An office move can be an exciting, transformational and stressful experience for a business – all at the same time!

It involves more than an upheaval of your company from one location to another, instead also relying on some careful prior planning in regard to many aspects of your business and team.

This office move checklist will break down the steps you need to take in order to make your office move a successful and seamless process, including an office move timeline to give you an idea of how far in advance to plan for certain aspects of your office move.

12-18 months before the office move…

1. Lease considerations

If you’re planning to terminate your lease, it’s important to know when you’re actually able to do so.

Whether you’re approaching a lease break date or the end of your commercial lease, it’s important to identify this date in advance, ideally 12-18 months before your office move.

During this process, also check the point at which you need to inform your landlord of your lease termination, as you will be required to give them advance notice.

Lease considerations checklist:

☐ Check how long is left on your commercial lease

☐ Check how much notice you are required to give to your landlord

☐ Check if you will be required to perform dilapidations when vacating your current premises

2. Identify your reasons for moving

To get the most out of your office move, you need to identify your key motivations for moving to ensure you select a new premises that ticks all the right boxes for your business.

Reasons for moving checklist:

☐ We need more office space

☐ We are searching for a better/more convenient office location

☐ We’re downsizing our office space

☐ We are looking for a premises with a cheaper lease

☐ We need more natural light in our office space

☐ We need more staff parking facilities

☐ We require a more energy-efficient premises

If you have any other motivations for moving, be sure to make a note of them to discuss with your commercial estate agent.

10-12 months before the office move…

3. Start your property search

The next step on your office move checklist is to start your property search, which is made easier once you have identified your motivations for moving in the step before!

Property search checklist:

☐ Appoint a commercial estate agent to assist you with your search

☐ Highlight preferable locations for the new premises

☐ Decide what local amenities will be important to your team

☐ Review the links to public transport

☐ Assess the changes to your existing employees’ commutes

☐ Check the availability of on-site or nearby parking

☐ Identify the size of the space that you require. Need help with this? Check out our handy office space calculator here.

☐ Decide how much budget you have available to spend on the move/rent on the new space

6-10 months before the office move…

4. Find and appoint your design and build partner

Once you’ve decided on your new space, you can then appoint a design and build partner who will help transform the empty shell of your new premises into a functional and inspirational workspace.

To make sure your chosen partner is well-suited to the task, consider the following:

Design and build partner checklist:

☐ Do they offer a workplace analysis?

☐ Are they financially stable?

☐ Do they have examples of previously completed projects?

☐ Can they offer site tours of their previous projects?

☐ Do they have good client reviews and recommendations?

☐ Do their company values align with yours?

☐ Do they offer a move management service?

☐ Can they provide a dilapidation service on the space you’re leaving?

5. Create an office move committee

Moving to a new office is a big and exciting process, and it’s beneficial to involve your team and allow them to have a say in the new space. Use our handy checklist below to help keep your team in the loop of the progress

Office move committee checklist:

☐ Nominate one team member from each department to form and join an ‘office relocation committee’

☐ Hold weekly (or monthly) committee meetings to make sure each department’s considerations are heard before decisions are made. This can keep all the relevant people updated with progress but also gain key insights and ideas from the wider team.

Having all departments on board will help you to shape a workspace that reflects your whole company and its culture!

6. Define your requirements

Now that you’ve appointed your design and build partner, it’s time to discuss the features you require from your new space and which are the most important to your team.

Requirements checklist:

☐ How many workstations do we need?

☐ How many workstations will we need in 5 years time?

☐ How many members of the team have the ability to hot-desk?

☐ How many meeting rooms do we need?

☐ How many collaborative work areas do we need?

☐ How many breakout areas do we need?

☐ Do we require showering and changing facilities?

☐ What are our IT and AV requirements?

3-6 months before the office move…

7. Communicate your plans

After finding your new office space, signing your new lease and informing your current landlord of your lease termination, you need to communicate your move with everyone who this move will affect.

Communication checklist:

☐ Inform your team of the office move

☐ Let your clients know about the imminent move

☐ Notify your partners of the relocation

Nearer to the time of your move, you will also need to send your official change of address information to:

☐ Your clients

☐ Your partners

☐ Your food and drinks delivery companies

☐ Your stationery delivery company

☐ The cleaning company you use

☐ Your internet provider

And change your address on the following:

☐ Your registered company listing (if it is your HQ that’s moving)

☐ Post office address listing

☐ Your business cards

☐ Your company website

☐ Your Google My Business listing

☐ Your company social media profiles

☐ Any business listings where your company has a profile

☐ Advertising collateral, signage and brochures

☐ All company stationery that contains your address (Letterheads, envelopes, compliment slips, etc.)

1-3 months before the office move…

8. Organise the office move

Your design and build partner will help to make your move as seamless as possible. In addition to this, you need to do the following:

Moving day checklist:

☐ Agree on a date for the move

☐ Clear out unwanted items from the address you’re vacating

☐ Book a cleaning service for your previous address (assuming you aren’t required to perform the dilapidations works on behalf of your landlord)

☐ Set up a phone call forwarding service to make sure phone calls can get through whilst everything is being switched over

☐ Decide on plans for your team during the day(s) that the official office move takes place.

If your chosen design and build partner offers a valuable move management service, you can sit back and relax whilst they do the hard work for you.
Because of this, it’s beneficial to have plans in place for your team on moving day. For example, those who have the ability to do so could work remotely while the office move takes place.

Use this office move checklist to guide you through the process of your relocation, from start to finish. There’s a lot to think about during a move and the acquisition of a new space, so this checklist and office move timeline will help to make sure you’ve got all the bases covered!

HOW TO START PLANNING…

As a nationwide design and build company ourselves, we’re able to help every step of the way with your office move and the design and creation of your new space.

We’ll take the time to get to know your company and team, to offer solutions that boost the wellbeing and happiness of your staff, whilst also enhancing productivity and optimising your space.

Chat to us today using the handy form below to start planning the next step of your company's journey.