Moving house is forever near the top of those lists of life’s most stressful events, and a surprising share of that stress rides on a single decision, who carries the boxes. The right crew makes moving day feel almost civilised; the wrong one has you watching strangers wrestle your sofa through a doorway as the light fades. These are the Portsmouth firms that, going by the people who actually hired them, tend to get it right.
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Rather than take any company at its own word, we asked the people who know best, the customers. For every removals firm in and around the city we pulled the Google ratings and, just as importantly, the number of moves behind them, then read the reviews for what truly matters on the day, belongings treated with care, a van that arrives on time, an honest quote, and a final bill with no nasty twist. A high score earned over hundreds of moves tells you far more than a perfect one from a handful.
This list sticks to removals and man-and-van firms. If you need somewhere to put things rather than someone to shift them, there is a note on self-storage at the foot of the page. The six are ordered best first, and the one at the top is the firm we would book tomorrow.
1. Man and Van Portsmouth Ltd
Start with the numbers, because they are remarkable, a flat five stars from more than four hundred moves. Nothing else in the city matches that mix of volume and perfection. The name undersells it too, since the firm takes on full house removals as happily as a single-van run. Reviewers keep circling back to the same things, careful handling, a straight price and a crew that stays cheerful when the stairs are narrow and the clock is against them. For a two-person van, reckon on roughly £50 an hour, with whole-house jobs quoted after a survey.
The strong points
- A flawless 5.0 from over 400 moves, unrivalled locally;
- Takes on anything from a single van to a full house;
- Careful handling and a crew that keeps its good humour;
- Honest, upfront pricing with no sting in the bill.
The small print
- In such demand that busy weekends fill up early;
- Pin down your date the moment you have one.
Put bluntly, this is the first number most people in Portsmouth should dial.
2. Man Plus Van Ltd
Another spotless five-star record, this one run out of London Road. Man Plus Van has made its name doing precisely what the title says, only properly. The hundred-plus reviews tell of brisk, strong moves and a team that wraps and stacks with genuine care rather than sheer force. It is a smart shout for flats and smaller houses, where a nimble crew beats a lumbering lorry. Two movers start from about £45 an hour.
The strong points
- A clean 5.0 across more than 100 moves;
- Quick, efficient and still careful with the fragile stuff;
- Ideal for flats and smaller terraced houses;
- Good value for an hourly man-and-van job.
The small print
- A smaller operation, so dates can be tight at peak times;
- Better suited to compact moves than a six-bed house.
A superb choice when the job is a flat or a smaller house move.
3. 1st Class Removals and Sons
A proper family firm out of Drayton, 1st Class is the sort of outfit that turns a dreaded day into a story you later tell fondly. Brian and Chris appear by name in review after review, and one grateful customer notes that they even plumbed in the washing machine at the new place. The perfect average rests on exactly that, personal service where nothing is too much bother. A typical local house move tends to land somewhere between £400 and £700, depending on how much there is to shift.
The strong points
- A perfect 5.0 built on warm, personal service;
- A family crew that treats your things like their own;
- Named movers praised repeatedly by returning customers;
- The little extras, right down to plumbing in the washer.
The small print
- A small family team, so book well ahead;
- Weekdays and Saturdays only, closed Sundays.
Book it if you want your move handled by people who plainly care.
4. G’s Removals
G’s works the man-and-van end of things, a 4.9 average across more than a hundred jobs, and it is the one to call when a move simply needs doing, quickly and without fuss. The reviews point to the speed, the fair quotes and a readiness to take on the awkward single-item runs that the bigger firms would rather not bother with. Hourly rates for a two-person crew start around £45.
The strong points
- A 4.9 average over more than 100 jobs;
- Fast, straightforward and keenly priced;
- Happy to take on single-item and small jobs;
- Easy to book at short notice.
The small print
- Geared to man-and-van work rather than a full-service move;
- Less packing support than the bigger firms offer.
The one to ring for a fast, no-drama man-and-van job.
5. Purple Move
Based up in Hilsea, Purple Move is a slick, well-drilled operation with a 4.8 average and a name for turning up exactly when it says it will. Packing services and materials are there for the taking if you would rather not go near a roll of tape, which for a frantic household is money well spent. A full house move is quoted after a survey, with man-and-van work from around £50 an hour.
The strong points
- A 4.8 average and reliably punctual;
- Optional packing service and materials;
- Well organised, from first quote to final box;
- Covers the north of the city easily from Hilsea.
The small print
- Packing and extras add to the headline price;
- Survey needed before a firm house-move quote.
A polished, dependable option, especially if you want the packing done for you.
6. Tee Removals Services
Rounding off the six, Tee is the established all-rounder, a Southsea firm carrying the deepest history on the list, comfortably more than a hundred and fifty jobs at a steady 4.7. It leans towards full removals with storage alongside, which makes it a better fit for a bigger or trickier move than a quick van run. Pricing is by survey, so it pays to get a written quote you can set against the others.
The strong points
- The longest track record here, over 150 jobs;
- Full removals with storage on the same ticket;
- A sensible choice for larger or complex moves;
- Established name with a steady 4.7 average.
The small print
- A notch below the five-star specialists on score;
- Overkill, and pricier, for a single-van job.
Worth a quote for a larger move, especially if you need storage as well.
The six firms at a glance
| # | Company | Area | Type | Score (out of 10) | % (out of 100) |
| 1 | Man and Van Portsmouth Ltd | Copnor | Man and van + removals | 9.4 | 94 |
| 2 | Man Plus Van Ltd | London Rd | Man and van | 9.1 | 91 |
| 3 | 1st Class Removals and Sons | Drayton | Family removals | 8.9 | 89 |
| 4 | G’s Removals | North End | Man and van | 8.6 | 86 |
| 5 | Purple Move | Hilsea | Removals and packing | 8.3 | 83 |
| 6 | Tee Removals Services | Southsea | Full removals and storage | 8.0 | 80 |
The scores in a chart (out of 10)
What the moves tell us
A couple of patterns run through the feedback. The small, owner-run outfits, 1st Class and the man-and-van specialists, win on warmth and word of mouth, the kind of loyalty you only earn one careful move at a time. A bigger name like Tee, meanwhile, brings the full packing-and-storage operation that a complicated move calls for. The other lesson is how little daylight there is at the top, where near-identical scores come down less to the rating itself than to how many moves a firm has safely behind it.
If there is one thing the reviews quietly agree on, it is this.
The cheapest quote and the smoothest move are rarely the same thing, and a careful crew is usually worth paying a little more for.
And if what you actually need is somewhere to keep your things rather than someone to carry them, that is a different job altogether. Portsmouth is well stocked with self-storage, from Safestore on Fratton Way to Big Yellow and Shurgard, all of which review strongly. If you are arriving in the city rather than shuffling across it, our guide to moving to Portsmouth paints the wider picture, with a separate look at student accommodation for anyone starting at the university.
How the ranking was built
A word on the method, briefly. The reviews did most of the heavy lifting, a little over a third of each score, on the simple logic that a mover is only as good as the last hundred people they moved. After that came the care and professionalism those reviews describe, the value weighed against a typical local quote, how steadily a firm performs across a lot of jobs, and the smaller courtesies of clear communication and turning up on time. We judged the companies on the open evidence rather than booking each one ourselves, and any figures here are rough guides that swing with the size of the move and the day you choose, so always get a firm quote before you commit. Written in late October 2026, this is our own read of the field and not an official register, and we will refresh it as firms and their reviews move on.
