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Factory relocation in Sunderland and across Tyne and Wear
On Wearside, the factories we relocate belong to component and battery suppliers around Washington and to engineering and manufacturing firms on the Pallion and Doxford estates and along the Wear. We handle the whole move through one point of contact: survey and asset register, disconnection and decommissioning alongside your engineers and the equipment manufacturers, strip-out and dismantling, lifting the machinery out, packing and crating, transport, offloading and positioning at the new site, then reinstallation, levelling, setting to line and recommissioning. The new site can be further along the A19 or in mainland Europe.
Working from our depot at Darlington, we cover Sunderland, Pallion, Southwick, Doxford, Washington, Houghton-le-Spring, Hetton-le-Hole, Seaham and Peterlee. A desktop survey and quote can come back the same working day.
What a factory relocation covers
A relocation may take in a whole works or a single department. The plant ranges from CNC machine tools and presses to production lines and process tanks. Machines you are leaving behind can be removed for sale or disposal during the same visit. If the new building is not ready when you leave, the equipment goes into storage.
Factory moves we plan in Sunderland
| Type of move | What sets the timetable | What we handle |
|---|---|---|
| Moving to a bigger or newer unit | Handover of the new unit | Both buildings surveyed, then extraction and reinstallation, say from Pallion to Washington |
| Bringing two sites onto one | Space being cleared at the site that stays open | Plant brought in stage by stage and set out to the combined layout |
| A closure, with working plant going to a sister site in the UK or abroad | The start date agreed with the receiving plant | Decommissioning, export crating and removal of whatever is left |
| Rearranging a factory within the same building or site | Breaks in production | Machines lifted, moved to their new bays and set to line |
| A single line or department moving | How long you can manage without that line | Strip-down, labelling and rebuild in the new position |
| A lease end forcing a move | The date the building goes back to the landlord | The building cleared for handback, with storage covering any gap |
Our factory relocation service page explains each stage.
Contact us
Get In Touch
Please leave a few details and a member of our factory relocation team will be in touch to discuss your requirements in more detail.
Where we work in and around Sunderland
Wearside relocations draw on a mix of industries and estates.
Automotive suppliers around Washington
Component and battery makers serving the vehicle industry move presses and welding lines when two sites are brought onto one or a unit is outgrown. The move is usually timed to fit the customer’s shutdown dates. See our automotive sector page.
Pallion’s industrial estate
Pallion’s engineering and manufacturing firms run CNC machine tools and compressors that are crated where needed and rebuilt bay by bay in the new building. See our industrial sector page.
Doxford and the A19 business parks
The Doxford business parks hold manufacturing and distribution operations, where packing lines and test equipment go across in the order the new layout needs them.
Engineering and energy firms by the Wear
Fabrication and energy businesses on the riverside relocate welding positioners and process skids to new workshops, with the heavier pieces craned out of the yard. See our maritime and power and renewables pages.
Hospital and university departments
Refurbishment on hospital and university estates sends workshops and laboratories to new rooms, with analysers and workshop machines reinstalled where the new layout puts them. See our healthcare and pharma and education pages.
Access and planning for a factory move in Sunderland
Points we check on most Sunderland relocations:
- Crossing the Wear with tall loads. Each bridge limits what can go over it, so a high or wide machine moving between the north and south banks gets its crossing checked before transport is booked.
- The new building at handover. Cured bases and connected supplies at every machine position, and a clear way in, all confirmed against the programme dates.
- The exit from the old works. Every machine needs a clear path to a lorry. We measure the openings and the height under beams and pipework, and for anything too big we plan to open cladding or lift through the roof.
- Slabs at both addresses. Skates and jacks put a heavy machine onto a few small points. We check the floor in both units, including any pit or void beneath, and spread the load with steel plates or mats.
- Councils and abnormal loads. Where loading needs part of a street, we arrange the closure with Sunderland City Council, or with Durham County Council for sites at Seaham and Peterlee. Abnormal loads are notified where needed before they join the A19.
Keeping production going during the move
In a phased move, the lines you can spare go first and are running at the new site before the rest follows. Heavy extraction can go into weekends or a planned shutdown, which suits supply chain plants around Washington working to a customer’s calendar.
If the lease on the old unit runs out before the new one is fitted out, storage bridges the gap and the machines are delivered once the bases are ready. Plant you are not taking can be removed for sale or disposal on the same visits, so the old building is left clear.
Postcodes and areas we cover
We cover every SR postcode and the districts around the city:
- Sunderland: city centre, Pallion, Southwick, Monkwearmouth, Roker, Seaburn, Doxford and Silksworth
- West: Washington, Houghton-le-Spring, Hetton-le-Hole, Penshaw and Chester-le-Street
- South and coast: Ryhope, Seaham, Murton, Peterlee and Easington
- Wider area: Gateshead, South Shields, Newcastle, Durham and Hartlepool
We relocate factories right across the UK and into Europe.
Why Sunderland firms choose Synergy Lifting for factory relocation
- Every item on one register. Each machine at your Sunderland site is numbered and given a place at the new building before anything is disconnected.
- Nothing passed between subcontractors. Our crane, riggers, transport and reinstallation team sit under one contract, so a changed date reaches everyone.
- Plant for overseas packed to travel. Equipment leaving Wearside for a sister plant abroad is crated and loaded in the order the receiving site will install it.
- 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 factory relocation
A Sunderland relocation can bring in other services of ours:
How a factory relocation works
- Send the address you are leaving, the one you are going to, an approximate machine count and your restart date.
- We survey both sites and compile the asset register. A smaller move can be priced the same day from a desktop survey.
- Our quote comes with a programme in move sequence, plus method statements, risk assessments and lift plans.
- The crew extracts and packs each machine and transports it in its turn.
- At the new site every machine is reinstalled and set to line, then handed over for recommissioning.
Common questions
We are moving across the Wear from Southwick to Doxford. Does the river change the plan?
Only for the largest machines. Tall or heavy items are routed over a suitable bridge at survey and notified as abnormal loads where needed. The rest travels as ordinary loads.
We are bringing a Pallion unit into our Washington site. How do the machines fit around what is already there?
We survey the Washington floor with the existing plant in place and give every incoming machine a set position. They come across in the order space is freed, and anything that will not fit the combined layout can go for sale or disposal from Pallion.
Can we keep producing while we move?
In most cases, yes, for part of the plant. We move the lines you can spare first and get them running at the new site, then bring the rest across. It means more visits, and it keeps output going while the move is under way. We tell you at survey which parts can overlap.
How are disconnection and recommissioning handled?
We agree who does what at survey and write it into the programme. It is a mix of our crew, your maintenance team and the equipment manufacturers, and everyone knows their part before the first machine moves. Recommissioning is done with your engineers or the manufacturer.
Get a quote for factory relocation in Sunderland
- Phone: 0191 313 0049
- Email: sunderland@synergy-lifting.co.uk
Send us both addresses, a rough machine count and the date production has to restart, and we will come back with a price and a programme.
We also provide factory relocation in Newcastle, Durham, Hartlepool and Teesside. See all the factory relocation locations.