Moving offices can be extremely stressful - even more so than just moving house - so you need to be well prepared. What with decommissioning, checking the lease and putting together a business move budget, you’ll need to make sure you’ve got everything covered. Read our comprehensive Moving Offices guide to find out what to do and make use of our comprehensive business move checklist!
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Why Have a Moving Office Checklist?
Moving office is not always as straightforward as other moves. Unlike moving house, you’ll need to shift heavy furniture and expensive equipment as well as needing to think about the paperwork. You don’t want to have packed everything up to find out you missed a clause in your commercial lease! This is why having a moving office checklist is important so you can organise your entire move without leaving anything out!
In this guide, we will walk you through all the steps you need to take 6 months before you make your move. Planning in advance is crucial and it saves loads of time and effort. In addition, check out our downloadable moving office checklist below so you can get your move under control.
How Long Does It Take To Move an Office?
Moving offices is a big process and you really need to plan in advance before you start getting sorted. It is vital that you give yourself enough time to be able to move calmly and take into consideration any problems that might arise. Doing it properly, your entire moving office process could take around 6 months. Depending on where you’re moving to, the actual move could take 1 day or even the whole week!
Planning to move offices in advance is the surest way to save on stress. It’s also important so you don’t make a mistake and leave something critical behind. Being methodical is the best way to ensure your entire company can move safely so beginning really early on is big help. You might not know where you’re moving to yet, but it’s worth taking all the time you need.
Have a Look at Your Current Lease
If you don’t own the property where your company is based, it’s a good idea to take a good look at your commercial lease before you start packing up anything. You want to make sure you are absolutely clear about what you’re responsible for and whether there’ll be any problems in leaving the property. Look out for:
Deposit
Double check to see what your lease specifies in terms of duration. If you are ending the lease before it’s up, you could lose your deposit on the property. It’s good to know whether you’ll get the deposit back long before you start your office moving so you can factor it into your costs.
Responsibility for Repairs
Make sure you know whether you need to make repairs to the property before you decide to move. It’s possible you might have to repair light bulbs, fixtures or flaky paint before you can move out. It’s best to get these repairs done beforehand so you don’t lose any of your deposit.
Other Terms
Watch out for any other terms in the lease agreement where you might need to make sure everything’s in order before you move out. It’s possible that you might overlook something that can cost you later.
Prepare for Decommissioning
Decommissioning is probably going to be your biggest job during the whole move. To decommission properly, you need to make sure that the property you’re leaving looks exactly how it did before you moved in. This sometimes includes making significant renovations to the entire site so that it looks good as new. When decommissioning, make sure you plan for:
Taking down logos
Removing or fixing fixtures
Removing cables
Replace lightbulbs
Decommissioning can take a while so you should make sure you have a plan all ready to go. Assign different groups of employees to be part of the decommissioning process and mark down once they’ve completed their part.
Set Your Moving Office Budget
Setting a moving office budget might seem a bit over the top but in fact it’s a really sensible idea. You sure make a note of all the expected expenses for moving vans and other essentials as well as considering those things you could leave behind or sell as part of downsizing. Having a budget will help you save money and keep your costs low.
Research Removals Companies
Researching removals companies is key in making sure your office move is as cost effective and smooth as possible. You should research a number of removal companies and get quotes to compare which might be the best for you. You should also pay attention to the reviews of each company so you know whether other companies had a good experience.
When looking at different removals companies, you should look out for:
The flexibility of being able to move on the weekends or outside office hours
Make a list of the different removals companies you’ve found and make sure you pick the best one for you. Sometimes it’s worth asking them if they’ve moved businesses like yours before.
With 3 months before moving office, it’s time to get a little bit clearer on what you’re planning and how you’re going to organise your move. At this point, it should be clear where you’re moving and how much you’ve got to organise for the move.
Decide a Moving Date
Deciding a moving date is one of the most important steps you can take when planning your office move. Having a moving date can give you certainty over your move and help you structure your plan accordingly. In picking the perfect day for your move, you should consider both the season and the day of the week since there are days that are more expensive than others.
Talk to Your Landlord
If you’ve decided on moving offices and you don’t own the current property, you will need to give your landlord as much notice as possible before moving out. It might stipulate how much time you need to give in the lease agreement but it’s also good to give them as much time as possible for them to find a new business tenant. Speaking with the landlord is also a good opportunity to clarify any of the requirements for ending the lease.
