Lockwell International

6.5

based on 30
Sirelo and Google reviews

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Compare Lockwell International with other removal companies from London

What customers are saying

Price (6)

Packing of furniture (4)

Efficient (3)

Unprofessional (5)

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Services

International removals

National moving

Piano transport

Associations

IAM

BAR

About

Lockwell International Ltd is a removal company providing high quality local, national, European and international removals from all areas of the United Kingdom. Our Overseas removal services are regarded as some of the best in the industry, whether moving out from or in to the UK.

We are a new dynamic company established in 2021 by a group of moving professionals with over 30 years of combined experience. The team at Lockwell International have pulled together as a synchronised team to offer customer excellence in moving and to ensure every customer receives the best service whether you are moving across the road or around the globe.Read more

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Sirelo asks...

What makes your company stand out?

Our values include providing moving services through social and ethical means whilst offsetting our carbon footprint to ensure a more sustainable future. Since beginning of 2023 Lockwell has reduced plastic usage by 95%. Reeducating our team in using paper based heavy duty wrapping and protection not only to help our environment, but it also provides more robust protection to our customer belongings. Lockwell no longer use vinyl PVC based tape and instead now use reinforced recycled paper tape.

What is your insurance policy? How do you deal with damaged items?

We are fully insured with both Goods in Transit and Public Liability Insurances, so that you know your belongings are covered and secure whilst in our care. For international moves we offer MoveProtect which is a product specifically incorporates the specifics of overseas moving requirements.

What is the best advice you would give to customers?

-Book your removal in advance. -Trust the Company you employ. -Take advantage of the knowledge your Move Coordinator can assist with. -Read the FIDI and IAM country guides. -Understand the terms and conditions of your move, what is and is not included. -Book with a BAR registered company for your peace of mind.

Have you moved with this company?

We'd love to hear about your experience.

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Reviews

6.5

based on 30
Sirelo and Google reviews

How is the review score calculated?

Trish Karia Patel

October 4, 2026

on Sirelo

AVOID LOCKWELL INTERNATIONAL. I cannot stress this strongly enough.

We paid Lockwell approximately £6,000 for an end-to-end international relocation from the UK to Dubai. What followed was months of misinformation, broken promises, unanswered communications and ultimately thousands of pounds in additional costs simply to recover and deliver our own belongings.

Moving country is one of the biggest things a family can do. You hand a removals company virtually everything you own and trust them to move your life from one country to another. We were relocating with a small child and entrusted Lockwell with almost the entire contents of our family home.

We left the UK at the end of June. Before leaving, we had been led to believe our shipment would be collected and shipped considerably earlier than it actually was.

It wasn’t.

After we left the country, communication deteriorated dramatically. Calls were made, callbacks were repeatedly promised and never happened, emails went unanswered and dates kept moving.

Our belongings did not actually leave the UK until August.

For around two months after leaving the country, we had no reliable idea where virtually the entire contents of our home were.

Furniture. Clothes. Our child’s belongings. Everything we needed to establish our home in Dubai.

We had paid a professional international removals company specifically so that we would NOT have to manage international freight ourselves.

Instead, we were left trying to work out where our own possessions were.

We discovered the seriousness of the situation ourselves

One of the most shocking aspects of this experience was that Lockwell did not proactively tell us what was happening to their business or what this meant for our shipment.

We started investigating for ourselves.

We looked up Lockwell International Ltd on Companies House and discovered serious warning signs in the company’s public filings, including overdue statutory filings and compulsory strike-off action.

It was only after WE raised what we had discovered with Lockwell that we finally received any meaningful acknowledgement that there was a serious problem.

Even then, the response was abysmal.

Eventually, Lockwell wrote to affected customers saying that its cash flow had collapsed, that it no longer had the operational capacity to service shipments and that it could not pay agents or release affected goods without external financial intervention.

Imagine discovering the severity of the situation surrounding the company holding virtually everything you own by investigating public company records yourself, rather than being proactively contacted by the company you had paid thousands of pounds to manage your move.

Then we discovered suppliers hadn’t been paid

Once our container reached Dubai, we discovered directly from the freight forwarder that Lockwell had not paid them for our movement.

Because of that non-payment, the documentation required to release the shipment was being withheld.

So despite already paying Lockwell approximately £6,000 for an END-TO-END service, the customers sharing our container ultimately had to pay the outstanding freight costs ourselves for a second time simply to obtain the documentation and regain control of our possessions.

And it didn’t end there.

Acorn Movers LLC was Lockwell’s appointed destination agent in Dubai.

We discovered that Acorn had not been properly provided with the documentation/information required to complete our shipment and, as we understood the situation, had not been paid by Lockwell either.

So Lockwell had taken our payment for an end-to-end move, but when our belongings finally reached Dubai, neither the freight arrangements nor the destination arrangements necessary to complete that service had been properly funded.

At that point, our trust in anything connected with the original arrangement had completely disappeared.

