Office relocation: scoping a business move with one specialist

Before any relocation firm can price the job, you need an inventory. How many workstations, which items of furniture go and which are disposed of, how many filing cabinets and archive boxes, which IT equipment moves with the relocation firm and which is handled by your own IT team or provider. Specialist items such as server racks, safes, lab equipment or production machinery each need their own method statement.

Most businesses move over a weekend or overnight to avoid downtime, and many buildings only allow large deliveries outside working hours. A relocation firm will usually visit both sites, check loading bays, lifts and corridors, and propose a sequence: archives and non-essential items in the weeks before, desks and IT in one final push, then a snagging team on the first working day.

Use the move to clear out. Paying to crate, carry and reinstall furniture and paper you will not use at the new site is money wasted, and the disposal has to be handled properly anyway.

Relocation proposals vary widely in what they include. Asking every point below in writing makes it much easier to see where the differences in price come from.

• a site survey at both addresses and a written method statement and risk assessment
• a move plan with timings, crew size and a named move manager
• crate hire, labelling system and floor, wall and lift protection
• disconnection, packing and reconnection of IT, and where that responsibility ends
• dismantling and reinstalling desks, storage and meeting room furniture
• insurance for goods in transit and public liability, with the limits
• secure handling of confidential files and data-bearing devices
• disposal or recycling of surplus furniture and electrical equipment, with paperwork
• short-term storage if the new space is not ready
• out-of-hours working, parking and the cost of changes to the plan

Your business remains the controller of any personal data in files, laptops and servers while they are in transit, so UK GDPR responsibilities do not pass to the removal firm. Agree how confidential archives are sealed and tracked, who has access to the vehicles and the new premises, and what happens to hard drives in equipment you are getting rid of. Old drives should be securely wiped or destroyed, with a certificate, before the equipment leaves your control.

Old electrical equipment is waste electrical and electronic equipment and must go to a business that can legally take it. Ask the relocation company whether it is registered as a waste carrier and where the equipment ends up, and keep the waste transfer paperwork. The same applies to furniture you are not taking.

Heavy lifting inside the building falls under ordinary health and safety law. If the job needs a crane, a hoist or a forklift, the firm should explain in its method statement how the lifting equipment is inspected and who is in charge of the lift.

Both buildings will have their own rules. Managing agents often want a booking for the goods lift, a copy of the mover's insurance certificate and method statement, and set hours for deliveries. Your lease at the old premises probably requires you to leave the space in a particular condition, which may mean removing cabling, partitions or signage.

Moving the business also means updating records. If your registered office address changes, it has to be updated at Companies House, and HMRC, your bank, insurers and suppliers need the new address. Tell your business rates team at the council for both properties, and arrange mail redirection for the transition period.

Check what your insurer needs to know. Cover for your equipment usually follows a specified address, and a gap of a few days between sites can leave property uninsured.

Warehouse and machinery relocation is its own discipline. Racking has to be dismantled and re-erected by people who know the manufacturer's instructions and load ratings, and heavy machines may need skates, jacking systems or a crane. If you are moving production equipment, ask whether the firm uses its own lifting teams or subcontracts, and who recommissions the machines at the other end.

If the new site is not ready, relocation firms can hold furniture, archives and equipment in storage. Check whether storage is in containers or open warehousing, how items are accessed and what the insurance covers while goods are stored.

Describe the move, the size of both premises, the rough timing and any specialist equipment. After you confirm your mobile number with a text code and your email with a link, the request is shown to office relocation firms in your area without your company name or contact details. The first firm to buy it is the only one; it pays Offrano, and the request is taken down. You pay nothing.

Before that firm sees your details, we email you its name, address and phone number. Offrano checks that the buyer is a registered business but not the quality of its work, so ask for references, insurance certificates and trade association membership yourself. You do not have to accept the proposal, and nothing stops you inviting other bids.