Get Moving Supplies
Moving supplies are vital when moving since it’ll allow you to pack up and get going as organised as possible. Gathering supplies can be very cheap if you know how to go about it, but it might be worth splashing out a little more if you’re transporting expensive equipment. In getting moving supplies, you can usually get some for free, especially if you’ve had a few employees who have moved recently. Remember to get the basic, such as:
You’ll need to set up your business energy and other utilities, such as broadband, as early as possible. Since most business energy tariffs are bespoke, you’ll find that what tariff you get will depend on the property and the type of business you’re operating. You’ll also need to schedule a disconnection with your old property so you are no longer paying for the energy there.
What is a bespoke tariff?
Since businesses and other large institutions often have specific energy needs, energy companies that deal with commercial supply usually offer bespoke tariffs to their business customers. Bespoke tariffs are tailored to your business’ requirements so you will need to look at different energy companies’ offers to find out which offer is the best.
Take a Look at Your New Premises
You should definitely take the time to check out the new premises you’re planning on moving to so you get a good idea of where everything will fit. It might also be the case that you need to get it cleaned and tidied in case it’s been left unattended for a while. This will also give you an opportunity to check out what connections there are for internet and electricity.
Moving House? Set up All Your Utilities At Once!
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1 Month Before Moving Office
A month before moving office is where things really start to get hectic. This is where your organisational skills need to go up a level in order to make sure you’ve got everything sorted for your new place.
Work Out a Floor Plan
With your team, you’ll need to make a floor plan of your new property with all the equipment and furniture you’re planning on bringing with you. You’ll need to have a good idea of where people will be sitting and where the desks and common areas will be. Having a floor plan can save time in getting organised when a moving day comes.
Sort Out Storage
If you have a lot of stuff to shift, it might be a good idea to look into temporary storage to help you save on space and time when you first move in. You should have a look around for commercial storage units and factor it into your budget.
Begin Packing
At the 1 month point, you should really consider starting to pack and in which order you are going to pack up everything. This can be tricky, but ideally you should pack all the non-essential items first before moving onto objects that have more daily uses.
Make Sure IT Are Aware
You should keep the IT department - if you have one - aware of every step of the move and include them when it comes to inspecting the facilities in the new property. You should also make sure that all the data you have is backed up and well secured before you leave.
2 Weeks Before Moving Office
2 weeks before moving office needs to be the time you have everything non-essential ready to go. It’s now time to focus on the essential items and other administrative issues such as bills and other services.
Make Sure To Update Address
Make sure to take the time to update your business address to your new property. This includes updating your utilities, taxes, and also how you appear on Google Maps. You should also take care to let other people know outside the company about your change of address so that people know where to find you.
Remind Employees To Pack Up
If you haven’t already done so, you should make sure that your employees know about the move and they are all packed up and ready to go before you leave the property. Try to give them as much notice as possible, but make sure they know what they need to bring so they can prepare.
2 Days Before Moving Office
In the last 2 days before you move, you need to make sure that you have everything arranged and ready to go. This includes having all the essentials packed and ready as well as all your employees fully packed.
It’s a good idea to finish packing and ticking everything off on your moving office checklist. You should also do a final walk through of the old property and confirm with the landlord that everything is in order and you’re ready to leave.
Moving Day
When moving day arrives, you’ll need to meet your movers at the property. Give them clear instructions as to how you want them to start removing the furniture and equipment and listen to their recommendations when it comes to some of the more technical objects. You should provide them with refreshments - it can be thirsty work moving an entire office!
After everything’s been moved out, do one last final sweep of the property before handing the keys back to the landlord. Remember to check through everything just to make sure you haven't left anything behind.
After Moving Office
Although you’ve managed to get everything out of the property, you’ll need to unpack everything at your new property! You should let the movers help you to put everything in place and use your floor plan as a guide as to where the furniture goes. You need to make sure that when you unpack all the technology and check that everything is working as you would expect.
Celebrate!
And don’t forget to celebrate with your team! It’s a big achievement moving an entire office to somewhere new so you should celebrate with everyone at the company so you can begin a new era in your new premises!
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