Moving office can be stressful. From managing a business relocation budget to minimising disruption, it takes careful consideration and planning to ensure that the move goes smoothly. In fact, with so many moving parts, you might find it hard to know where to begin.
Whether you are at an early research stage or have a moving deadline looming, this moving checklist will keep you right. We will explore important reasons for moving, what office relocation involves, and take you step by step through the most logical way to make it happen.
What Does Office Relocation Involve?
Office relocation is the practical process of moving from an old office space to a new one. As part of the relocation process, it is likely that you will need to consider the following top-level categories of activity:
| Activity | What it involves |
|---|---|
| Finding a new space | Identify premises that meet your business’s needs in terms of size, location, budget, and future growth. |
| Managing suppliers | Coordinate with removal companies, utility providers, and other suppliers to ensure a smooth transition. |
| Packing supplies | Organise and label office furniture, equipment, and documents so they can be transported safely and unpacked efficiently. |
| Identifying costs | Create a relocation budget that accounts for hiring movers, fit-out expenses, unexpected costs, technology upgrades, and any potential downtime. |
| Coordinating technology systems | Plan the transfer and installation of IT infrastructure, internet services, and communication systems to minimise disruption. |
| Maintaining business operations | Develop a relocation plan that keeps essential business activities running throughout the move. |
For a comprehensive guide through your moving process, download our quintessential checklist for free.
Why Get a New Office Space?
With all the complexity of moving, it is no surprise if it seems like a daunting process. In many cases, the cost and disruption of a move might lead your business to decide to stay put for the time being. Some redecoration might be all you need. At other times, though, the case is clear: your space is no longer working for your business. Some reasons for this might include:
You need more space.
Congratulations, your business is growing! You should be celebrating, but there is no room for a party. Yes, clients have increased, but so has your staff headcount. Perhaps, even with hot desking, space is tight. Your employees are bumping into each other in the kitchen. These are all signs that it is time to get a bigger office.
You need less space.
From retirement to changes in working patterns, there are many reasons why a business might need to downsize. If you have fewer employees, have adopted hybrid working, or the nature of your business has changed, moving to a smaller office can reduce overheads and create a workspace that better suits your current requirements.
You need to reduce costs.
Relocating can be an effective way to lower your business expenses. Moving to premises with lower rent, less maintenance needs, and/or reduced energy costs can help free up your budget for investment in other areas of your business.
You want better facilities.
According to an Ambius survey, 90% of workers say that the layout and design of their office is important to them. Valued features include comfort, functionality, natural light, and breakout relaxation spaces. A new office from providers like Quintessential Offices can provide modern amenities that improve the working environment for your team, keeping your employees happy and their engagement high.
Common Business Relocation Challenges
Even once you have decided that moving offices is essential for your business, you may still face some challenges. Thankfully, by planning for these in advance, you can reduce the overall stress of the move.
Budget limitations
A UK office move can cost anywhere from £3,500 to £20,000+, depending on its scale. Your relocation budget may need to cover deposits, professional movers, fit-out work, new furniture, technology upgrades, and the disposal or storage of existing office equipment. You should also allow for hidden costs, such as repairing your old space, paying overlapping rent, or arranging parking suspensions and building access for moving day.
Finding the right space
A survey by Hays involving more than 8,000 UK employers and professionals found that 73% of professionals viewed commuting costs as a key factor when considering more frequent office attendance. So, before choosing a new office, you need to consider not only how much space your employees need but also how the location will affect their commutes and work-life balance.
Operational disruptions
Moving furniture is only one part of the moving process. Internet access, telephone systems, business software, and other essential services must also transfer successfully to the new location. One global investment firm needed to relocate its London office and data centre along with around 120 employees and two racks of business-critical servers…all within a 58-hour window. The project required complex planning to ensure that trading could resume without disruption on Monday morning.
We’re sure that you want to reduce stress and stick to your budget. To make sure you don’t forget anything important, download our ultimate office move checklist.
Ultimate Office Move Checklist
The following is a comprehensive office relocation checklist, broken down into before, during, and after the move. Note that timelines are only suggestions; we recommend using this checklist as a flexible guide, customising details to your unique business requirements.
Need a paper copy to distribute amongst your moving team? Download our free printable today and tick your tasks off as you go (no email address required).
