Blog

Blog

Latest Blogs

contact call+44 (0)207 540 6500
Moving Office? Here are the top tips you need to know.

Moving Office? Here are the top tips you need to know.

So, you’ve decided to move office for your growing company, but where do you start? The logistics of office relocation can be vast and require advanced planning in order to complete to a reasonable budget and time scale.


Step 1: Plan

Decide on a realistic deadline for when you’d like to move and set aside a budget. You want your move to be organised to a standard where your day to day business will remain unaffected and the move will be conducted seamlessly. Speak to a Professional relocation company who will be able to advise you on the best approach, completion timescales and costs free of charge. They will provide you with the knowledge, expertise and resources you need to ensure the move is completed as efficiently as possible and to the standard that you require.

Step 2: Set a Budget

Relocating an entire office can be a costly affair and, without a good budget plan, spending can get out of control, especially if you haven’t done it before or if the move isn’t organised professionally. A reputable relocation partner will be able to advise you on a realistic budget at no charge; this will be based on the size of the move and your time requirements, saving you any nasty surprises down the road. 

Some overheads to consider include: 

Insurance premiums, fire assessments, fit out expenses, cabling and IT relocation charges, new furniture installation as well no-longer-needed asset disposal fees. There’s also the potential cost of additional security for the duration of the office move as well as temporary storage. If you have specialist equipment or works of art, moving them could incur additional handling costs which should be included in the budget. Finally, accessibility limitations, such as the lack of lifts, can add to the labour costs of your move.

Helpful tips: 


•Make sure to budget an additional 15% for items you might have forgotten about, or unexpected surprises. 
•Don’t forget to budget for the potential cost of refurbishing the space you’re vacating as required by your tenancy agreement. 
•Do your homework on vacating deadlines which can sometimes incur further costs.
•Arrange security for your old premises. Things can often go missing amidst the chaos, which can prove costly. 

Step 3: Nominate a Move Champion

Your office move is going to be complicated and full of logistic issues that you might not have considered. Having a move champion in place means that there will be constant point of contact for your staff to refer to if they have questions or concerns about the upcoming relocation and prevent any nasty surprises or delays because staff weren’t informed about what they were expected to do or prepare for. 

In addition, you will also need to nominate someone to manage the packing and de-cluttering process as well as organising and labelling the moving crates ahead of pickup. If key staff have holidays booked you’ll have to arrange someone else to take over their moving duties, especially if they’re coordinating other members of your team. This person will also need to available on the day to handle unexpected problems or questions. 

Step 4: Let people know what to expect  

Communication is critical with any complicated project so keeping everyone well informed will make people feel more in control and less stressed. 
Consider putting together a temporary office move newsletter with updates and news on the new site and how it’s coming along, as well as perks they can expect once you’re moved in. This will keep people excited about the change and alleviate any of the stress involved in the change. Finally, give them the means to provide feedback and ask as many questions as possible about what they can expect. 
Other than your staff it’s also a good idea to let your customers and associates know what’s coming ahead of time. This will avoid unexpected visits, requests or deliveries at inconvenient times and let landlords, suppliers and other stakeholders know what to expect and plan ahead. 

Step 5: Plan your new space

Make sure you assign a fit-out company that offers a complete project management solution, qualified to organise all the parties involved in the move, saving you both time and money.
A large office relocation company will be able to plan your space for you, offering the best configuration for your layout as well as provide you with the type of furniture you require in order to get the best use out of your available space, especially if you’re fast growing. They will work closely with you to assess your furniture requirements and look at how the different areas of your business interact and integrate with each other on a day-to-day basis. Established relocation professionals have in-depth knowledge of workplace needs and will be able to identify where break areas, quiet rooms, hot-desking sections, meeting spaces and storage solutions will be needed in order to propose the right types of furniture to meet your requirements. 

Step 6: Organise your IT move

IT relocation can be one of the most complex and tedious parts of moving office. Each staff member’s set up will have particular specifications which will need to be recreated at the new site and which requires a high level of planning.
The right relocation company will be able to discuss your needs and find out what you’ll need going forward and support you with a full photographic audit of all desktop settings of IT equipment ahead of decommissioning and packing. They will then ensure that all components are safely packed and labelled before relocation, at which point you should ensure that the audit trail is complete and correct before recommissioning. 
If you’re in a Management position make sure to have a meeting with all your department heads in order to discuss what particular requirements each division has. For example your Head of IT will have different concerns than your FD and all will need to be accommodated to complete on time and on budget.  When it comes to servers that host business critical data, special moving considerations need to put in place so that they’re quickly and safely relocated to ensure that your company experiences minimal downtime. 

These are a few of the main considerations you need to keep in mind for your upcoming move. Following our advice should help you keep your office move costs down and let you know what to expect. 

Keep checking back with us for more tips and advice or call us today for a one to one chat about your needs.
 

Previous Article Why have we rebranded and what does it mean to our customers?
Next Article What is the impact of the workspace on modern employees?
Print