We refused to continue relying on it and appointed our own independent destination agent in Dubai.

We then had to rescue our own shipment

From that point onwards, we essentially had to do ourselves what we had already paid Lockwell to do.

We:

• tracked down the freight forwarder ourselves
• found other customers whose belongings were inside our shared container
• created a customer group and coordinated between ourselves
• established who was named on the shipping documentation
• paid the outstanding freight costs
• obtained the Bill of Lading/Sea Waybill
• dealt directly with MSC
• secured the Delivery Order
• appointed our own destination agent in Dubai
• arranged customs clearance and inspection
• arranged final delivery ourselves

Read that again.

We paid a professional international removals company approximately £6,000 for an end-to-end international relocation and then had to organise and pay to rescue and complete that relocation ourselves.

It cost us thousands more

The financial consequences weren’t limited to paying shipping and destination costs again.

Because of Lockwell’s delays, repeatedly inaccurate information and complete lack of reliable communication about when our belongings would actually arrive, we spent thousands of pounds extra on temporary accommodation.

We could not properly move into our home without our belongings.

Had we been given honest, reliable information about what was happening and when our shipment would actually arrive, we could at least have planned accordingly.

Instead, dates moved, information changed and we were repeatedly left unable to make informed decisions about our own family’s relocation.

The human side appears to have been completely forgotten

This is the part I find hardest to forgive.

International relocation isn’t simply moving boxes.

People are moving their lives.

There are children involved. Jobs starting. Temporary accommodation being paid for. New homes waiting to be lived in. Children’s belongings, furniture and possessions with enormous practical and sentimental value sitting somewhere in the international freight system.

Lockwell knew we were moving country with a young child.

Yet at the point when we most needed communication, honesty and support, we experienced silence, broken promises and nowhere near the level of empathy, remorse or accountability I would expect from a company entrusted with people’s homes.

I was subsequently informed directly by the freight forwarder that, while significant sums relating to customer shipments remained unpaid, Lockwell’s owner had also asked them to release a friend’s shipment destined for Los Angeles.

I did not personally witness that request and therefore cannot speak to its full circumstances. But after everything we and other paying customers were going through, being told this was incredibly upsetting.

We were NOT the only family

Through trying to recover our shipment, I connected with numerous other affected Lockwell customers.

Customers ended up creating their own support network because we were getting more useful information from one another than from the company we had paid.

People shared container numbers, shipping information, freight contacts and advice about how to locate and recover their belongings.

Even now, after finally receiving our own possessions, I still have Lockwell customers messaging me asking for help recovering theirs.

That should never have been necessary.

Customers should not have had to become investigators, freight coordinators and support networks for one another because the company they paid was no longer completing the job.

Please do your due diligence

I would strongly urge anyone considering using Lockwell International, Lockwell Movers UAE or any future/related business involving the people behind these operations to conduct thorough independent due diligence.

Check the actual legal entity.

Check Companies House or the equivalent company register.

Check who the directors are.

Check the company’s filing history.

Check recent reviews.

Ask who will actually hold your money.

Ask which freight forwarder and destination agent will be used.

And ask what protection exists if those suppliers are not paid.

The current Companies House record for Lockwell International Ltd identifies [Name removed by Sirelo] as the company’s sole director. I would encourage prospective customers to research the individuals behind any removals company they are considering rather than assuming that a different company or trading name necessarily means a completely unrelated operation.

I will not speculate publicly about what any individual may or may not do in future. I can only tell you what happened to our family and urge people to check who is behind the business before handing over their money and possessions.

If you’re currently stuck with a Lockwell shipment in Dubai, this may help you

There IS something positive I can take from this nightmare.

Once we took control of our shipment, we independently appointed Maina Global in Dubai. Ask to speak to [Name removed by Sirelo].

I cannot recommend them highly enough.

They immediately understood the situation and urgency. They were transparent about what actually needed to be done and, importantly after everything we had experienced, did not try to take advantage of our desperation by creating unnecessary delays or adding unnecessary costs.

Once we had secured the necessary shipping documentation, they got us from the port, through customs clearance and inspection and ultimately to delivery at our home within FIVE DAYS.

Five days.

After months of uncertainty.

So if you’re another affected Lockwell customer whose belongings are sitting at Jebel Ali or elsewhere in Dubai and you don’t know where to start, contact Maina Global and ask for [Name removed by Sirelo]. I wish somebody had been able to give us that advice weeks earlier.

We finally got our home back, but Lockwell did not deliver it

Our belongings are finally with us.

But I want to be crystal clear:

They are not here because Lockwell eventually completed the end-to-end service we paid them for.

They are here because we and other affected customers took control of the situation ourselves, paid money that should already have been paid, tracked down the companies involved, secured the documentation, found incredibly helpful individuals within the shipping chain and appointed another company to finish the job.

We paid Lockwell approximately £6,000.

We then spent thousands more dealing with the consequences.

