Access and planning for a machine move in Peterborough
Points we check on most Peterborough jobs:
- Getting loads in and out. The A1 and A47 carry heavy loads to and from the city, with the A15, A16 and A605 serving the towns. Out in the Fens the last stretch can be a narrow lane with a weak bridge, so we check the route before we quote.
- Peat and made ground. Much of the land around the city carries far less than it looks. We confirm ground bearing, mat the crane and trailer positions and keep back from roadside ditches.
- Floors and doorways. Door widths, headroom and columns set the route out of a building, and the slab along that route has to take the load on each skate. We measure both first.
- Working hours. Production lines and distribution parks stop for short spells. We agree start and finish times with your team and fit set-up and clear-away inside them.
- Road closures. Where a load-out needs part of a road or pavement closed, we arrange the traffic management and road closure with Peterborough City Council or the relevant 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. Heavy loads leaving Peterborough head north or south on the A1, or east and west on the A47.
Postcodes and areas we cover
Our Peterborough work covers every PE postcode and the towns around it:
- Peterborough: city centre, Fengate, Orton, Hampton, Werrington and Whittlesey
- The Fens: March, Chatteris, Wisbech, Ramsey and Spalding
- South and west: Stamford, Oundle, Bourne, St Neots, Huntingdon and St Ives
- Wider area: Corby, Kettering, King’s Lynn, Grantham, Boston and Cambridge
We also move machinery right across the UK.
Why Peterborough firms choose Synergy Lifting for machine movement
- Used to working on live sites. Warehouses, packing lines and plant rooms keep running while we stage each move around them.
- Priced from a proper survey. We check the route out, the floors and the lifting points first, then price the job from what we find.
- One firm from start to finish. Cranes, skates, jacks, gantries and transport are ours and run by our own people, so one contractor answers 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
Peterborough machine moves regularly bring in other work, so we also offer:
How a machine move works
- Send us the machine’s weight and dimensions, where it is now, where it needs to go and your dates. Photos help.
- We price it the same working day from a desktop survey, and visit the site first when a move is complex.
- We write the method statement, risk assessment and lift plan.
- Our crew rigs and extracts the machine, transports it and places it.
- We set it down, level it and hand it over for your engineers to reconnect and commission.
Common questions
Can you work on soft ground out in the Fens?
Yes, once the ground has been checked. We confirm the bearing, plan crane and trailer positions on mats and set up clear of ditches. If a spot will not take the load, we tell you when we quote.
Can you change conveyor lines in a warehouse that is still shipping?
Yes. We take the equipment out in sections, one area at a time, timed around your deliveries and shift handovers, and agree the sequence with your site team before we start.
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 Peterborough
- Phone: 01733 592 477
- Email: peterborough@synergy-lifting.co.uk
Send us the weight, the dimensions and both locations, and add a few photos if you can.
We also provide machine movement in Cambridge, Northampton, Leicester and Milton Keynes. See all the machine movement locations.