· Removals companies shifted 72 skyscrapers of belongings in 2007

· Around £42 billion worth of domestic goods transported on our roads

· Britain's material wealth has rocketed since the 1980s

The removals industry in England and Wales moved enough possessions to fill the UK's tallest building - Canary Wharf Tower - 72 times over in 2007. Last year, over 43 million cubic metres of homebuyers' belongings were transported across the country to new properties - the biggest ever annual volume of home goods moved, according to Clockwork Removals and Storage. Although there were more home moves in 2006, on average people owned a greater volume of goods last year.

The value of goods moved amounted to around £42.2 billion - 9.5 times the value of the UK's gold reserves.

The value and volume of goods on the move in 2007 represent a significant increase from twenty years ago. In 1989, the first year of Clockwork Removals' operations, the average household possessed around 24m³ of belongings. This figure rose to 35.7m³ in 2007. The value of the average household's belongings has also grown markedly, from around £13,500 twenty years ago in today's prices to more than £35,000 today.

Harry Taylor, Managing Director of Clockwork Removals, says: "Vast mountains of possessions travel around the country each year. The figures are a clear indication that material wealth in the UK is on the up. It's remarkable the volume of personal belongings is so much greater than twenty years ago - particularly when many items are now far less bulky."

Londoners moved 57,000 Routemasters' worth of belongings in 2007

The South East of England was the region where removals companies were busiest in 2007, moving 7.3 million cubic metres of possessions. Londoners are also not short of belongings. Around 5.5 million cubic metres of items made their way between residences in the capital last year - enough to occupy 57,124 Routemaster buses. If all the possessions moved in London were placed in London Eye capsules, the Ferris wheel would need to be 597km tall. By contrast, the Welsh are used to far more minimalistic living. Only 1.9 million cubic metres of household goods were moved in Wales last year.

The volume of possessions the removals industry moved in England and Wales in 2007 would fill:

* 17,235 Olympic size swimming pools
* 6 Millennium Domes (O² Arena)
* 72 Canary Wharf Towers (One Canada Square)

What's more:

* Laid end to end (one metre in width), the removals possessions of England and Wales in 2007 could make a baggage train enough to circle the earth

For further information:

Tom Urpeth - 020 7845 7900

Notes:

* The Clockwork Group is a leading removals company providing household removals and commercial relocation services throughout the UK, Europe and other locations worldwide

* Founded in 1989, London-based Edwards Removals - part of the Clockwork Group - has been awarded the Royal Warrant and has provided transportation services for the Royal Household's personal effects and provisions for the last six years

* The Clockwork Group employs around 350 people throughout the UK, and carried out over 3000 removals in London alone in 2007

* The Clockwork Group was awarded the Excellence in Edinburgh Award in 2007

* The Clockwork Group provides fully-secured containerised storage services, in addition to self-storage facilities, for temporary or long-term storage

The Wriglesworth Consultancy
Wellington House
125 Strand
London WC2R OAP

Tel: 020 7845 7900