5 Golden Rules for Better Office Removals Planning

• Be sure you check your new place. If it’s bigger than your old one – plan how to make good use of the extra space. If it’s smaller, you must know how much you need to downsize and what to remove. Think about what is the best day to move.
• Start searching for an office removal company about 3 months before the actual company relocation. If your employees are more than 25-30 – start choosing 4 to 6 months in advance. Earlier is better when we are talking about the business move.
• Know your elevator vendor/technician. It may sound ridiculous, but you will have a bad time when the elevator is stuck at 22h during the move, and you don’t have a 24-hour service number.
• Check if your new building has any restrictions. Nothing is worse than starting your office move at 9:00 in the morning, but the property manager doesn’t allow moves in or out during business hours.

• Allow time and access for your movers to conduct a good inventory of your office items. Every moving company needs to know exactly what it is they will be moving to provide a good and reliable quote and time estimate. If you fail at this step – there is a risk of some cost overruns and even serious time delays.
• When you choose the moving vendor – it’s a good option to take them to the new office. Checking all access points, dock entrances, and other details may greatly impact the movers’ efficiency during the office relocation.
• Check your insurance options. Discuss standard liability, selected items and full valuation insurance with your move representative to find the best solution for your company.
• All reliable companies that offer office removals in London and anywhere else also provide full insurance. If the one you chose doesn’t provide it – maybe you should consider hiring another vendor.

• 2-3 weeks before the move – Your mover could engage your employees in “move training”. This will let them know what they have to do and what to expect before, during and after the move process. The better informed your employees are, the easier the relocation will go.
• Once a week: Your mover or an employee responsible for the moving should visit the office to check on the packing process. Keep in mind that packing everything, especially for a bigger company, takes much longer than you expect, so start packing as early as possible. Sometimes it’s better to work out of a box than try to finish packing.
• Two days before the move: The supervisor and crew leaders will walk the pathways of the offices. The crew needs to know all the space details to prevent surprises.

Read more:
How to organise an office move stress-free?

Challenges & Oversights:

• Be realistic when appointing an employee as your company's move manager. It's hard to understand everything that needs to happen during a move for that employee who is juggling their day-to-day functions with coordinating an office move.
• Never underestimate the time your movers need. More spent time on planning and scheduling properly - more efficient relocation process.
• If you wait until the last minute to coordinate an office move, your move vendor will have less time to prepare a detailed move plan. Logistics suffer, the move takes longer, and the costs increase if your removal staff can't follow a specific plan.

• If an employee gets hurt performing any move operation (lifting boxes, carrying chairs), they may have a claim against you, your insurance or workman’s compensation. Hiring professional office movers is an easy way to protect yourself.
• If you are not a professional mover, it’s very easy to underestimate how much time it takes for you to relocate your business using your employees and a rent-a-truck. If your move doesn’t run as smoothly as expected and your company is blocked for work the whole Monday – the lost productivity could cost you a lot more than the saved costs of hiring a removal company.
• If you use your employers for the whole company, relocation will pressure them. On the other hand, hiring professional movers and actively engaging your staff could be fun.