Transporting a person’s possessions to a new house and maybe to a new city is a moving company’s core business, and it’s highly specialized work.

If the movers are on contract to the householder’s employer, there’s the added requirement of understanding a corporation’s long-term needs in regard to relocating some of its workforce on a regular basis.

That important line of business is one of the specialties of AMJ Campbell, Canada’s largest corporate movers.

“We deal with huge contracts – Imperial Oil and some of the larger corporations, cross-border and locally, too,” says Doug Jasper, Calgary General Manager and partner of AMJ Campbell.

The AMJ Campbell team includes, from left, Pauline Hammel, Michael Smith, Doug Jasper, Marty Stanton and Richard Carr. AMJ Campbell’s professional approach has made it Canada’s largest corporate moving company.

“We move executives and their employees, not only across Canada and into the United States, but around the world as well.”

All it takes is a phone call to get things moving. “We can provide one-stop shopping in all aspects of relocation anywhere in the world,” Jasper says.

Companies who move their employees expect the best. AMJ Campbell’s operations are professional from top to bottom, with service considered the key component.

Packers and drivers all wear crisp, clean uniforms. The trucks are tidy, the equipment well maintained.

“When our people walk up to that door,” Jasper says, “Mr. and Mrs. Smith open it and see a clean face, a well-groomed person in uniform. Once they see that, they’re put at ease and the rest of the move is a breeze.”

AMJ Campbell’s presence throughout the country forms a single network of movers, all trained to the same high standards. No temporary interfacing between independent companies who might start finger-pointing and buck-passing if something goes wrong.

We’ve all heard the horror stories about fly-by-night operations that seemed a bargain to somebody initially.

“We have more than 40 locations across Canada, and that’s one of the big advantages of moving with AMJ Campbell,” Jasper explains.

“It’s an AMJ Campbell employee who comes to your door to give you an estimate, who packs your goods, loads your goods, takes (the truck) across Canada, unloads it and provides you with all the destination services.

“And if you have a problem, you phone an AMJ Campbell office and it’s an AMJ Campbell employee that answers the phone.”

Marty Stanton, a Calgary-based partner with 20 years’ experience in the business, looks after some client corporations who have 40 to 50 relocations a year.

“The accounts could be here in Calgary, but the move might be going from St. John’s, Newfoundland, to Toronto.”

Items being moved range from routine to irreplaceable, perhaps an antique dresser or a cabinet inherited from a beloved ancestor.

“When an employee’s moving, if something requires special attention, you’re dealing with the same company from coast to coast. So the customer belongs to everybody,” Stanton says.

AMJ Campbell treats its own employees well and is rewarded with long-term loyalty.

“Our turnover rate is probably the lowest in the industry,” Jasper says.

The company is also good to charities and amateur sports on a local, regional and national basis.

AMJ Campbell’s contributions to the Olympic movement built a relationship for a decade with decathlon medallist Michael Smith, considered by many to be the best all-round Canadian track-and-field athlete ever.

The three-time Olympian, three-time World Championships medallist and three-time Commonwealth Games medallist joined AMJ Campbell’s marketing team in 2003.

“They were a great sponsor of mine throughout my Olympic career,” Smith says. “When they asked me to come on board, it was an easy decision.”

Smith knew about moving as a customer because the Kenora, Ont., native has done it himself several times. As he’s been learning the business from the inside, he realizes the importance of doing it right.

“Each and every person you know has been or will be involved in a move. We try to do our very best at making that transition easy.”

Like many Canadians who watched a certain episode of CBC Television’s Venture last October, Smith was impressed by the way AMJ Campbell CEO and President Bruce Bowser rolled up his sleeves and joined some of his company’s movers. On camera and off camera, Bowser worked all day lugging boxes and furniture – something he now expects all his executives to do once a year.

Smith, though six-feet-five, jokes that when his turn comes he’ll likely work up a real sweat.

“I think some of those movers are looking for me to carry some of the heavy stuff.”

For further information call the Calgary office at 403.273.1220, fax 403.248.7479; phone toll free 1.800.661.3993 or go to www.amjcampbell.com/branches/calgary.htm