Bethnal Green is prime student and young-renter territory, sitting right next to Queen Mary University of London's Mile End campus and a short hop from the City universities, so a huge share of E2 moves are single rooms and shared houses rather than whole homes. The typical job here is one room in a shared terrace off Roman Road or Globe Road, or a room in a converted flat near Cambridge Heath, packed into boxes that fit a transit van rather than a big lorry. We size the move to match, so a single-room student move is priced for the small van and the hour or two it really takes — you never pay for a seven-and-a-half tonne truck you don't need.

Term dates run the calendar. Late June, when Queen Mary halls and shared tenancies empty together, is the busiest stretch of the year around here, and mid to late September brings the reverse rush as new tenants move into house-shares off Bethnal Green Road and Approach Road before term. Both peaks fill weeks ahead, and popular Saturdays go first, so students and house-shares should lock a date in early rather than leaving it to moving week.

Parking takes local knowledge in E2. Columbia Road's Sunday flower market and Roman Road's market days close or crowd whole streets, and Cambridge Heath Road and Bethnal Green Road have bus lanes where a van can't wait. We load from quieter side streets and book a suspension where a shared house allows it. Shared houses also mean working around other tenants' belongings in communal halls, so we move only what's yours, quickly and without disturbing housemates who aren't moving. With Bethnal Green on the Central line and Cambridge Heath Overground close by, students are well placed for campus and the City — and we keep the move cheap, insured and fast.