How Do Clockwork Removals And Storage Work With Interior Designers?

We’re delighted to welcome Richard Lear, London Group Manager at Clockwork Removals and Storage, official sponsor and speaker at this year’s BIID Inside Knowledge Conference and AGM. With 20 years’ experience in the industry, Richard has overseen landmark projects including the two-year installation of FF&E and OS&E for The Four Seasons Hotel, Trinity Square and numerous high-end residential interior design installations. 

Can you tell us a bit about your role at Clockwork Removals and Storage and how your team supports interior designers?

My role in a nutshell is to ensure the smooth running of our storage, delivery, and installation services.  I have very experienced, forward-thinking and proactive teams, which makes the management of them a dream but as you’d imagine, especially within our industry, there is a certain amount of ad hoc problem solving along the way.  Our main focus is to ensure we deliver the exemplary customer service that we’re known for.  

What do you believe makes Clockwork Removals and Storage a trusted partner for interior designers time and time again?

That each and every one of us care!  We want designers to do what they love - to design and liaise with their clients, and not be bogged down with the management of how to store and record delivered furniture or accessories.  We are here to do that on the designer's behalf, freeing up the time to allow them to enhance their service.  Our office and road-based staff carry a huge amount of knowledge and experience. 

While others may overlook the finer details, our team’s trained eye ensures every client receives nothing but the best. The time, effort, emotion and money that is poured into any project by each designer and their clients are not lost on us.  Our white-gloved service ensures all FF&E and OS&E are delivered with the care and attention that both property and its contents deserves.  
 

What types of interior design projects do you typically work alongside? (e.g., residential, commercial, show homes)

We have undertaken storage and installation on a wide array of projects - residential (households, apartments, entire buildings), commercial property, as well as, international property.  It’s a cliché but every project is different by its own merits.  Some projects are small - single rooms for example, whilst others cover the whole property.  We don’t sell an ‘off the peg’ service, we listen to our clients, note the key areas that they are focused upon, or anxious about, we add any point that we feel is important and prudent to discuss, and then build a service around their needs.  

We’ve had projects who simply wished for us to receive and store the items up until installation, and then just deliver to site leaving everything wrapped, whilst others have engaged with the whole offering, including our mirror & art hanging service.  On one occasion our installer was given a drawing/plan of the room and he had to install the art to within a 1mm tolerance!

What specific storage and logistics services do you offer that are tailored to the needs of interior designers?

We understand that every designer and client is different - each having differing focus points/KPIs.  We’re able to tailor our service around the requirements of each project. 

• Receiving into our warehouse 
• Condition checking of deliveries and immediately notifying the designer of any damage (to enable resolution to happen within the supplier's notification periods)
• Storage 
• Inventory management (provision of a shared document to allow designers to have the information ‘live’)
• Installation 
• Property protection 
• Mirror/artwork installation 
• Assembly of any furniture 
• Removal and recycling of debris/packaging
   

Sustainability is becoming increasingly important in design. How does Clockwork Removals and Storage support eco-conscious practices in your operations?

We are award winning in this department (as well as others)!  This showcases our desire and dedication to protecting the environment.  We operate ‘zero-to-landfill’ wherever possible.  We plant a tree for every move that we do.  All packaging is sustainably sourced and reused wherever possible.  The energy within our offices is sourced from a carbon neutral source.  

Our fleet is updated regularly to ensure the cutting-edge technology is at work helping to reduce our emissions.  We’re carbon assessed annually to highlight any areas that we can improve on.  Our industry is a carbon consuming one, therefore, it's important to us to offset what emissions we have. 
 

Can you share an example of a particularly complex or high-pressure project and how your team helped it succeed?

There's nothing that cannot be overcome, one way or another.  One situation that stands in my mind though, more through the enormity of it, was the bridge collapse in Baltimore, USA.  We had a shipment for an interior designer whose destination was in Virginia and the port of entry was Baltimore.  The ship carrying their consignment was “only a few behind the ship that struck the bridge” according to our shipping agent.  Fortunately, the ship was diverted to another port and, albeit via a road-based transit across the country, the installation was undertaken without further disruption.  

Another project, on the day of delivery, the builders decided they must erect a scaffold tower in the entrance foyer, to install a large chandelier, which blocked our entry.  They could not move the scaffold.  The crew were able to navigate to another entry point, although this meant carrying through the garden and in via the bi-fold doors to the back of the property.  Not ideal but it enabled our crew to complete the delivery.  
 

What advice would you give to designers looking for a reliable logistics and storage partner?

Trust - any relationship should be built on trust.  I fully appreciate that trust is earned but until this point, anyone should feel comfortable dealing with their chosen provider. Do you feel at ease during the initial interactions?  Are they accredited, insured, have good customer reviews?  Are they using their own storage facilities or utilising a third party, whereby their control, security and timeliness would be affected.  Do you feel they would diligently and efficiently handle any hiccup with the openness and transparency needed?  Overall, choose a partner you can trust to deliver on every promise, protect your work as if it were their own, and take the stress out of every project. Look for proven experience, a professional team you feel confident in, and people you genuinely enjoy working with because the right partner will make your project feel effortless.
 

With thanks to Clockwork Removals and Storage for sponsoring the Inside Knowledge Conference 2025. Inside Knowledge takes place on Thursday 18th September. Members-only event - Secure your place and book today.