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Lift and shift in Oxford and across Oxfordshire
We provide lift and shift in Oxford for colleges, hospitals, laboratories and engineering firms across Oxfordshire. The service is moving, lifting, lowering, turning and positioning heavy or awkward items where a crane cannot reach or cannot do the final placing. That means transformers and switchgear into switchrooms, chillers, boilers, air handling units and generators in and out of plant rooms and basements, machinery repositioned inside factories, tanks and process skids, and delicate items such as display cabinets and laboratory equipment.
We work across Oxford, Cowley, Headington, Botley and Kidlington, and out to Abingdon, Didcot, Bicester, Witney and Banbury. Send us details and photos for a price the same working day.
What lift and shift covers
Lift and shift picks up where the crane stops, or does the job without one. On gantries, skates, rollers, jacks and toe jacks, the item is raised, turned, moved along a route to its base and set down level.
What we lift and shift in Oxford
| Item | Where it usually is | How it moves |
|---|---|---|
| Switchgear and transformers | Switchrooms in commercial and research buildings | Walked in on low skates, turned on toe jacks and let down onto the base channels |
| Air handling units and chillers | Roof plant areas on newer office and lab blocks | Set on the roof by crane, then skated over boarded decking to the frame |
| Generators and UPS | Energy centres and data rooms on the business estates | Brought in on rollers and set level on anti-vibration mounts |
| Presses and machinery | Engineering units around Abingdon and Didcot | Lifted on toe jacks and skated across the shop floor to a new bay |
| Autoclaves and laboratory equipment | Lab suites in modern research buildings | Lifted off the pallet with a low gantry and skated along a sheeted corridor |
| Display cabinets | Libraries, museums and heritage buildings in the centre | Moved by hand on padded rollers over boarded stone floors |
Our lift and shift service page covers the method in more detail.
Contact us
Get In Touch
Please leave a few details and a member of our lift and shift team will be in touch to discuss your requirements in more detail.
Where we work in and around Oxford
Oxford jobs come to us from six kinds of building.
Colleges and heritage buildings
Behind the street fronts in the centre, boilers and switchgear live in cellars and courtyard outbuildings reached through a gatehouse passage. Replacement plant comes in by hand equipment, with stone steps and lawns protected. See our education sector page.
Hospitals and clinics
Wards stay open while air handling units and medical equipment are changed in the city’s hospitals. Each move is booked with the estates team around ward routines. See our healthcare and pharma page.
Research laboratories
Laboratory buildings take in autoclaves and process skids, and move lab equipment between rooms as groups grow. Floors are sheeted and doors come off where needed, under the lab’s cleanliness rules.
Engineering and manufacturing
Engineering firms around Cowley and on the estates at Kidlington and Bicester reposition presses and machinery for new equipment. Most of these moves stay under one roof, a few bays across the floor. See our industrial sector page.
New buildings and fit-outs
Contractors across the city and county towns call us once the frame is closed in and the crane cannot see the plant room. Switchgear and air handling units then travel along finished floors to their bases. See our construction sector page.
Substations, water and food production
At substations around the county, a new transformer is brought the last stretch from the access road to its plinth. Water and food sites need tanks and process skids placed between production runs. See our power and renewables and food and beverages pages.
Access and planning for a lift and shift in Oxford
Points we check on most Oxford jobs:
- From the gate to the room. Many central buildings have no vehicle access. The item crosses a gatehouse passage and courtyard on skates from the street, so we measure the arch and board the paving.
- Listed floors and what lies below. Stone flags over cellars and old timber floors are checked against the point loads, with mats or steel track where needed.
- Headroom and turns. Low doorways and tight corners decide which gantry and skates we bring. Clearance is measured with the item on the equipment.
- Buildings that stay open. Hospital and lab staff keep working around us, so hours and a barriered route are agreed with the building managers.
- Getting the lorry in. For part of a road or pavement, we apply to Oxfordshire County Council for the traffic management and road closure.
Getting it where it needs to go
Oxford jobs run in every direction. Plant goes into a building or comes out of one, or old and new swap places in one visit. Some work stays outdoors, such as a transformer moved across a yard onto its plinth or a tank taken between buildings on one site.
Expect worn stone stairs and low arches in older buildings, basements reached by one narrow stair, goods lifts in research blocks, raised floors in data rooms and level changes between old and new wings. Gantries and jacks handle the height and skates and rollers the distance, with a crane where that is easier. If it still will not pass, a door frame comes out for the day, or the item goes through in sections.
Postcodes and areas we cover
We cover all OX postcodes and the Oxfordshire districts around Oxford:
- Oxford: the city centre, Jericho, Summertown, Headington, Cowley, Littlemore and Blackbird Leys
- Around the city: Botley, Kidlington, Wheatley, Woodstock and Abingdon
- The county: Bicester, Banbury, Witney, Carterton, Thame, Didcot, Wallingford and Wantage
- Wider area: Swindon, Reading, Newbury, Aylesbury and Milton Keynes
We also lift and shift right across the UK.
Why Oxford firms choose Synergy Lifting for lift and shift
- Compact kit for small doorways. Our low gantries, toe jacks, skates and rollers pass through an ordinary single door.
- One team for the crane and the carry. The crew that lands the item by crane takes it to its base under one lift plan.
- Old out and new in on one visit. We remove a worn chiller or panel and set its replacement in the same booking.
- 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 lift and shift
Lift and shift in Oxford often forms part of a larger project, so we also offer:
How a lift and shift works
- Send the weight and dimensions, both positions and photos of the route between them.
- We price from a desktop survey on the same working day, and visit first if the route is tight or the floors are unknown.
- We produce the method statement, risk assessment and lift plan, and check the floor loading.
- Our crew lifts the item, moves it along the route and positions it.
- It is set down on its base, levelled and handed over.
Common questions
Can you get a boiler to a plant room across a courtyard with no vehicle access?
Yes. The lorry unloads in the street and the boiler crosses the courtyard on skates or rollers over laid boards. Photos of the gateway and any steps are enough for a first answer.
Can you replace a chiller in a laboratory that is still working?
Yes. We agree the route and times with the lab and estates teams and sheet the floors and walls. Where there is room, the new unit goes down beside the old one before the changeover.
How much headroom do you need?
Less than most people expect, but it decides the method. What counts is the gap between the top of the item and the lowest obstruction on the route once the item is on the equipment. Where it is tight we use a low-headroom gantry or jacks and lift in smaller steps.
Will you damage our floor?
Not if the route is prepared, and that preparation is part of the price. We spread the load with mats or tracks where the slab needs it, protect finished surfaces, and agree beforehand what gets covered and what gets made good.
Get a quote for lift and shift in Oxford
- Phone: 01865 539 623
- Email: oxford@synergy-lifting.co.uk
Send us the weight and dimensions with photos of the route, and we will price the job.
We also provide lift and shift in Reading, Milton Keynes, Luton and Northampton. See all the lift and shift locations.