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What to ship to the United Kingdom

The United Kingdom is our most popular destination and we can provide our own regular "shared load groupage" service for smaller shipments. That means you can send smaller shipments and only pay for the space that you use. We can also provide quotations on your shipment requiring its own exclusive container.

Generally homes in the UK will have less square footage than homes in Canada. In addition individual room sizes can be smaller, you will find ‘open plan’ layouts but these are not the norm. You should therefore consider the size of your new home before taking large bulky furniture. Your Brytor surveyor will be able to provide guidance on items which could be a problem or present access problems for the delivery crew. We can provide you with more than one quotation to reflect different options/combinations of house hold items to be shipped. The voltage in the UK is 220 volts at 50Hertz, compared with 120 volts at 60 hertz in Canada. With the voltage difference it is not worth shipping household electrical appliances such as washers, dryers, refrigerators, hoovers etc. Smaller kitchen appliances and general household items from an alarm clock to a hairdryer will also not work. Household lamps can have the plugs changed, with screw in bulbs being available throughout the UK. Some electrical items can be run on a transformer and your Brytor surveyor will be able to advise you on these as well as the compatibility of televisions, DVD players, stereo systems and computer game consoles such as play station and Wii.

House hold effects can be imported free of duty and taxes although new items and gifts declared to customs will be subject to duty and taxes.

By arranging a survey at your home, your Brytor surveyor will be able to advise on ‘what to ship to the UK, in addition to advice on electrical items.

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Introduction

The United Kingdom is made up of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. It has a long history as a major player in international affairs and fulfils an important role in the EU, UN and Nato.

The twentieth century saw Britain having to redefine its place in the world. At the beginning of the century it commanded a world-wide empire as the foremost global power.

Two world wars and the end of empire diminished its role, but the UK remains a major economic and military power, with considerable political and cultural influence around the world.

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Overview

Britain was the world's first industrialised country. Its economy remains one of the largest, but it has for many years been based on service industries rather than on manufacturing.

Despite being a major member of the EU, the country is not part of the euro zone, and the question of whether it will join any time soon appears to have receded for the moment. The government has said a series of economic criteria must be met before the issue can be put to a referendum.

In recent years the UK has taken steps to devolve powers to Scotland and Wales. The Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh and the National Assembly for Wales in Cardiff opened in 1999, and the possibility of devolution for the English regions has also been discussed.

In Northern Ireland, after decades of violent conflict, the Good Friday agreement of 1998 led to a new assembly with devolved powers, bringing hopes of lasting peace. The assembly was suspended in 2002 amid a row over alleged IRA activities. Its suspension was to last for three and a half years.

In a bid to restart the political process and after consultations with Dublin, the UK passed legislation paving the way for the recall of the Northern Ireland Assembly in May 2006.

But assembly leaders missed a November deadline to form a power-sharing executive. Assembly elections in the following March led to the eventual swearing-in of the leaders of the power-sharing government on 8 May 2007, ending five years of direct rule from London.

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Diversity

The UK is ethnically diverse, partly as a legacy of empire. Lately, the country has been struggling with issues revolving around multiculturalism, immigration and national identity.

This is against a background of concerns about terrorism and political and religious radicalism, heightened after the suicide bomb attacks on London's transport network in 2005.

Some politicians and commentators say a stronger sense of shared British values is needed to foster integration within a mixed society. And while some advocate tough policies on limiting immigration, others attempt to put the case for it as a positive force.

One of the more recent trends in migration has been the arrival of workers from the new EU member states in Eastern Europe.

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Culture

The UK has been at the forefront of youth culture since the heyday of the Beatles and Rolling Stones in the 1960s.

It has a rich literary heritage encompassing the works of English writers such as William Shakespeare and Charles Dickens, Scot Robert Burns, Welshman Dylan Thomas and Northern Irishman Seamus Heaney.

Traditional music has deep roots across the UK, which has also produced classical composers from Henry Purcell in the Baroque period to Benjamin Britten in the 20th century.

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Facts

  • Full name: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
  • Population: 61.6 million (UN, 2009)
  • Capital: London
  • Area: 242,514 sq km (93,638 sq miles)
  • Major language: English
  • Major religion: Christianity
  • Life expectancy: 77 years (men), 82 years (women) (UN)
  • Monetary unit: 1 pound sterling = 100 pence
  • Main exports: Manufactured goods, chemicals, foodstuffs
  • GNI per capita: US $45,390 (World Bank, 2008)
  • Internet domain: .uk
  • International dialling code: +44

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Leaders

Head of state: Queen Elizabeth II

  • Elizabeth II became queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in 1952 upon the death of her father, George VI.
  • She is the second longest serving head of state, after the Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who was crowned in 1946.
  • She is also head of state of 16 independent countries including Canada and Australia.
  • As a constitutional monarch, her role in the legislative process is largely ceremonial.

Politics of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Has the Monarch as head of state and the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government. The country is governed by the UK government, and the devolved governments of Scotland, Wales, and the Executive of Northern Ireland. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the two chambers of Parliament, the House of Commons and the House of Lords, as well as in the Scottish parliament and Welsh and Northern Ireland assemblies.

