Office & commercial
Office removals — closed Friday, open Monday
A commercial move is not a domestic move with more desks. Nobody minds if a household takes an extra hour; an office that cannot open on Monday costs real money, and that cost lands on you.
The measure of success is different, so the planning is heavier at the front and the execution is tighter. We plan around your trading hours rather than ours, work to a floor plan you have signed off, and put the same crew on both ends so nobody arrives at the new premises without knowing what came out of the old one.
Most of what we move is small-to-medium: studios, consultancies, clinics, agencies, trade counters. Businesses where there is no facilities department and the move lands on whoever is least able to say no.
How an office move runs
- Well before
A walk round both sites with whoever is running the move internally. We agree a labelling scheme, a numbered floor plan for the new premises, and who signs off what. Out-of-hours building access gets confirmed with the managing agents at both ends, because that is the thing most likely to derail the date.
- The run-up
Crates delivered so your team can pack their own desks and files. Specialist crates for screens. Confidential material goes into sealed, numbered crates with a signed inventory. Redundant furniture is identified now — not discovered on the night.
- The move
Usually an evening or a weekend. Hardware disconnected, labelled and wrapped; furniture dismantled where needed; everything loaded against the plan. At the new site it goes straight to its numbered position rather than into a heap in reception.
- Opening up
Desks reassembled, screens and peripherals reconnected, crates in the right rooms. We stay on site as people arrive so anything in the wrong place moves immediately, then collect the empty crates once you have unpacked.
IT, honestly
We disconnect, wrap, transport and reconnect desktop hardware, monitors, docks and peripherals, and we label cables so reconnection is not a guessing game on Monday morning. For most small-office moves that covers it completely.
What we will not do is pretend to be your IT department. If you have a rack, a comms cabinet, a server that needs shutting down in a particular order, or anything where a failed boot is a business problem, that needs your own engineer or a specialist. We will work alongside them. We would far rather say that now than at nine on a Sunday evening.
Files, records and confidentiality
Professional practices hold records that cannot travel loose in an open crate. The answer is sealed, numbered crates, an inventory signed at both ends, and the same crew throughout. If you need a documented chain of custody for a regulator or an insurer, raise it at survey and we will set the paperwork up beforehand rather than reconstructing it afterwards.
Who we tend to move
- Studios and agencies
- Lots of screens, lots of cable, and a strong opinion about desk layout. The floor plan matters more here than anywhere.
- Professional practices
- Files, records and client confidentiality. Sealed numbered crates and a signed inventory at both ends.
- Clinics and consulting rooms
- Equipment that needs careful handling and rooms that have to be usable again immediately. Often the tightest window of all.
- Retail and trade counters
- Stock, fixtures and shopfittings, usually around a closing day you cannot move. Access is frequently a shared service yard.
Between leases
Commercial leases rarely line up neatly. If you are out of one place before you are into the next, goods go into sealed storage and come back on a date you choose — same process as a household store, with the inventory built to match your asset list rather than a room list.
If the business is relocating a long way rather than across town, long-distance removals covers how those are scheduled, and the European moves page handles a move out of the country.
Good to know
Moving a business, the practical bits
Can you move us outside working hours?
Yes, and for most businesses that is the entire point — an evening or a weekend so you close on one site and open on the other without losing a trading day. Out-of-hours building access needs arranging with whoever holds the keys, and we will do that with them directly.
Do you supply crates?
Yes. Lidded, stackable crates delivered ahead of the move so staff can pack their own desks, plus specialist crates for screens. We collect the empties afterwards rather than leaving you with a stack in reception.
What about the IT?
We disconnect, wrap, transport and reconnect desktop hardware, monitors, docks and peripherals, and we label cables so reconnection is not a guessing game. Anything where a failed boot is a business problem — a rack, a comms cabinet, a server needing a clean shutdown — wants your own engineer, and we will work alongside them rather than pretending it is our call.
How do you make sure things end up in the right place?
A numbered floor plan for the new site, agreed before the move, and a labelling scheme matched to it. Every crate and desk carries a destination label, so on the first morning back people find their own things where they expect them.
Can you handle confidential files?
Yes — sealed, numbered crates with an inventory signed at both ends and the same crew throughout. If you need a documented chain of custody for a regulator or insurer, raise it at survey so we set the paperwork up beforehand rather than reconstructing it later.
What about furniture we no longer want?
Identify it before the move rather than on the night. We can move it into storage, or you can arrange a licensed clearance or resale. What we will not do is dispose of it for you — that needs a waste carrier licence.
Send us both floor plans and we'll build the schedule.
Tell us your trading hours and the date you need to be operational, and we will work backwards from there.