Piecing together the ‘office move jigsaw’

Moving businesses has been a passion of mine since I was lucky enough to be asked to manage one for my then long-term employer. I thought I knew the business, the staff and what was important to them.

The first office move opened my mind to what it takes to not only move staff, but what it takes to run an office efficiently; from having a reliable Wi-Fi network, how will staff access the building and floors, how do staff book meeting rooms onsite, where will staff sit, where will storage cupboards and pedestals reside in a new space.

For every client I work with now, I enjoy the challenge of what I term the ‘office move jigsaw’, where my mind is overrun in the first few weeks of a move project; how many staff am I moving? Am I relocating existing office furniture? Is the client purchasing new furniture instead? Will my move contractor be moving the client’s IT network? Are we moving out of hours and at weekends or do we have longer?

My analytical thought process enjoys putting the office move jigsaw pieces into the correct position. The questions I tend to ask, and end up answering and acting on, are not usually in my move or relocation remit, but I ask and act on them because I realise that key questions and decisions not only affect a smooth business relocation, they also affect how a business would operate on day one and beyond in a new office space.

As an experienced Business Moves consultant of five years I’ve managed to successfully move and relocate a wide variety of clients ranging from Great Britain Wheelchair Basketball, Croydon Council, Yahoo, Pfizer and Microsoft. Every client/move is different, challenging and thought provoking, but I succeed every time with an empathetic, driven and pro-active approach.

What have your experiences been when you have moved office?