The UK is a multi-party system and since the 1920s, the two largest political parties have been the Conservative Party and the Labour Party. Though coalition and minority governments have been an occasional feature of parliamentary politics, the first-past-the-post electoral system used for general elections tends to maintain the dominance of these two parties, though each has in the past century relied upon a third party to deliver a working majority in Parliament. The current Government is a coalition between the Conservative Party and the Liberal Democrats.

The system of government, known as the Westminster system, has been adopted by other countries as well, such as Canada, India, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia and Jamaica, countries that made up part of the British Empire.

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Media

The UK has a strong tradition of public-service broadcasting and an international reputation for creative programme-making.

The fledgling BBC began daily radio broadcasts in 1922 and quickly came to play a pivotal role in national life. The Empire Service - the forerunner of the BBC World Service - established a reputation worldwide. The BBC is funded by a licence fee, which all households with a TV set must pay. Commercial TV began in 1955 with the launch of ITV. Commercial radio was introduced in the 1970s, although ship-based pirate radio stations flourished in the 1960s before being outlawed. Hundreds of privately-owned radio and TV stations now compete with the BBC for listeners and viewers. Home-grown soap operas have long topped the TV ratings, and British viewers keenly follow the ups and downs of life in east London's Albert Square, the setting for the BBC's EastEnders, and Coronation Street - ITV's soap about northern-English working-class life. Programmes which catapult ordinary people into the public eye - known as reality TV - are enjoying a wave of popularity.

In a rapidly-changing digital world, British media providers are looking at new ways of reaching audiences via computers and personal multimedia devices.

The once-dominant terrestrial TV networks face strong competition from digital satellite and cable, which offer hundreds of channels, and digital terrestrial TV, which carries a smaller number of mainly free-to-view channels. By August 2008, digital TV was in 87% of British homes. Digital radio (DAB) has had a slower start, but the BBC and commercial operators provide digital-only radio services.

Britain's media regulator, Ofcom, has set a timetable for a switchover from analogue to digital TV broadcasting; it hopes to turn off the analogue TV signal by 2012.

The British media are free and able to report on all aspects of British life. The variety of publications reflects the full spectrum of political opinion, as well as the British public's voracious appetite for newspapers.

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The press

Television

  • BBC TV - operates BBC1, BBC2 and digital services including BBC News channel
  • BBC World News - commercially-funded international news channel
  • ITV - major commercial network, organised around regional franchises
  • Channel 4 - commercially funded but publicly owned national station
  • five - national commercial channel
  • Independent Television News (ITN) - supplier of news to ITV, Channel 4
  • British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB) - operator of digital satellite platform, Sky, and provider of film, entertainment channels and news channel Sky News

Radio

News agency

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Weather and Climate in United Kingdom

UK an island country and the surrounding sea gives England a varied climate. We never know what the weather will be like from one day to the other. It can be sunny one day and rainy the next. As we have such a variable climate changing from day to day, it is difficult to predict the weather.

The overall climate in England is called temperate maritime. This means that it is mild with temperatures not much lower than 0ºC in winter and not much higher than 30ºC in summer. It also means that it is damp and is subject to frequent changes.

July is normally the warmest month in England. Around the coasts February is normally the coldest month, but inland there is little to choose between January and February as the coldest month.

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Seasons

Spring - March to May
Summer - June to August
Autumn (Known as fall in the US) - September to November
Winter - December to February

In the winter, the temperature drops below freezing point. It is cold, wet and windy and it sometimes snows between December and March.

In the summer, it can be as hot as 32 degrees Celsius but mostly the temperature only reaches 26C.

Different parts of Britain have different types of weather.

Variations in the weather can be significant even within a relatively short geographical distance. There may be snow in Wales, but seldom in Chester.

North

Temperatures in the north of England tend to be lower than in the south. The further south you go the warmer it gets.

Northeast

Northeast England, is the coolest in the country. Relatively dry all year.

NorthWest

Cool summers, mild winters, heavy rain.

South

Southern England offer the best weather with mild winters. The south coast of England is the sunniest part of the country.

Southeast

Southwest has more temperature variations with warmer summers and cooler winters.

Southwest

Warm summers, mild winters, rain all year especially winter.

East

East has less rainfall.

West

Warm summers, mild winters, heavy rain. Most rain falls over the mountains in the west, especially Snowdonia in Wales and the Scottish Highlands.

The reason for Britain's weather being different North, South, East and West is because different air masses (wind) come from each direction as follows:
North - Arctic very cold
East - Continental from Europe and Asia. The winds are cold and dry.
South - Tropical warm.
West - Maritime air has crossed Atlantic bringing cloud and rain. The winds are warm and wet.

To check the current weather condition of United Kingdom please click here.

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I am delighted to be able to report to you that your superb team of professional movers made my relocation to Paris a pleasure. The container shipment arrived right on time with no damage whatsoever and it was particularly gratifying to see that no compromise was made with packing materials that protected so effectively our goods.

V.P. - Paris
 

Service was fantastic from start to finish. We will definitely be using you again, if and when we return to Ontario!

S.M. - Australia
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