Office relocations fail for one reason above all others: they're planned by someone whose full-time job is not planning office relocations. That's the whole reason a market for specialist commercial movers exists. This checklist is the master plan our own Apex commercial coordinators build from — feel free to adapt it to your business.
Six months out
- Formal board or leadership approval, budget and timeline signed off.
- Appoint an internal move manager with dedicated time (5–10 hrs/week).
- Notify landlord of intent to vacate in line with lease dilapidations clause.
- Instruct a commercial property solicitor to review the new lease.
- Book a specialist commercial removals company for a walk-through and quote.
- Announce the move to staff — silence causes more resignations than the move itself.
Three months out
- Detailed floorplan of new premises with numbered desks, meeting rooms, storage.
- IT audit: server racks, switches, printers, meeting-room hardware, workstations, laptops, phones.
- Book telecoms provider transfer (leased lines run 60–90 days).
- Book new-office furniture reconfiguration or purchase.
- Confirm business insurance covers both addresses during the transition window.
One month out
- Notify HMRC, Companies House, bank, insurance, suppliers, customers, industry bodies.
- Update Google Business Profile, website footer, email signatures (scheduled to switch on move day).
- Order new stationery, business cards, and signage — delivered to the new address.
- Colour-coded labelling plan for every workstation, filing cabinet, and archive box.
- Book a professional deep-clean of the outgoing premises for the day after the move.
Two weeks out
- Confirm move-day timings and access with both landlords, building managers, security.
- Book any lift bookings, loading bay slots, and parking dispensations.
- Full risk assessment and method statement submitted to facilities managers on both sides.
- Distribute personal crates to every employee for their own desk contents.
One week out
- All non-essential archive and stock moved in advance.
- IT back-up of every server and workstation to secure off-site storage.
- Final walk-through with the removals project lead.
Move day (and night)
- Staff finish work Friday 17:00 at old address.
- Apex crew arrives 18:00, packs, loads, transports overnight.
- Unloads Saturday morning, IT reconnects Saturday afternoon.
- Sunday: soft testing by IT and facilities.
- Monday 09:00: staff arrive at new address, everything reconnected exactly as it was.
Post-move
- Dilapidations survey and hand-back of old premises within 5 working days.
- Address change update to every regulatory body, insurer, and supplier.
- Staff feedback survey within two weeks.
- Post-mortem meeting with removals project lead — captures lessons for next time.
Why phase it around a weekend
Every hour of business downtime costs. Even a small 30-seat office loses roughly 240 productive hours for every single working day it can't trade. A weekend move — Friday evening load, Sunday reconnect, Monday morning trading — is almost always cheaper than a "cheaper" mid-week move that costs three days of lost productivity.
How Apex handles commercial moves
Every commercial relocation gets a named project lead, a written method statement, full public liability and goods-in-transit insurance, out-of-hours crews at no extra weekend premium, and desk-level photographic mapping so every employee's workstation is rebuilt to match. One fixed price. One signed contract. One weekend. Monday trading.
Frequently asked questions
- How much notice do I need for an office move?
- Six months is the professional minimum for a full commercial relocation. Anything shorter typically overruns budget or misses regulatory address-change deadlines.
- How long does an office move take?
- A typical UK SME office move is planned as a Friday-evening-through-Sunday phased move, with staff arriving at the new address on Monday morning to a fully reconnected working environment. Larger enterprise moves phase over 2–4 weekends.
- Do I need to tell HMRC when my business address changes?
- Yes. HMRC, Companies House, your bank, insurers, VAT registration, PAYE registration, and every regulatory body relevant to your industry all need formal address-change notification, ideally within 30 days of the move.
Planning a move? Get a fixed price today.
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