Advice needed: Moving office location

[More Control]

Hello Everyone

My company is currently in the process of moving office locations, with only a few weeks away till the move I was hoping to get some advice on what things I need to consider for the move. (Both from a logistical level and from a marketing perspective)

In brief: I have arranged the new contact info, phone lines, insurance, electricity, water, bills, tax, and contacted relevant partners, arranged new couriers for dispatching products and have sent out newsletters to customers about the move.
If anyone has experience from moving office locations or has some advice on what I should think about implementing, I would very much appreciate the assistance.

Best regards
Stephen

 

[Rebecca May]

Don't know how many people working with you but a few things that came to mind were business cards, keys and parking. Would you also need a cleaner? And what about aircon, fans and watercooler - it looks like it's going to get hot again! Good luck with the move.

 

[KM-Tiger]

It was a while ago that I did a move, but one thing that sticks in my mind is this: although we wrote to all suppliers and customers to give the new contact details, that information didn't necessarily percolate down to the people we dealt with with a on a day to day basis.

So there were some instances of reps arriving at the old premises and thinking we had done a runner, panicking and putting our account on hold.

So where you have contact names, it might be worth writing personally to those as well as the company they represent.

 

[commercialtransfer1]

Oh wish I'd known and we could have quoted you as we specialize in commercial moves!
However quite happy to offer advice.

From a logistics point of view its esential that you or the removal company get everything that is to be moved clearly labelled. Depending on how many rooms /floors, use a diferent colour label for each and use a numbering system not names so that the removal crew will know exactly where to place items. Draw a simple floor plan which shows the numbers of the desks and ideally, if you have a flip chart board or easil, put the plan on this near the entrance for everyone to see.


This may have been mentioned to you by the removal company, but this is a good time to have a clear out of old paperwork,the old pcs and monitors in your cupboard etc! (We offer environmental recycling of paper,desks and equipment if you havent got this orgnsd.)

Make sure staff do not overfill the packing crates as they need to be stacked and if too heavy may need two people to safely move them.

I'm assuming that the I.T side of things has bee sorted, i.e that any floor boxes, cabling has been put in place and that existing cables are long enough for any new configurations.

Nominate one person for moving day who will be able to make decisions on where things go, and who can advise the removal team as too many people trying to instruct will hinder the move process.

Double check that you phones will be live for when you arrive, some companies are notorious for delays with this!

These are just a few tips, and I apologise if your appointed company has already been over this and hopefully helped you in the planning of your move, but hope it all goes well!

From a marketing point of view this is a fantastic opportunity(excuse) to contact everyone. If you can make it intersting do a press release to the local media (press, radio)

 

[Gint]

Like others said. Try to contact with all clients, supplier and inform them. Also you can put something like advertisement near your old location, that you have moved to somewhere else.

 

[More Control]

Cheers, for the response and the feedback. It's most appreciated.

I now have the parking arrangements sorted, keys sorted out, heating still needs to be done and kitchen (tea / coffee) arrangements need to be made. The flooring plans have been worked out and the right now I am co-ordinating a with a removal company to get everything moved with ease.

Just when you tick one thing off the list, another item pops up that you were not aware of.

I'm now in the process of preparing a mailing list to all suppliers and to prepare a long phone list of calls to make to inform about the changes.

Thank you Gint for the suggestion about placing up some advertisement about the move at the old location. I'm sure that I'll be getting people showing up to the old location after the move.

 

[My Owl 1]

Hi if you need any help with your utilities then I may be able to help

Best wishes with the move

Avril

 

[Philip Hoyle]

Get Royal Mail post redirection for all business names for at least a year so that you have more chance of getting most of your post redirected to you. However much you're convinced you've told everyone, you'll have forgotten some, and others won't have updated all systems, so it's inevitable that some post will still go to old address. You may not think this is a problem, but the official bodies such as Companies House or HMRC can do serious harm to you and levy huge fines if you miss return deadlines etc because their reminders to you haven't got to your new address. I've seen this kind of thing far too many times - Royal Mail redirection is a small price to pay. Of course, it is Royal Mail so doesn't always work, but it's better than nothing. Also remember to make separate notifications to all different HMRC departments - just telling one dept won't mean the change is filtered through to the others - so you need separate notifications for VAT, PAYE, corporation tax, (or national insurance and income tax), etc.

 

[locksmithnc1]

Get Royal Mail post redirection for all business names for at least a year so that you have more chance of getting most of your post redirected to you. However much you're convinced you've told everyone, you'll have forgotten some, and others won't have updated all systems, so it's inevitable that some post will still go to old address. You may not think this is a problem, but the official bodies such as Companies House or HMRC can do serious harm to you and levy huge fines if you miss return deadlines etc because their reminders to you haven't got to your new address. I've seen this kind of thing far too many times - Royal Mail redirection is a small price to pay. Of course, it is Royal Mail so doesn't always work, but it's better than nothing. Also remember to make separate notifications to all different HMRC departments - just telling one dept won't mean the change is filtered through to the others - so you need separate notifications for VAT, PAYE, corporation tax, (or national insurance and income tax), etc.

I agree with this one!

 

[virtuallysorted]

Here's another few tips for moving day:

Have all your calls diverted to an answering service so that whilst the move is actually happening you aren't losing business.

Arrange for webmail/remote access to emails so that your staff can log in from home temporarily. Consider actually getting them to work from home if you have enough movers, more people = more chaos! To facilitate this, make up a list of mobile numbers and distribute to the team prior to the move.

Get some coloured tape - colour code boxes per office and put the coloured tape on office doors/big arrows leading the way from the front door - sort of like "follow the yellow brick road". I did this with an office move a while back, it worked really well and bypasses all those "Where's this going?" questions.

 

[More Control]

Hello Caroline



The calls have been diverted and new phones have been established for when the move is finalised.


All desks, boxes, cupboards and office equipment have been labelled, categorised and assigned so that I know where everything is when it gets moved over.


Thanks Philip for the suggestion about the mail, the last thing id need is a big fine from the HRMC for not responding back to them.


Best regards
Stephen

 

[spcocks]

Hello Everyone

My company is currently in the process of moving office locations, with only a few weeks away till the move I was hoping to get some advice on what things I need to consider for the move. (Both from a logistical level and from a marketing perspective)

In brief: I have arranged the new contact info, phone lines, insurance, electricity, water, bills, tax, and contacted relevant partners, arranged new couriers for dispatching products and have sent out newsletters to customers about the move.
If anyone has experience from moving office locations or has some advice on what I should think about implementing, I would very much appreciate the assistance.

Best regards
Stephen

Hi Stephen,

Moving your business to a new location is something very hectic. Chart out all the mandatory things that will be affected with your business move. This will make sure that you don't miss out anything important. As you already mentioned, that you have managed the tasks like, address change, your bills, you have notified your clients & partners about the move, etc. That's good. But still, It is advisable to refer a Office Removal Company that will take all your relocation load. From packing - to transferring- to unpacking. All will be managed by the Removal company. Office Relocation is a bit critical. The transition should be executed smartly & efficiently so that the normal business operations of your business remain unaffected till your business comes into swing again at the new location. And this requires expertise & experience that a Removal Company has.

Wish you a hassle free Office Relocation ! Have a great Start at the New Place. Good Luck !