Office relocation means a little something different for everyone. For some, it’s a time of new opportunities and growth, while for others, it’s a time laden with stress. If your office is planning to move, there are several things to consider. Finding a new space, logistics, and even the safety of your employees are all stressful circumstances — but they don’t have to be.
Our ultimate guide to office relocation will cover everything you need to make your move as smooth as possible.
No matter if you’re planning to move a small office or an entire corporate headquarters, make sure to read our complete guide to reduce stress and achieve success!
Planning Your Office Move — a MH Removals’ Tips for Relocation
Why Are You Planning to Move Your Office?
While moving offices can be a stressful step forward, it can also be the best thing for your business. Before you begin the preliminary planning of your next office move, ensure that you and your team are all on the same page. Your employees should understand why they’re moving offices, but also the potential hurdles that come with it. Here are the most common reasons for relocation:
- Attracting New Talent. Moving from a small town to a big city will attract new talent looking for work, bolstering your workforce and creating a blossoming innovative environment.
- Closer to Customers and Partners. Most businesses want to be easy to reach for their customers and partners. A new office location could put you closer to the people who matter most to your business.
- Room to Grow. If your office is in an area with many successful businesses, your business could get noticed too. This could lead to exciting opportunities to grow and develop.
- Save on Rent. Landlords often raise the rent every year. If you find this is becoming too expensive, moving offices could help you cut costs. You could find a cheaper building to rent or even buy your own place.
Assign an Office Move Coordinator
Choose someone to be in charge of the big tasks when moving to a new office. While it might seem like an office or project manager could fit this role, we advise against relying solely on your employees for the move, as it impacts morale and productivity. Instead, the ideal Move Manager should have experience in overseeing relocations — ideally, a professional from your chosen moving company.
Plan a Timeline for Key Office Relocation Steps
Identify all crucial dates related to the office move. Enter these significant milestones into a shared digital calendar and alert all relevant individuals. Examples of such critical steps could include:
- The end of your current lease
- Preparing all office items for transport
- Clearing the building of personal belongings
- Signing a lease contract at the new place
- Finalizing the date of moving the office
Feel free to include any other tasks you consider vital for your office relocation in the calendar.
Dissect the Costs of Relocation
When finding out how much it’ll cost to relocate, consultations and price browsing is key. Start off by dissecting all the potential expenses that your business will pay when moving offices.
Once you have a good estimate of your expenses, relocation becomes more manageable as you begin to discuss the pre-move, moving, and post-move portions of your office relocation.
Understand Your Storage Needs
Storage is crucial when moving offices. Companies will often downplay the amount of storage they need, which can increase costs in the long run. Determining how much storage your business will need depends on whether you’re planning to downsize, remodel, or account for unexpected delays.
If you’re planning to move a complete stock of your office’s inventory, then finding reliable storage is essential to ensure that your items are moved without any issues.
Select a Reliable Office Removal Service
Once you’ve spoken with your team, determined costs, and understand your storage needs, the next step is to speak to office removal services. Don’t be fooled by lofty promises or “too good to be true” calls that eventually lead to inferior services.
Instead, dedicate time to speak to and scrutinise as many office movers as you can. Here are some tips you can follow to find reliable relocation experts:
- Search for Companies with Professionally Crafted Websites. A well-crafted website is a blessing for those searching for quality relocation services. Not only do they offer all the necessary information you need to make an informed decision, but the aesthetic and UI (user interface) make retrieving that information a breeze.
- Always Choose Veteran Removalists. Companies that have been in the game for several years are the way to go if you want your relocation experience to be seamless. Newer companies are still finding their stride, and often lack the processes and staff necessary to make removals an experience tailored to your needs.
- Always Review Before Your Book. Sometimes reviews can lead you astray, but generally, using trusted platforms like Google Reviews is a great way to get a read on a company before you book their services. Ignore websites or platforms that offer spammy and bought reviews, as these can give a false impression of the company.
- Verify Insurance Coverage. Any potential removal company must offer insurance for your office items. This gives you peace of mind that, should any items be damaged or broken, your business will be duly compensated.
- Discuss Packing Arrangements. Professional movers should not object if you decide to handle the packing and unpacking yourself. This might affect the terms of the insurance, but such details can be discussed between your moving manager and the removal company’s representative.
- Seek Fixed Quotes. A reliable removal service will provide you with a precise quote for the services you want to engage.
Set Your Office Moving Communication Plan Into Motion
Now is the time to officially announce the office relocation to all relevant parties, starting with your employees. Send out a notification to everyone in the company.
Consider creating a Google Form to address all potential FAQs, share it widely, process the feedback, and take necessary actions to ensure everyone is well-informed about the relocation process.
Hold meetings to provide opportunities for face-to-face dialogue with your staff. Some might prefer this as a means of voicing their feedback, concerns, and ideas on the relocation process and leaving the old office.
Design the New Office Interior
- Are you planning for growth? If so, organise more free space in your office environment.
- What is the purpose of each office area?
- How do you envision the new workspace?
- The inclusion of any additional features will also affect the interior design plan.
- Discuss furniture options in detail. Operational needs and space availability are crucial, so take time to create a thorough space utilisation plan.
- Measure the new office’s dimensions accurately.
- Engage professional interior designers to create a plan for the new office.
Address IT Hardware & Software Changes
Engage your IT department to discuss changes in IT equipment at the new site after the moving process. Consider the following:
- Will you buy or sell office equipment?
- Does your current hardware require excessive maintenance?
- Is any software you use linked to the physical office address? If so, adjustments will be necessary.
- Conduct a survey to identify any additional IT equipment needs among office employees. Consider the budget for these within your moving budget.
- Discuss the possible disposal of outdated files and paperwork, rather than transporting them to the new office.
- Confirm with the removalists about their capability to safely transport IT hardware, especially servers. Make necessary arrangements to prevent data loss, a common and potentially costly issue during IT hardware removal.
Select an Ideal New Office
When researching cost-effective areas in London to rent and move to, select several suitable addresses and discuss these with management. Once a few options are approved, inform your employees. When relocating your business, it’s common for some of the employees to face commuting difficulties or even question leaving the current space. It’s important to assess those beforehand.
If only a few employees find the new location inconvenient, consider offering personal compensation, such as:
- Additional income for transportation/fuel
- Free public transport pass
- Subsidized accommodation in the area
- The option to work from home, etc.
Ensure you consult the company’s stakeholders about the new premises. If there’s no consensus, a vote may be necessary.
Consider hiring a broker if nobody within the company has sufficient real estate market experience. Although this will incur additional costs, it might prove a worthwhile investment in the long run.
Establish Your Budget
Precisely planning your moving budget is crucial to avoid unnecessary expenditures in terms of human resources, finances, and time. Effective internal communication is essential for accurately calculating costs.
Research all factors that could impact your moving costs, consulting all relevant employees and the Moving Manager. Some of the major factors to consider when setting a relocation budget include:
- Costs for moving supplies
- Removal service charges
- Removal insurance costs
- Financial losses incurred during downtime, from the start of the move until completion. Every company should carefully calculate the potential impact of downtime during the move.
Got Everything to Move to the Office?
At MH Removals, we securely handle moving projects of varying scales, specialising in commercial and office moves. We trust that you found value in our office relocation guide. Feel free to reach out to us for a personalised quote and to learn more about our array of additional services.