How to plan your office move

Moving offices is a big moment for any company. Naturally, you want the move to be as swift and stress-free as possible, letting you get back to your normal state of work sooner rather than later. Whether you have moved offices before or are doing so for the first time, this guide will take you through the steps necessary to plan your office move. Moving offices is the perfect opportunity to re-evaluate what is and is not working within your current work space and hopefully once the move is complete you can throw an office warming party of your own.

Planning ahead

You do not want to find yourself scrabbling to come up with a plan hours before the removal men arrive. It is there essential that you come up with a checklist and stick to it methodically. You can create a timeline of what you want done by what date and present this to your staff. They will be your best critics in terms of what is feasible. A small office may take around three months to move whilst a larger office may take between six to eight months. You should ask your employees what issues they have with the current office. The suggestions they make will ensure you get the most out of your new space.

Be aware of when the lease for your old office ends and when the lease for your new office begins. You do not want to end up with all your office equipment, pounding on the doors of the new premises!

Keeping everybody informed

You of course need to keep your employees aware of the move date and any implications that may have. If there are any significant changes you should also let your staff know. Delegate responsibility amongst your staff to make the move is as efficient as possible and more importantly, fun. After all this is a celebration of your expanding business! It is important to have an open dialogue about the move with your staff because if you’re moving more than a few streets away it may affect how they go to work every day.

Keep clients and business partners informed about your move – let them know the date of your move, the new address and when you will be ready to resume business. Equally important is letting your customer base know that you are moving – you do not want to lose any in the process of moving.

Services, contracts and policies

Transfer your existing phone and internet account to the new office if you have been happy with their service. If not, it is perfect time to find somebody new. Similarly the businesses licenses, insurance policy and equipment leases are all things that may need to be reviewed and updated appropriately. The prospect of a move can often result in favourable terms when renewing or updating such policies and contracts.

Contact utility companies for the offices water, heating and electricity. Speak to the site owner for details about existing utility contracts in the building.

Preparation

You will need to gain building access, not only for yourself every time you visit the premises but also for anyone you may hire externally, such as designers, contractors or consultants.

As well as keeping in touch with the owner of office premises you should try and get a hold of the floor blueprints. This will allow you to work out how much space you have to work with as well as showing you where electrical sockets, storage spaces etc are located.

You shouldn’t move without the having the knowledge of where everything is going to end up in the new premises. When everything is moved in you do not want the stress of then deciding where everything goes. Even if the premise is relatively small you may still need the help of a space planner or designer.

Only when all construction to the premises has been finalised and completed will you be ready to move. You do not want to have builders working whilst you are trying to run a business.

Out with the old, in with the new

It is likely that your business and your employees will have amassed a large amount of material that can be thrown away. Create an inventory of essential things to be moved and go through what is left. Throwaway (recycle if you can) any unnecessary items.

Employees should be responsible for moving their personal possessions and if your business has several departments you can have the department manager delegate responsibilities. If the business is small it could well be the case of all hands to deck!

Budget

Come up with a budget and stick to it as best you can. You should consider all dimensions of this calculation such as decorators, consultants and of course the removal costs. Even if you are only moving up the street it will still be necessary to hire a professional removals company to move larger office equipment such as printers or desks.

Finding the right removal company

Be at the new premises when the removal company arrive as they will want to move the office items as quickly as possible, especially if you’re on a busy street.

Unless you have very little to move or are on ground floor, you will need to hire company offering a full office to office service. Whether using Shiply or an alternative, it is essential to thoroughly interview any potential companies. They should be fully aware of all the details of the move beforehand and preferably you should be able to have a meeting with them in the new premises so that they’re aware of what the basic layout will be. Give them the blueprints to the building so they can assess whether moving some of the larger items will be feasible.

You should find out whether the removal company has adequate insurance to cover the damage of your items. It would be best to hire a company with a proven history of successful office moves and if possible a company which deals exclusively with house and office moves.

You will need to package each item before the removal companies move them to your new office. You can follow this helpful guide to packing office items to fully prepare for your big move.