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Machine movement in Brighton and across Sussex
We provide machine movement in Brighton for engineering firms on the city’s estates, port businesses at Shoreham, hotels, hospitals and utilities across Sussex. We move single machines and full production lines: new installations, relocations between sites, re-layouts within a building and removals for resale or scrap. On the city’s steep, narrow streets we fix where the vehicle will stand before anything else.
We work across Brighton, Hove, Portslade, Shoreham-by-Sea, Lancing, Lewes and Worthing, and out to Burgess Hill, Haywards Heath, Crawley and Eastbourne. Most enquiries get a price the same working day from a desktop survey.
What a machine move involves
First the machine is made safe and disconnected. It is then rigged, extracted and transported, and finally positioned, levelled and set down on its mounts. Some jobs need a crane and a low loader. Others stay inside one building and are done with jacks, skates and gantries. Which we use comes down to the weight and to how the machine gets out of the building.
What we move in Brighton
| Equipment | Where it usually is | How it moves |
|---|---|---|
| CNC machines, lathes and press brakes | Engineering and fabrication units at Portslade and Hollingbury | Raised on jacks, run out on skates and loaded onto a trailer |
| Workshop and marine engineering plant | Units around Shoreham Harbour and Lancing | Lifted from the yard or quayside onto transport by crane |
| Commercial kitchen and laundry equipment | Hotels and venues on the seafront and in the centre | Stripped to pass doors and stairs, rebuilt in place |
| Chillers, air handling units and lift plant | Roofs and plant rooms in hotels, offices and listed buildings | Craned to roof level from a suspended bay, then skated onto the plinth |
| Scanners and laboratory equipment | Hospital and university buildings in and around the city | Air skates along a protected floor route to marked positions |
| Generators, transformers and switchgear | Substations and critical sites near the A23 and A27 | Jacked off the trailer onto hardstanding and skated onto the base |
Tell us the weight, the size and where it is going and we will say what the move needs. See our machine movement service page for the process 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 Brighton
Our Brighton machine movement work is spread across these sectors.
Portslade, Hollingbury and the city’s estates
Engineering and trade firms fill the estates at Portslade and Hollingbury. A new lathe has to go into a unit with a small yard, or a business outgrows its space and takes the whole workshop to a bigger unit. See our industrial sector page.
Shoreham Harbour and the coast
Engineering and marine businesses sit beside the port at Shoreham, which handles bulk and aggregate cargo. Machinery leaves by road or is lifted from the quay, whichever gives the cleaner route. See our maritime sector page.
Hotels, hospitality and venues
Hotels replace kitchen, laundry and lift plant while guests are still staying. We break units down to fit service doors and back stairs, and book the heavy work out of season or overnight. See our HVAC sector page.
Hospitals and universities
The city’s hospital estate and the universities on its edge need scanners, laboratory equipment and plant room machinery moved while wards and teaching carry on. Larger jobs go into vacation shutdowns. See our healthcare and pharma and education pages.
Commercial buildings and new development
Offices and new schemes across the centre need plant installed at completion and swapped out years later. See our construction sector page.
Utilities and infrastructure
Generators, transformers and switchgear for substations and critical sites along the A23 and A27 corridors are moved inside outages booked in advance. See our power and renewables and data centre infrastructure pages.
Access and planning for a machine move in Brighton
Points we check on most Brighton jobs:
- Getting loads in and out. Brighton has no motorway. Loads come down the A23 from the M23 or along the A27, both slow at peak times, so deliveries are timed around them and low bridges and weight limits are checked before we quote.
- Hills and narrow streets. Streets climb steeply from the seafront and many have room for one vehicle. A slope changes how a crane levels, and there may be one bay where it will fit.
- Floors and ground. Older buildings have timber floors and some yards were never laid for heavy vehicles, so we confirm what they will carry before fixing a skate route or crane position.
- Working hours. Hotels and hospitals want heavy work outside their busiest hours. Seafront crane work also depends on the wind, so we agree a fallback date when the job is booked.
- Road closures. Central load-outs need a bay suspension or a closure. We can arrange the traffic management and road closure with Brighton and Hove City Council, or with East or West Sussex County Council outside the city.
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 Brighton, heavy loads head north on the A23 to join the M23, or east and west along the A27.
Postcodes and areas we cover
Every BN postcode is covered, along with the Sussex towns around it:
- Brighton and Hove: the centre, Kemptown, Preston Park, Hollingbury, Hove and Portslade
- The coast: Worthing, Lancing, Shoreham-by-Sea, Peacehaven, Newhaven and Seaford
- Inland: Lewes, Hassocks, Steyning, Burgess Hill and Haywards Heath
- Further out: Crawley, Horsham, Littlehampton and Eastbourne
We also move machinery right across the UK.
Why Brighton firms choose Synergy Lifting for machine movement
- Work timed to your building. A hotel or hospital keeps running while we are there, so the heavy work is booked overnight or out of season.
- A plan that holds on the day. The route out, the floors and the lifting points are checked before we price, so nothing changes when we arrive.
- One firm from start to finish. Cranes, skates, jacks, gantries and lorries all come from us, with our own crews running them.
- 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
A Brighton machine move can also involve:
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
Our street is steep and narrow. Can you still get a machine out?
In most cases, yes. We look at the gradient, the width and where a trailer or crane can stand, then use smaller transport or a pick and carry crane if that is what fits. Send the address and photos of the street and we will tell you before you book.
Can you replace kitchen or plant room equipment in a hotel that stays open?
Yes. We agree the route through the building, floor protection and working hours with your management team, then bring the old units out and the new ones in, overnight or between bookings if needed.
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 Brighton
- Phone: 01273 920 125
- Email: brighton@synergy-lifting.co.uk
A few photos with the weight, the size and both addresses are enough for us to start.
We also provide machine movement in Portsmouth, London, Southampton and Reading. See all the machine movement locations.