Before the Move
| Checklist item | Actions | Timeline | |
|---|---|---|---|
| ☐ | Review your existing office lease | Check the notice period, break clauses, reinstatement obligations, and requirements for leaving the existing office space. | 6–12 months before |
| ☐ | Set your budget | Account for property costs, professional movers, fit-out work, furniture, IT, storage, and potential disruption. | 6–12 months before |
| ☐ | Decide how much office space you need | Consider employee numbers, future growth, hybrid working arrangements, storage, and shared facilities. | 6–12 months before |
| ☐ | Choose a new office location | Assess accessibility, transport links, parking, nearby amenities, and proximity to employees and customers. | 6–9 months before |
| ☐ | Decide on a moving timeline | Set the moving date and establish deadlines for each stage of the office relocation. | 4–6 months before |
| ☐ | Create a relocation committee | Select representatives from relevant departments. | 4–6 months before |
| ☐ | ↳ Appoint an office-move project manager | Give one person responsibility for overseeing the budget, schedule, suppliers, and wider moving team. | 4–6 months before |
| ☐ | Create a detailed floor plan | Map out workstations, meeting rooms, collaborative areas, storage, and shared facilities. | 3–4 months before |
| ☐ | Confirm the office layout and collaborative spaces | Ensure the layout plan supports employee requirements and preferred ways of working. | 3–4 months before |
| ☐ | Decide what to move, replace, or declutter | Review your existing furniture, documents, equipment, and office supplies. | 3–4 months before |
| ☐ | Create an inventory of office equipment and supplies | Record the condition, destination, and responsible owner of important items. | 2–3 months before |
| ☐ | Prepare your new office space | Arrange any necessary repairs, decorating, cabling, flooring, or fit-out work. | 2–3 months before |
| ☐ | Arrange office furniture and equipment | Order new items and arrange for existing furniture and equipment to be relocated. | 2–3 months before |
| ☐ | Set up IT equipment and phone systems | Plan internet connectivity, hardware installation, data migration, telephone services, and system testing. | 6–12 weeks before |
| ☐ | Arrange packing services and temporary storage | Book professional packing support and storage facilities where required. | 6–8 weeks before |
| ☐ | Coordinate professional movers and suppliers | Confirm availability, costs, moving requirements, delivery schedules, and contact details. | 6–8 weeks before |
| ☐ | Confirm access, parking, and essential services | Check building access, utilities, security, waste collection, deliveries, and parking arrangements. | 4–6 weeks before |
| ☐ | Prepare employees for the upcoming move | Share the moving date, new-office information, packing instructions, travel details, and individual responsibilities. | 4–6 weeks before |
| ☐ | Notify key stakeholders and local partners | Inform landlords, service providers, insurers, banks, partners, and other relevant contacts. | 2–4 weeks before |
| ☐ | Share your new office address with customers and suppliers | Explain when the new address will take effect and whether services will be temporarily affected. | 2–4 weeks before |
| ☐ | Prepare updates to your website and contact details | Schedule changes to your website, email signatures, directories, stationery, and marketing materials. | 1–2 weeks before |
| ☐ | Confirm responsibilities with the moving team | Make sure everyone understands their role, schedule, and main point of contact. | 1–2 weeks before |
| ☐ | Arrange parking permission if needed | Reserve loading bays and obtain any parking permission required at both locations. | 1–2 weeks before |
| ☐ | Pack personal belongings, non-essential equipment, and furniture | Label boxes clearly with their contents, owner, and destination in the new office. | 1-2 weeks before |
| ☐ | Back up essential business data | Confirm that important files and systems can be recovered if equipment is damaged or disrupted. | 1–2 days before |
| ☐ | Complete final packing and checks of the old office | Confirm that everything is packed, labelled, documented, and ready for collection. | 1-2 days before |
During the Move
| Checklist item | Actions | Timeline | |
|---|---|---|---|
| ☐ | Manage access to both office locations | Make sure movers, employees, suppliers, and contractors can enter the correct buildings. | Start of moving day |
| ☐ | Confirm responsibilities with the moving team | Brief everyone on the schedule, safety requirements, and access arrangements. | Start of moving day |
| ☐ | Monitor the moving-day plan | Track progress and coordinate movers, suppliers, contractors, and internal teams. | Throughout moving day |
| ☐ | Oversee furniture and equipment installation | Check that items are delivered to the correct areas and assembled according to the floor plan. | Throughout moving day |
| ☐ | Test IT systems, phone lines, and essential services | Check internet access, hardware, software, phones, utilities, security, and other critical systems. | As systems are installed |
| ☐ | Keep employees informed | Communicate progress, delays, access issues, and any changes to working arrangements. | Throughout the move |
| ☐ | Complete a final check of the old office | Check every room, record damage, take meter readings, collect keys, and confirm that nothing has been left behind. | End of moving day |
| ☐ | Make new contact details live | Publish the new address on your website, email signatures, and relevant online channels. | On moving day |
After the Move
| Checklist item | Actions | Timeline | |
|---|---|---|---|
| ☐ | Check that the new workspace is fully operational | Inspect workstations, meeting rooms, technology, utilities, security, and shared facilities. | First working day |
| ☐ | Welcome your employees to the new office | Provide an orientation covering facilities, access, safety procedures, and shared spaces. | First working day |
| ☐ | Resolve urgent outstanding issues | Address missing items, damaged equipment, access problems, and technical faults that could disrupt operations. | First 1–3 days |
| ☐ | Update Companies House and official records | Change your registered office address and update HMRC, licences, insurance policies, and other relevant records. Companies House must be informed within 14 days of the change. | Within 14 days |
| ☐ | Confirm all business-address updates | Check that your website, directories, stationery, marketing materials, and supplier records show the correct address. | Within 1–2 weeks |
| ☐ | Resolve remaining outstanding issues | Record and address minor defects, incomplete work, misplaced items, and supplier queries. | Within 2–4 weeks |
| ☐ | Complete a post-move evaluation | Gather employee feedback and review the budget, schedule, supplier performance, and lessons learned. | 2–4 weeks after |
| ☐ | Plan an office-warming party | Celebrate the relocation with employees, customers, and partners. | 2–6 weeks after |
Make Moving Simple with Quintessential Offices
An office relocation will always require careful planning, but your choice of workspace can make the entire moving process so much simpler. A serviced office, for instance, gives your team a pre-prepared, professionally managed environment without requiring you to coordinate every element of a traditional office fit-out.
At Quintessential Offices, our private office spaces include furniture, Wi-Fi, utilities, and access to shared amenities. With multiple options in Glasgow city centre and one in a convenient location between Glasgow and Edinburgh, you can provide both quality and convenient access to your employees.
Hit multiple birds with one stone, and book a tour today.
