Man and Van in Silvertown, Trusted Local Experts Serving E16 and East London

We handle all types of moves in Silvertown including new-build riverside apartment relocations at Royal Wharf and Britannia Village, warehouse conversion removals, post-war family home moves, modern apartment relocations close to Pontoon Dock DLR station, office and studio relocations across the Royal Docks commercial area, single item collections and furniture deliveries across E16 and the surrounding East London areas.

Silvertown takes its name from a specific person and a specific factory in a way that is entirely typical of the Victorian industrial communities that grew up along the Thames in East London — the name came first from the factory, and the factory gave it to the neighbourhood. In 1852 Samuel Winkworth Silver established a waterproof clothing and india-rubber goods factory on the Thames-side marshland south of the newly completed Royal Victoria Dock. Silver chose the location specifically because it was outside the boundary of the Metropolitan Building Act of 1843, which controlled where dangerous or noxious industries could operate within London — making the riverside marshlands of what would become Silvertown attractive to the kinds of manufacturing operations that were unwelcome closer to the city centre. The settlement that grew up around Silver's factory was known as Silver's Town, and when chemical works, petroleum depots and other industrial operations followed in the 1860s the name had already stuck. Frederic Winsor — or Friedrich Albrecht Winzler, the Bavarian co-founder of the Gas, Light and Coke Company — also had his name applied to the neighbouring Winsor Park district, another reminder of the industrial personalities who shaped this part of East London.

The Silvertown Explosion of 19 January 1917 holds the grim distinction of being the largest single explosion in the entire history of London and one of the most devastating industrial disasters in the history of the British Isles. Just before seven o'clock in the evening, a fire broke out in the melt-pot room of the Brunner, Mond and Company chemical plant in Silvertown, which had been ordered by the government to begin refining TNT for use in the First World War despite the factory being surrounded by a densely populated working-class residential area. The company had resisted the order — knowing the danger of refining high explosives in a residential location — but the pressures of wartime overrode the concerns. When the fire reached the stored TNT, 50 tonnes of high explosives detonated in an instant. The explosion was heard and seen across a vast area of East and South London, destroying a large part of the factory, the nearby grain stores and 900 local homes in the immediate vicinity. A total of between 60,000 and 70,000 buildings across a wide area of East London were damaged by the blast and the fires it started. Seventy-three people were killed and over 400 injured — many of them the children who lived in the workers' terraces surrounding the factory. The Silvertown Explosion remains the single largest loss of civilian life from an industrial accident in London's history.

Tate and Lyle's sugar refinery at Silvertown is one of the most enduring industrial presences in East London and the last continuously operational sugar refinery in the area — a direct physical connection to the Victorian docklands economy that is still producing sugar from the same Silvertown site today. The refinery has been a defining feature of the Silvertown riverside skyline for well over a century and is one of the few surviving links between the modern residential and regeneration landscape of the Royal Docks and the dense, dangerous, sweet-smelling industrial world that characterised this stretch of the Thames in its Victorian and Edwardian heyday. During the first night of the Blitz in September 1940 the Tate and Lyle sugar factory was badly damaged by bombing, the burning sugar producing a spectacular and acrid fire that lit up the East London skyline.

Millennium Mills and Silo D are two of the most historically significant and architecturally distinctive surviving industrial structures in the Royal Docks and the landmark buildings around which the major Silvertown regeneration development has been designed. Millennium Mills is an imposing 20th century flour mill on the waterfront of Pontoon Dock that was for many decades one of the most prominent structures on the Silvertown riverside — the mill produced flour from grain delivered by ship directly into the dock alongside it. Silo D is a Grade II listed modernist reinforced concrete grain silo dating from the 1920s, designed in the industrial functionalist style of the interwar period and representing one of the most architecturally remarkable surviving grain storage structures in East London. Both buildings are being sensitively restored and incorporated as the historic centrepieces of the major Silvertown development by Lendlease and Starwood Capital — a 50-acre development around Pontoon Dock that will deliver around 6,500 new homes, 1.8 million square feet of business workspace and a series of new parks, cultural venues and public waterside access points.

Parking in Silvertown requires careful advance planning, particularly in the new riverside development areas. The major residential developments at Royal Wharf, Britannia Village and the wider Silvertown Quays area have their own managed access, underground parking and concierge arrangements that require advance coordination. The Silvertown Way elevated road and the roads connecting to the Silvertown Tunnel carry heavy through traffic with restricted stopping. The areas around Pontoon Dock DLR station can be congested. Our team will advise you thoroughly in advance on the best loading and unloading approach for your specific Silvertown address, including advance coordination with building management where needed.