We lost countless hours chasing people, researching international freight and trying to recover our own possessions.

And what should have been an exciting chapter for our family, moving to Dubai and settling into our new home, became one of the most stressful parts of the entire relocation.

Based on our experience, I would never recommend Lockwell International and would never entrust them with an international relocation.

We trusted them with our money, our possessions and an enormously important part of our family’s move.

That trust was completely destroyed.Read more

Packing of furniture

Failure to comply

Moved from London (United Kingdom) to Dubai (United-Arab Emirates)

Sabina

September 22, 2026

on Sirelo

Great communication and accommodation until you've paid in full... then absolutely unreachable and they don't send your shipment. Currently going through the courts to obtain both my money and my possessions, a complete farce of a company and I will be fighting til the end.

Failure to comply

Moved from Essex (United Kingdom) to Port Of Spain (Trinidad and Tobago)

C.J.Q.S.

September 17, 2026

on Sirelo

Mostly good, however there are batches of radio silence from them that are concerning. Very flexible with the payment which is a major plus

Moved from Wembley (United Kingdom) to George Town (Cayman Islands)

Naweed A

September 16, 2026

on Sirelo

I booked Lockwell International for a door-to-door move from London, UK to Manama, Bahrain. Everything was fine at the start. The deposit was paid in February 2026, and the packing and collection went smoothly on 24 March 2026.

On 29 April, Lockwell asked me for a substantial extra payment for 'alternative routing' because of the regional situation. I paid this on 21 May, once they confirmed a new container was ready.

In June, Lockwell told me my goods were loaded into container HAMU 2305913. After that, communication stopped completely. Emails, calls and WhatsApp messages went unanswered for weeks. The British Association of Removers (BAR) also contacted them on my behalf and got no response. A visit to their Rainham office found that it appeared to have been vacated.

I contacted Hapag-Lloyd, the shipping line, myself. They confirmed the container was unloaded at Jebel Ali, Dubai, has not left the terminal, and needs a clearing agent to clear it. Lockwell has still not given me the Bill of Lading or the name of the agent handling my goods.

On 11 September, after I told Lockwell I had reported the matter to Report Fraud, they finally replied. They said they are unable to pay supplier and agent invoices needed to release current and incoming containers, and that customers must pay the agents directly. They promised instructions 'over the weekend'. None arrived, and they have gone silent again.

My household goods are sitting uncleared at the port while charges build up, and I have no Bill of Lading, no agent contact and no delivery plan.

If you are another Lockwell customer with goods stuck at Jebel Ali or elsewhere, please get in touch. Sharing information, especially the name of the agent in Dubai, may help all of us recover our belongings.

Until this is resolved, I would strongly advise anyone planning an international move to choose a different company.Read more

Price

Unprofessional

Moved from Ilford (United Kingdom) to Manama (Bahrain)

Dominic Power

September 15, 2026

on Sirelo

I’ve had a very similar experience to other recent reviewers. The exact same thing has happened - our shipment is in transit, and Lockwell have ceased all contact and are completely unreachable.

What’s strange is that I used Lockwell for another move a few years ago and they were fantastic, no issues. Something has clearly happened to the company and they have chosen to leave their customers in the lurch. I will pursue every avenue available to me to both get my possessions back and hold Lockwell accountable for their scummy behaviour.

It goes without saying but do not use this company.

Nothing

Everything

Moved from Princeton (United States) to Oxford (United Kingdom)

N.P.

August 27, 2026

on Sirelo

Unresponsive and missing shipment – Do not use for international moves

I am writing this review out of sheer frustration as Lockwell International has completely cut off communication regarding my international move from London, UK to Dubai.
I sent 3 shipments separately, the first of which was organised in March 2026. The regional tensions broke out at an unfortunate time which delayed things but communication was poor during this time. Once the vessel was on the move in June, we have been tracking our items carefully and they are now in Jebel Ali, Dubai according to the tracking link. Despite being there for over 2 weeks we have not been contacted nor have we been able to get in touch with anyone at Lockwell to advise us of the process and next steps. I managed to speak to a third party who said they are awaiting clearance documents/payment and a Bill of lading from Lockwell, neither of which have been received.

We are ready to receive our items but the company has now completely stopped answering my messages despite numerous attempts, calls and voicemails.
Leaving a customer completely in the dark about their entire life's possessions is completely unacceptable and unprofessional. I have no idea where my items are or if they are even safe. I am tracking my second and third shipments closely however have very little faith that it will be a smooth journey for these boxes too.

If management is reading this, please contact me immediately regarding Job/Reference Number 20481.
Until this is resolved and my items are delivered, I strongly advise anyone looking to move internationally to look elsewhere.Read more

Moved from London (United Kingdom) to Dubai (United-Arab Emirates)

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Lockwell International

About

Sirelo asks...

What makes your company stand out?

What is your insurance policy? How do you deal with damaged items?

What is the best advice you would give to customers?

Reviews

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