If you are sending a valuable item and just don’t know where to start – then head for the experts on Elm Row.
Working from Leith Walk has had a few challenges during the period of the tram works, but Javaid Akhtar is a very cheery individual, and happily enthusiastic about his thriving business which he set up there eight years ago.
He has recently increased staff numbers at Pack & Send by two new employees to help keep up with demand.
Javaid owns one of only two Pack & Send outlets in Scotland.
Pack & Send literally does what it says – you arrange for something to be delivered to them – or they will pick it up anywhere in Scotland. Then the creativity begins – their time served cabinet maker, Darren Kilbride, will produce a beautiful precision made box for your precious item if that is what is needed.
And when their specialist packers have used enough bubble wrap and other packing materials to keep it safe on its journey, the parcel can be sent using any number of couriers anywhere in the world by carrier – with a full warranty.
So if your sculpture is worth say £20,000 then Javaid and his staff will make a lovely wooden box for it to travel in to its destination. And if anything unfortunate happens en route the firm offers a full guarantee.
Javaid said: “We specialise in what we do. The high value of the items we send is often a concern for people who want to despatch them and that is where we come in.”
Gary Neill, sales manager with Pack & Send, explained that the firm has been targeting auction houses, artists and art galleries as a source of new business. In particular he said that they had made more headway with independent commissioning artists who either create a specially demanded painting, sculpture or piece of furniture.
He said: “The artists create something and then they need to send it. This is where they have a dilemma because the work can either be very valuable or very delicate. The art just can’t be rolled up and popped in a tube for the journey. Our USP is that we cover our work if something horrible happens. Some of the art in our packages is worth tens of thousands of pounds. Provided we pack it we will cover it if it gets lost, stolen or damaged. This is where a lot of people have difficulty and normally would send something with a courier but it is not necessarily insured or covered.”
Gary also explained that the company manages to get discount rates from big name courier companies owing to the volume of business they put their way.
IT is one of the main items which Pack & Send have moved over the last year or so. When offices were emptied during lockdown it was left to Pack and Send to parcel up the IT equipment left behind and send it out to various members of staff – and then do the same in reverse when people went back to work. The business managed to keep them busy enough, but they also helped students move home.
Javaid said: “During the pandemic – particularly at the beginning when students were taking themselves home in droves rather than endure isolation in a university hall of residence – we were boxing up their belongings and shipping them home. Now we still offer the service – but we prefer that the students come and buy a box or two, pack them and return them to us – where they will find that the cost of buying the box is deducted from their bill to send their stuff home – anywhere in the world.”
For readers of our monthly newspaper there is a discount code which Pack & Send will apply to their advertised prices. You can read our most recent newspaper and all the back copies here.
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
