Brooks Family,
Johanannesburg
"It all began about 18 months ago when we made the decision to move to the UK. It was a combination of realising how easily one could work remotely, an opportunity to scare up work in the UK and an ability to get an ancestral visa. Initially we thought we had time on our hands but then realised that our twin boys needed to be in the UK for the start of Year 9 (Fourths) so suddenly the rush was on!
Where does one even start when you are moving countries? We happened to come across Roz and Sam via another client of theirs and after a quick Zoom meeting with Sam, we had no doubts that Juniper Shores was who we needed.
We had numerous Zoom meetings with Sam and Roz so they were able to work out who we were and what our needs were. In no time at all had they sorted out a time schedule with deadlines of what needed to be done. They were so efficient, often needing to nudge us with decisions to be made so that on our arrival everything would be in place. In order to get a sense of what they did for us, it might be easiest to make a list:
· Provided a monthly checklist of what needed to be done before leaving South Africa
· Got quotes from the pet relocation companies giving us a spreadsheet with comparisons so we could make the final decision
· Sorted out the relocation of one of ours cars from SA to the UK
· Arranged and supervised the repainting of our house as well as the carpet and curtain cleaning
· Arranged the wifi installation
· Selected the appropriate tv’s and had them installed
· Measured every corner of our house to check what furniture from SA would fit (this required loads of patience and many visits to the house)
· Sorted out SIM cards for our arrival as well as getting BT installed
· Delivered groceries to us whilst in quarantine hotel in August
· Set up our home with basic groceries
· Arranged for the transport to collect us from our quarantine hotel and take us to our new home
· Met us on our arrival at our new home to show us the ropes
· Sorted out the rental car
· Helped us unpack when our containers arrived (a 40ft and a 20ft!)
· Sorted out our insurance on our cars now that we are settled
Friends of mine said we had a soft landing arriving in the UK like this. We consider Sam and Roz our special angels. There is no way we could have settled in as quickly as we did without all their help.
A bonus for us is that we consider Roz and Sam such special friends. Despite the stress of such an enormous move, we can look back at all the hilarious times we had together. Nothing was ever too much for them."
Guy & Lucinda Brooks
(Moved from Johannesburg, Aug 2021)