Lift and Shift Exeter

Lift and shift in Exeter and across Devon

We provide lift and shift in Exeter for firms on the estates either side of the M5 and for the large healthcare and research buildings, where plant is replaced with people still at work. It covers heavy or awkward items where a crane cannot reach or cannot do the final placing: switchgear into a switchroom, a chiller out of a basement, a generator set on its base, a machine repositioned on a factory floor, or laboratory equipment moved between rooms.

We work across Exeter, Marsh Barton, Sowton, Pinhoe, Topsham, Exmouth, Cullompton, Tiverton and Crediton, and out towards Newton Abbot and Honiton. Most jobs are priced the day we get the details, from a desktop survey and photos.

What lift and shift covers

Lift and shift is the part of a job that follows the crane, or replaces it. A heavy item is raised, lowered, turned or travelled along a route, then set down on its base with gantries, skates, rollers and jacks. Tanks and process skids come under it too. Where a crane lands the item outside, we plan both halves together.

What we lift and shift in Exeter

Item	Where it usually is	How it moves
Transformers and switchgear	Switchrooms in commercial buildings and on the business parks	Skated through the switchroom door and jacked down onto the base frame
Boilers and chillers	Basement plant rooms under older city buildings	Lowered on a gantry through the opening, then rolled to the base
Standby generators and UPS	Ground-floor plant rooms and energy centres	Rolled in from the loading door and set on anti-vibration mounts
Machines and presses	Light manufacturing units around the city	Toe jacks under the base, then skates to a new bay
Laboratory equipment	Upper-floor laboratories reached by goods lift	Low-headroom gantry and padded skates along a covered route
Display cabinets	Shops and public buildings in the city centre	Hand rollers, moved slowly with walls and floors covered

Our lift and shift service page sets out how we work.

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 Exeter

Our lift and shift work in Exeter comes from a handful of building types.

Marsh Barton and Sowton

Workshops on the city’s two main estates, one near the Exe and one by junction 30 of the M5, shuffle machines between bays when a new line arrives. Space inside is tight, so a machine is walked aside on toe jacks and skates. See our industrial sector page.

Greendale and Skypark

On the newer business parks east of the city, switchgear and packaged plant go into new units once the shell is weathertight, skated across floors that must stay unmarked. See our construction sector page.

Healthcare buildings

Chillers and air handling units in the city’s healthcare buildings are changed on a rolling programme beside working wards. The replacement often reaches the plant room along service corridors and through a goods lift. See our healthcare and pharma page.

Teaching and research laboratories

Laboratories around the city take in new cabinets and instruments during vacations and weekends. Delicate kit travels on padded skates under a low gantry. See our education sector page.

Food producers across Devon

Devon’s food processing plants add tanks and process skids as lines grow, and a new skid often has to squeeze past working equipment to reach its bay. See our food and beverages page.

Substations and treatment works

At substations and water and waste treatment sites, the old transformer is jacked off its plinth and the new one skated on. See our power and renewables and waste water treatment pages.

Access and planning for a lift and shift in Exeter

Points we check on most Exeter jobs:

The historic centre. The old city core has narrow, partly pedestrian streets where a lorry cannot always stop at the door. We unload early or on a Sunday and skate the item the last stretch.
Floors and what lies beneath. Parts of Marsh Barton and the riverside sit on made ground, so a slab there may carry less than it looks. We check the route and any void beneath it, then spread the weight with mats or steel tracks.
Headroom and the route. Clearance is taken with the item sitting on the equipment, since that adds height. Door widths and turns, steps and thresholds are measured from the vehicle to the base.
Buildings in use. Healthcare and teaching buildings stay open, so the estates team sets the timing and the route is fenced and marshalled.
Road space. If unloading takes a lane or pavement, we apply to Devon County Council for the closure and run the traffic management.

Getting it where it needs to go

Exeter jobs run in every direction. New plant goes into a building and old plant comes out, while a swap does both in a single visit. Some work stays outside: a transformer rolled across a yard, a generator jacked onto a plinth, a tank moved between buildings or a unit skated across a roof.

Inside, the route may take in a basement stair, a goods lift too small for the load, a mezzanine in a Sowton unit or a ramp on one of the city’s sloping sites, plus raised floors and narrow doors. Gantries, jacks, rollers and skates get most items past, with a crane where it helps. When nothing fits, we strip back a door frame and make it good, or take the item through in sections.

Postcodes and areas we cover

We cover every EX postcode and the districts around the city:

Exeter: city centre, Heavitree, Wonford, Pinhoe, Whipton, Marsh Barton and Sowton
Around the city: Topsham, Exminster, Exton, Crediton and Cullompton
East Devon and the coast: Exmouth, Budleigh Salterton, Sidmouth, Seaton, Colyton, Honiton and Dawlish
Wider area: Tiverton, Newton Abbot, Taunton, Okehampton and Barnstaple

We also lift and shift right across the UK.

Why Exeter firms choose Synergy Lifting for lift and shift

A crane outside and a crew inside, on one plan. Once a crane lands the item, our crew takes it on under the same method statement.
Floor loads worked out for you. We calculate the point loads from skates and jacks, so your structural engineer has figures to check.
One number for the whole county. Tiverton, Crediton, Honiton, Exmouth and Newton Abbot are regular working ground, all through the same Exeter phone line.
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

A lift and shift in Exeter is often part of a wider job, so we also offer:

How a lift and shift works

Tell us the item’s weight and size, where it sits and where it is going, with photos of the route.
You get a price from a desktop survey, generally the same working day. Tight routes or unknown floors get a site visit first.
We draw up the method statement, risk assessment and lift plan, and check the floor loadings.
On the day the crew lifts the item, takes it along the route and positions it.
We set it down, level it on its base and hand it over.

Common questions

Can you deliver plant to a building in the old city centre?

Yes. Where the lorry cannot stand at the door, we unload at the nearest point it can reach and skate the item the rest of the way. Photos of the street and doorway help.

Can you change switchgear at Sowton or Greendale without a long shutdown?

Yes. Where there is room, the new panels are staged beside the old ones in advance, so the changeover fits inside the outage your electrical contractor has booked.

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 Exeter

Phone: 01392 328 740
Email: exeter@synergy-lifting.co.uk

Send the weight, the dimensions and photos of the route, and we will come back with a price.

We also provide lift and shift in Plymouth, Cardiff, Newport and Swansea. See all the lift and shift locations.