Absolutely. Our professional movers take care of all the heavy lifting, loading and unloading so you do not have to lift a finger. We bring the right tools and equipment to handle everything safely and efficiently, whether it is a single heavy appliance or an entire household of belongings from a new-build riverside apartment at Royal Wharf, a warehouse conversion, a post-war family home or a modern apartment close to Pontoon Dock DLR station across E16.

Yes, our man and van service in Silvertown is available seven days a week including weekends and bank holidays. We know most families and professionals prefer to move on a Saturday or Sunday and we are always here to accommodate that with no extra charges for weekend bookings across E16.

Our Silvertown man and van pricing is competitive and fully transparent. The cost depends on the size of your move, the van required and the distance involved. We always provide a clear upfront quote covering E16 and the surrounding East London postcodes with no hidden fees and nothing added on after the fact. Call 020 3773 9113 or use our online quote tool for an instant price.

Yes, we offer same-day man and van bookings in Silvertown subject to availability. Whether you have a last minute move or an urgent collection anywhere across E16, contact us as early in the day as possible and we will do everything we can to get to you on the same day.

Yes, we regularly move large and heavy items throughout Silvertown and E16 including sofas, wardrobes, beds, dining tables, white goods and gym equipment. Our team arrives with the proper tools and moving equipment to handle bulky items safely, including navigating the building access, lift arrangements and concierge systems of the new-build riverside developments at Royal Wharf and the wider Silvertown Quays area, and the layouts of post-war homes and warehouse conversions across E16.

Yes, Silvertown is served by the Docklands Light Railway at Pontoon Dock station in Zone 3, providing direct services to Canary Wharf in around 8 minutes, Bank in around 20 minutes and London City Airport in around 5 minutes. The London City Airport — physically adjacent to the Royal Docks area — is one of Silvertown's most significant and practical daily assets for frequent travellers, with flights to European cities departing directly from a station a few minutes' walk away. The recently opened Silvertown Tunnel also provides a new direct road connection under the Thames to Charlton and Greenwich in South East London, significantly reducing the journey times for Silvertown residents travelling south of the river by car. The Elizabeth line at nearby Custom House station extends Silvertown's commuter reach further, providing direct services to Liverpool Street, the West End, Paddington and Heathrow without changing.

The Silvertown Way is one of the most historically significant pieces of road infrastructure in East London and a piece of engineering that gave Silvertown a distinction among London's roads in the early 20th century. By the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Silvertown and North Woolwich had become virtually an island surrounded by water — the Royal Victoria Dock to the north and the River Thames to the south — and the area suffered from chronic traffic congestion caused by the bridges that lifted to allow ships to pass and the level crossings closed for up to three-quarters of every hour as trains moved through the industrial area. To solve this problem, the Silvertown Way was constructed in the early 1930s as an elevated road above the existing street level — one of the first purpose-built elevated urban roads in the whole of Britain — carrying traffic over the bridges and crossings that had previously caused such severe delays and effectively giving Silvertown a functioning road connection to the rest of East London for the first time.

Yes, alongside Silvertown and the E16 postcode, we cover all of the surrounding East London areas and postcodes including Custom House also in E16, North Woolwich also in E16, Canning Town also in E16, Royal Docks also in E16, Beckton in E6, Royal Wharf also in E16, Britannia Village also in E16, Pontoon Dock also in E16, East Ham in E6, Stratford in E15, Woolwich in SE18 and Thamesmead in SE28. If you are moving between any of these postcodes or from Silvertown to anywhere across London, our local E16 based team has the area knowledge to get it right first time.

Yes, we cover all areas directly surrounding Silvertown including Custom House, North Woolwich, Canning Town, Royal Docks, Beckton, Royal Wharf, Britannia Village, Pontoon Dock, London City Airport, Thames Barrier Park, East Ham, Stratford, Woolwich and Thamesmead. If you are moving between any of these areas or from Silvertown to anywhere across London, we are the local East London team to call.

Getting a quote is simple. Call us on 020 3773 9113 or use our online quote tool. Just share your collection and delivery addresses and the size of the move and we will come back to you with a clear, honest price straight away with no obligation to book.

We serve all areas surrounding Silvertown including Custom House, North Woolwich, Canning Town, Royal Docks, Beckton, Royal Wharf, Britannia Village, Pontoon Dock, London City Airport, Thames Barrier Park, East Ham, Stratford, Woolwich and Thamesmead, as well as the wider East London area across E16 and beyond.