Meet the Team

Adam has been working at TFM with his dad since before he went to school! And whilst he has been a Director of the firm since 2013, he is very much hands-on with the removals side of the business, and this is where his passion lies. Growing up he spent Saturdays and school holidays learning what it takes to be a removal man and has completed courses in export wrapping, packing fine china and glass and moving specialist furniture. He passed his Class 1 HGV licence in his early twenties and now drives our largest 44-tonne lorries. He is now second to none when it comes to specialist packing, wrapping and managing large removals. Adam is the complete removal man and has patiently helped his two younger brothers and other young members of the TFM team as they learn the ropes of removals, while earning his nicknames of ‘Dachshund’ (due to his very long body and short legs) or ‘Larry’ (because he really is as happy as).

Chloe joined TFM as part of our apprenticeship scheme when she had just left school. She studied Business Administration at South Essex College whilst also working from our Burnham-on-Crouch office, learning the in’s and out’s of the removals and storage industry. Chloe has now worked for TFM for a number of years and has become an integral part of TFM, looking after all of our storage accounts and our daily household removals accounts. If something is happening at TFM, Chloe is sure to know about it! Be warned though, although Chloe is the only person working for TFM who is shorter than Ralph, nobody here would dream of arguing with her… Apart from, perhaps, Nick.

Colin has been with TFM for over 10 years now, but had done removals for other companies in the past. His steady and careful nature means he is the ideal removal man and is usually found either driving our smaller removal vehicles or packing people’s homes. Colin has been on courses to perfect his packing and wrapping technique. Whilst many think his nickname of ‘Stats’ is derived through a love of numbers and statistics, it is actually down to the fact that in his younger days he had a real resemblance to Status Quo frontman Francis Rossi, in the form of a pony tail; something that is hard to believe nowadays!

Harry demonstrates TFM’s commitment to developing the younger members of our team – he has been working at TFM since he was 16 years old! He has known Adam and Josh since before he could walk and is part of the family; therefore, when a job came available at TFM around the time he was leaving school it was a no-brainer. Harry started by learning the basics and has now worked his way up to being knowledgeable in all aspects of removals. He has completed courses in packing and export wrapping and also a course in estimating. TFM have also helped him pass his driving test so he now visits potential customers to offer them estimates for their forthcoming removals. Perhaps the only problem with Harry’s career choice is his allergy to cats and dogs, meaning on certain removals he does struggle with a runny nose, hence his nickname.

James “Jim” Page has been working for TFM since 2006, he is now an established team member. He has previously driven lorries around Europe and is an experienced driver of lorries and trailers – very handy when getting our larger rigs into tight housing estates and small villages around Britain and Europe! Jim has learnt the art of packing a complete household into a lorry, and has been on courses to learn export wrapping and packing of china and glass.

Jamie has been with TFM since the mid-nineties so we think he can now be justified in describing himself as an established member of the team! Already having removals experience before joining TFM, Jamie brought his own knowledge and has since taken courses to fine tune his ability to export wrap furniture, pack china and glass and dismantle and re-assemble furniture. Like many removal men, Jamie is a unique character and has a collection and knowledge of reptiles which is second to none.

Like his brother Adam, Josh has never known life without removals! He has, since he could walk, learnt about all aspects of removals and storage, and started working full-time at the age of 16. He passed his HGV test when he was eighteen and his International Certificate of Professional Competence (CPC) shortly after, meaning he is a qualified Transport Manager and therefore holds the operator’s licence at TFM. He became a director in 2013, and whilst a lot of his time is spent in the office or out visiting customers, carrying out estimates, he can, like his older brother Adam, regularly be found on removals driving the lorries and putting his skills and knowledge in all things removals into practice. Like his father, Josh is also short. He can also be grumpy and argumentative and is therefore regularly confused on the phone for his father, even by Tricia, but of course he says he is nothing like his dad.

Kes is the youngest member of the family to join the ranks and now works full-time at TFM. His years working at TFM during the school holidays and at weekends have really fast-forwarded his development and he is already a huge member of the team (literally and metaphorically) and a proficient porter. At 6’ 1” he towers over (in a gangly way) some of the other guys, but he is quiet and respectful in his manner, not that he has much choice with two older brothers to keep him in line. Kes enjoys the camaraderie and team spirit that TFM is built upon, and what better way to start out in the world of employment than learning the ropes from your family.

Having hundreds of containers, three storage yards, and 18 tonne forklifts means lots of maintenance! We pride ourselves in keeping well on top of it all and, if we’re honest, that’s all due to Michael.  All our containers are brand new and kept in the best condition and our lifting equipment is regularly serviced and kept in the best shape by Michael, so we don’t have things going wrong when they are needed!  The customers may very rarely see him hidden away at our yards, but he really is an important member of TFM.

Nic started on the TFM apprenticeship scheme at the beginning of 2014 and became full-time in 2015, he is now an established and respected member of the team and has been on courses at the BAR (British Association of Removers) to learn the arts of packing, export wrapping, manual handling and moving specialist items. Thanks to this training, and Nic’s constant determination to learn, he has quickly grown into an asset in the TFM team. Nic enjoys the simple life and has surprised us all with many hidden talents (usually discovered over a pint of beer at the weekend), such as flicking and catching 16 beer mats and is renowned for his never-ending chat during long journeys in the lorries.

Having built up the business from scratch, Ralph has always been 100% committed to ensuring TFM is amongst the best removal companies in the South East of England. In equal measure his pig-headed stubbornness, attention to detail, vision and absolute commitment to excellent customer service has driven TFM toward his goal. Ralph still strives to deal with every customer himself, at some point in their removal process. Lucky enough to have his sons working alongside him, he enjoys sharing his experience and knowledge, knowing that the next generation are there to help him continue to drive TFM forward.

Rita had already reached retirement age when she helped her son Ralph start TFM in the late eighties. Growing up as a butcher’s daughter during and after the war, and later running pubs with her husband Michael, Rita knew that for a business to succeed hard work was essential. The time she spent as a PA in London taught her good office management and in the early years at TFM she ran the office, answered the phones and kept the books up to date. Now there is a third generation of the family working at TFM and Rita can be proud of what she helped to start. Thank you, Nanny Rita!

RMN. Dip.HE. Bsc(Hons). Msc(Dist). Tricia is relatively new to the removals scene, being Ralph’s second wife, and having pursued a very different career in healthcare. The fact that Tricia hasn’t grown up doing removals day in, day out makes her such an asset to TFM, as sometimes removal men forget just how specialist their knowledge is and might think some details seem obvious. Well, Tricia is there to put them straight. She works behind the scenes whenever she can, and is always on call to help Ralph, Adam and Josh make tough and important decisions. Also known as ‘step mom’, she is tolerant of Ralph’s total commitment to the business and often has to ‘take a backseat’ while he gives his attention to his first love – TFM, of course.