What they do: The de luxe way to move house is to employ movers who will come, carefully pack up all your goods and then deliver and unpack the lot - not just to your new home but to the appropriate room in your new home, writes Bernice Harrison

This service is offered by several of the better removal companies but, needless-to-say, it's not a budget option. That, as every student knows, is where you jam everything into miscellaneous boxes and refuse sacks, and do several trips back and forth in your car.

Richard Lynch is positioning his new removal service somewhere between the two options. Called U Pak, his self-service idea (borrowed, he admits, from America where it's very popular), is to supply house movers with a large trailer and packing materials.

Clients have the trailer for up to 24 hours, which gives them time to pack their own furniture into it as well as use the specially provided brown boxes, tissue paper and tape to pack their smaller valuables.

Then Lynch comes back with his Jeep and tows the trailer off to the new house or apartment. An all-in price of €200 includes a move of up to 10 miles. If you're moving further than that, a reasonable-sounding mileage fee of €2 per mile applies.

"U Pak appeals to younger people who are cost conscious," says Richard, though it should also appeal to movers who simply prefer the control of packing their own stuff.

It's sometimes difficult to explain to movers that what looks like pure kitsch is in fact a valuable collection of 1960s pottery or that a mountain bike can cost several times more than Waterford glass.

There are times when you could be better off going down the self-service route. Lynch also sells packing kits from €45, which include boxes and bubble wrap for people who have their own transport and want the right material to pack their valuables.

"They are custom-built trailers that have loading ramps and come with hand trolleys to help you move heavy furniture," says Lynch, "and inside the trailer there are tie-down straps to secure the contents."

The snappy name and the smart trailers make the operation look like a franchise, which it isn't, although Lynch's own business background is in franchising - for 10 years he ran a Snap printing operation, followed by three years in sales in IT.

The only possible drawback to the service is insurance. While you can have the trailer for 24 hours, most movers - particularly apartment dwellers - won't be happy with the idea of a trailer load of their worldly goods sitting down in the car park for long periods unattended.

According to Lynch, in America it's a simple case of extending your household insurance cover to the trailer, although it's questionable whether insurers here will be so flexible.

U Pak's own insurance starts as soon as the trailer is hitched up to its jeep.

U Pak: 1-800-668464