MOVING ADVICE
Office relocation: a practical project plan
An office move is a small project with several owners, not simply a larger furniture collection. Property access, equipment, staff decisions and delivery priorities need to come together before the moving team arrives. This guide focuses on project organisation for a London office relocation: defining scope, controlling decisions and making the new space ready. Technical continuity is a separate workstream, not a reason to leave the physical move undefined.
Write a scope that people can act on
Describe what is moving, what remains and what will be handled through another arrangement. Include furniture, boxed records, reception items, kitchen contents and anything outside the obvious desk area. Define the physical scope before asking for a moving plan. An office described only by its headcount can hide a storeroom of equipment or a meeting table requiring a different handling approach.
Discuss the scope with the team arranging office removals. Give the collection and delivery addresses, floor levels, access constraints and likely inventory. Identify items requiring further assessment instead of quietly grouping them with ordinary boxes. Keep confidential or specialist items under their own responsible owner. The scope should make exclusions visible too, so the removal team is not expected to disconnect services, clear unwanted assets or install equipment without an explicit agreement.
Give decisions a named owner
Choose a project lead who can coordinate the move and a deputy who can act when that person is unavailable. Assign separate owners for the building, furniture, staff communication and technology. Responsibility should be specific: ‘operations will handle it’ is less useful than a person who knows they must confirm lift access and provide the final room plan by an agreed date.
Use your BestMove contact to establish how instructions and changes will be shared. Decide who has authority to approve changes to the booked work and how that approval will be recorded. Keep an accessible decision log with the current inventory version, agreed actions and outstanding questions. Avoid a system where the removal team receives different directions from several managers, each referring to a different drawing or a different list of items.
Survey both buildings as working sites
Record loading access, entrances, corridors, stairs and lift arrangements at both addresses. Speak to the responsible building contacts about booking procedures, permitted work periods, protection requirements and security. Check the route beyond reception; a welcoming front entrance may not be the route available for deliveries. Note where vehicles should report and who will meet them, with a working phone number for the day.
For desks, cabinets and large meeting furniture, connect those building notes to the furniture delivery requirements. Measure awkward turns and disclose access restrictions early. Confirm parking or loading arrangements through the appropriate authority or property manager where needed. Do not assume the outgoing and incoming buildings follow the same rules. Put each site’s requirements on a separate sheet so a collection instruction is not accidentally used at the destination.
Make the new layout a delivery document
Create a simple floor plan with room names, desk positions and furniture destinations. Use labels that will be visible in the new office, rather than informal names known only to existing staff. A floor plan must guide placement, not just show an attractive future layout. Check doors, walking routes and access to cupboards before fixing the position of large furniture.
Coordinate furniture assembly around that plan. Identify which pieces travel assembled, which require agreed dismantling and where rebuilding can take place. Keep fixings and instructions connected to their furniture references. If a desk layout depends on power or data positions, have the responsible technical person confirm those requirements before the furniture is placed. Avoid treating movers as the people who must decide the operational layout while standing among unloaded boxes.
Separate packing rules by asset type
Staff belongings, shared supplies, records and equipment need clear ownership and labels. Decide what staff pack themselves and what the booked team will handle. Use a consistent destination code that connects boxes to the floor plan. A code should be understandable without exposing sensitive business information on the outside of a container, particularly in shared buildings or publicly accessible loading areas.
Discuss suitable materials and the agreed scope through packing and boxes delivery. Keep valuable or confidential items under the company’s own handling and access procedures. Ask the relevant asset owner about equipment preparation rather than assuming general packing advice suits every device. Provide a clear method for reporting an unlabelled item before collection, so the team can resolve it without guessing which department or room should receive it.
Resolve surplus furniture before the move
Inspect the inventory for items that will not fit the new layout or are no longer required. Decide what will be retained, stored or managed through a separate appropriate route. Do not move indecision by default. Transporting an unwanted cupboard can create extra handling at both addresses and leave the new office with an obstruction before staff have even returned.
If business storage is being considered, list the items and explain the expected access needs. Check acceptance, retrieval and redelivery arrangements before treating storage as available. Retain a separate inventory for the stored items so they do not appear on the immediate destination plan. The project lead should know where each asset goes and who can authorise its return, sale or disposal rather than leaving the decision to a future office manager.
Use readiness gates before moving day
Set a short set of checks that must be complete before the physical move proceeds: site access confirmed, inventory current, labels ready and the destination able to receive the load. Check readiness with evidence, such as an actual building confirmation or approved floor plan, instead of asking everybody whether they feel ready. Record unresolved tasks and decide who can determine their effect on the schedule.
A separate small collection may suit a man and van enquiry, but describe its inventory and handling needs before assuming the booking is appropriate. Keep it inside the project log so the same asset is not assigned to two collections. Review the final sequence with the main contacts and make sure security, building management and the receiving team know what is expected. Avoid adding unassessed furniture after the scope has been confirmed.
Close the move with outstanding items visible
Check deliveries against the inventory and placement plan. Record missing labels, damaged items, unfinished assembly or objects waiting for a decision. Handover is a documented status, rather than a declaration that everything is finished because the vehicle has departed. Give each outstanding action an owner and retain the information required by the applicable reporting process.
If the old office needs end of tenancy cleaning, coordinate its access and scope after the relevant belongings have been removed. Keep property handback separate from readiness for staff at the new site. Review the move once the office is functioning and archive the final floor plan and inventory. Those documents can help later with maintenance, future purchases and locating equipment, provided they reflect what actually happened rather than the original plan alone.
| Workstream | Owner confirms |
|---|---|
| Building access | Loading, lifts, security and permissions |
| Furniture | Inventory, route and assembly |
| Staff belongings | Packing responsibilities and labels |
| Handover | Checks, outstanding actions and reporting |
Questions worth asking.
Who should lead an office relocation?
Appoint a project lead with authority to coordinate the work and a deputy who can act in their absence. Name owners for buildings, furniture, staff communication and technology. Keep one decision log so suppliers receive clear instructions and unresolved tasks remain visible.
What should the office moving inventory include?
List the physical items moving, their destination codes and any handling questions. Include shared rooms and storage areas as well as desks. Identify confidential, valuable or specialist assets separately, with a responsible company owner and agreed arrangements rather than assuming they fall within ordinary transport.
When should the new office layout be confirmed?
Confirm it early enough to guide furniture decisions, labelling and delivery. Check room names, access, walking routes and relevant technical requirements before large furniture is positioned. Use the same codes on the plan, boxes and furniture so the receiving team can place items consistently.
How should we deal with tasks unfinished after delivery?
Record each issue, its owner and the next action. Distinguish delivery completion, furniture completion, technical readiness and old-office handback. Follow the relevant reporting procedures and retain the current inventory so an unresolved item does not disappear when the moving appointment ends.
PUT YOUR PLAN INTO PRACTICE
Planning your own move?
Have your postcodes, preferred date and item list ready. Call BestMove to discuss the service and the details that will shape your quote.