Everything but the kitchen sink? David Skilleter and his wife bought a new-build, three-bedroom bungalow in the Vendée two and a half years ago. The holiday home became a project for the family, as they set about choosing and buying furniture and paint to fit the detailed colour schemes they had decided on. The Skilleters decided to take everything they would need to furnish the house – including the kitchen sink – over from the UK. They opted to fit their own kitchen, as it worked out cheaper to buy a flatpack version in the UK to take over and install in France.

After buying all the furniture and necessary items to fill their house the next decision was how to move it all. Mr Skilleter got quotes from five different companies, a selection of big removal companies and ‘man with a van’ options. He plumped for Barretts: “Bob offered a more personal service than the big companies, he’s easygoing and has a good sense of humour, which is essential,” said David. “Plus he could deliver on the date we wanted, which was a real advantage for us. He even worked out the volume of the items we were hoping to move, informing us we had some space left if we wanted to add anything else.We packed all our stuff and our son helped load up the van, but Bob did the packing, with rugs and blankets to protect big items.We kept in touch via mobile phones while he was in transit, just in case there was a problem but he arrived spot on time.”

The Skilleters bought approximately 90% of the furniture and furnishings for their holiday home in the UK, predominantly to save time and money. “Furniture is expensive in France.We definitely got better value for money buying ours in the UK, especially with the kitchen,” David explained. “The time we spend in France is precious, and we didn’t want to spend our holidays shopping, considering colour schemes and having to wait in for goods to be delivered. Also, this way it enabled us to have the house up and running, with everything in place, within a matter of days of picking up the keys – leaving us to enjoy our holidays.”