Moving Office?

Have you outgrown your office? Maybe it’s time to lease a new business premises? There are a number of extra considerations when moving office in comparison to moving home. Usually when moving your business you will be taking a higher volume of movables with IT equipment, office furniture as well as any fixtures and fittings you may want to take with you. One lorry load is not going to cut it for a growing business, therefore, there is a need for coordinated logistics when carrying out removals of this size. There is also a higher value associated with the loads businesses are looking to transport than with residential removals which is why you must be careful when selecting your office removals company in terms of adequate insurance cover and experience. Talk to us today to find out how we can help you with your next move. Read more about the ins and outs of an office move below.

Timetable your move

Moving your business can create a fairly substantial disruption to your daily activities, so be sure to timetable key stages of your move so that your business can continue to operate and fulfil requirements during this time. You need to account for:

Viewing new premises
Cancelling of rental/ lease agreements or sale of buildings
Contacting and notifying your service providers
A contingency plan

Your Budget

How much can you afford to spend? There are more than just removal and re-fitting costs associated with office relocation. There is potential for equipment and furniture upgrades as well as communication and data installations. You will need to change your postal address once you move, and optionally you can change your phone number too. There is also the cost of your staff if they are unwilling to relocate and therefore you may incur recruitment costs. Lastly, there is any lost revenue you need to account for as a result of temporary business shutdown.

Keep People in the Loop

Communication is key at every stage of the relocation. Make announcements regularly and involve your staff as much as possible to encourage their input and views on the move. Tell your staff your expectations of them, offer support and consult managers on floor plans of the new premises.

The Move

Assign a project manager to deal with organising all aspects of the move and responsibility over the moving period. Sometimes office moves can take from a couple days to a week to complete so this needs to be managed correctly and may require professional help if not available internally. Recruiting staff members in-house to help with the move can cut costs and makes things easier by allocating people from their respective departments to track important documentation and business collateral.

Shout About It

A company relocation is a big deal and incurs a large expense. So make sure you publicise your move to all your customers, suppliers and partners. Let them know where you are moving to and why. Tell all the important authorities including the Inland Revenue, Companies House, your bank, your insurance company and potentially your local council if necessary. It’s a great opportunity to promote yourself, so tweet, Instagram, share, advertise and blog about your move. Update stationery, business cards, client and supplier communications and anything that needs editing for your change of address. Give your employees a tour of your new digs and promote all the local amenities i.e. gyms, transport links, shops and restaurants.