When it comes to an office relocation, you’re going to want things to go as smoothly as possible for everyone involved. That means packing up everything at your old office and moving to your new one with minimal disruption for all your staff. It may sound impossible, but with a little bit of planning and organisation, it can be done!
To help you get there, we’ve put together your ultimate office relocation checklist to make sure you think of everything.
Three to six months before moving date
- Check your original rental agreement. You’ll want to move when your agreement is up, any earlier may cost you a deposit
- Set a moving date in stone
- Make sure you’re aware of any damage costs that you may be liable for
- Speak to managers and employees to see who would be interested in being part of a planning team. Delegate tasks and put a timeline in place
- Speak to various local moving companies for quotes. Don’t just go for the cheapest; look for someone who gives the best service for the best value for money
- Once you are happy, make a reservation
- Will you need moving insurance?
- Make a budget and stick to it
- Notify your property manager to give official notice that you will be moving out
- Let your wider team know and give them the moving date and the new address
Two to three months before moving date
- Create a master list of all the people you need to notify of the change of address. This will include…
- Employees that work remotely or are on leave
- Professional organisations
- Stationery providers
- Insurance
- Banks and financial institutions
- Food and drinks services
- Telephone and internet company
- Tech companies e.g. servers, photocopiers, printers
- Affiliates
- Partners
- Let your IT department know about the move and discuss what you need to do on the day regarding tech
- Measure your new office space and get a detailed floor plan
- Send this floor plan to any professional companies you are working with including your movers
- Create a complete inventory of all the furniture you need to move from the old office to the new
- Create a list of office furniture that you need to purchase
- Place the order for new furniture
- Decide how you are going to layout and design your new office
- Get out the floor plan and colour code depending on each department
- Allocate a desk space to each employee with a number and let your employees know where they will be
- Make sure all the official paperwork is signed
- Organise cleaning services to do a deep clean of your new premises
- Arrange for them to come after you have left your old office, too
- Create a detailed plan for the big moving day that all your staff should be made aware of
- Create a list of emergency contact numbers, including building managers and maintenance staff, that should be handed out to everyone on the moving team
Four weeks before moving date
- Confirm your furniture order and that it will all arrive at the new office on the moving date
- Review your new design and plan
- Organise a security company to come and survey the new office
- Finalise facilities
- Internet and tech
- Phone lines
- Bills
- Cables
Two to three weeks before moving date
- Get quotes for new updated stationery and confirm their arrival date
- Confirm everyone is aware of the new seating plan
- Organise food and drink to be delivered if necessary
- Same for newspapers
- Also water cooler
- Confirm internet, phone lines and bills will all be in place when you arrive
- Set up post and phone call forwarding
- Confirm movers
One week before moving date
For the moving date
- Put each member of the moving team in charge of their department to oversee packing responsibilities
- Give each employee their own moving pack. This should include their new desk location, a box for their belongings and information about the new office
- Label everything including laptop and computers, screens, keyboards and folders
- Make sure that staff take personal belongings and devices home until you are settled in
- Designate someone to stay at your old office until the last moving van has departed
- Designate someone to be at your new office for when the vans start to arrive
- Empty filing cabinets and pack everything away, ensuring that it is colour coded for re-organisation on arrival
On the day
- Have a budget set aside for refreshments for the moving team and have someone in charge of dishing these out
- Make sure tech equipment is moved and installed first
- Have a few people at the new office to ensure all furniture and items are moved to their correct location
- Make sure everyone has keys and fobs for the new office
- Remind all staff to come to the new office – it happens!
Post-move
- Set up all tech
- Set up any systems and telephone lines
- Update your website with new information
- Conduct a full check of the new premises to check for any damage or hazards
- Make sure any you find are reported to the building management
- Check your moved items for potential damage too
- Confirm your insurance has moved over
- Confirm your previous deposit has been refunded, if applicable
- Round up any keys, fobs and passes to your old office and send them back
- Replace them with keys, fobs and passes to your new office
- Check your financials – including banks and invoices – that your address has changed
- Put together a friendly “welcome to the new office” pack for each member of staff
- This could include new stationery and treats to get them through the next busy few days
- Have the planning committee throw a party to celebrate you moving!
We know how difficult it can be to change locations, that’s why we offer an office relocation service. We help to make your move run as smoothly as possible. Interested in what we have to offer? Drop us a message today and we’ll be in touch.