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The reason that my site recently received a new design is partly becuase I'm now moving into a new stage of life and wanted a new start. I've recently graduated from the University of York where I got a Masters Degree in Computer Science. Having lived 'up north' all my life, I've now moved down to London to start a job working for 'a global investment bank' (sorry but I'm not revealing the name as the corporate communications department will go mental!) working in its Canary Wharf office. Those of you who know me well enough will know where I'm going anyway! The move down to London actually went well, which was surprising on one hand as I never expected things to go well, yet it was planned for so long that any problems should really have been thought about! If you're planning on moving to London then a little advice about looking for houses / flats to rent. Living in York we took a couple of days to travel to London and do lots of viewings about 3 / 4 weeks before we needed to move in. We covered quite a wide ranging area and saw about 15-20 properties over 3 days. Although this was tiring at least it allowed us to see a range of properties on offer and get to see a lof of the area - somewhere we had never been before this. I'd really recommend looking at a lot of properties at once. Its does make it a bit of a pain dealing with estate agents but then again estate agents are one of my most hated professions (it's a bit harsh as there are some good ones!).
We found a nice 2 bed, 2 bathroom flat close to the central line station in North East London. This area is only a 40 minute commute for myself and Clara, which I don't think is too bad for any large city! The flat we live in is in a large block and is about 15 years old. We have a nice landlord who coincidentally works in Canary Wharf for an investment bank and has fully redecorated and carpetted the flat so it looks nice and clean and new. We used a removal company to get down to London called Viking Removals from York. I'll post their name as they did a very good job, and gave a very good price for such a long move. Companies like Pickfords quoted three times as much as Viking for the same distance! One lesson that the guy who gives quotes for Viking should learn is to ask full details on the place you're moving from and to. The removal men found out when they got to this flat that we live on the 3rd floor with no life - I can't say they were pleased! The rest of the move went well, including the estate agent we were moving from, who in the past had been less than helpful. The only company that I need to shame a little is Plusnet. I've been vocal of my support for Plusnet over the last couple of years, however when moving house they took 4 days to answer my request to move house, by which time it was too late to complete a 'similtaneous reprovision'. This lead to a number of phone calls and tickets and eventually 10 days without broadband, which for someone who uses it every day is a long time! My only advice is to contact them 2-3 weeks before you move to ensure everything goes to plan! That's all on the move, more on the area in a future post... |
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