When starting the office relocation process, it can be overwhelming when outlining all the considerations you need to make and how each facet of your relocation can affect your business and employees.
Maybe a lease end is upcoming, or you’ve outgrown your current space. Whatever the reason, there are many factors to consider, all of which contribute to the success and ease of your relocation.
As a leader in the office design & relocation industry, we have created a detailed office relocation checklist, providing you with all the essential considerations when moving offices. Let’s break down these factors and discuss our office relocation tips to help ensure you find the perfect office space.
What Are The Top Considerations When Relocating Office?
As mentioned, the steps you take when relocating offices can determine the success of your move and the happiness of your team. The top considerations when moving offices include:
- Assessing your needs
- Choosing the right location
- Clear communication
- Preparing your employees
This article covers these considerations in detail, providing you with our industry expertise to ensure your relocation process is as seamless and successful as possible. For more information on our office relocation services, contact our team today to discuss your needs.
The Importance of Choosing The Right Office Space
The first point on our office relocation checklist, and one of the most important aspects is ensuring you choose the perfect space for your company and employees, accommodating your business goals and requirements.
Your office space isn’t just a location, it’s a reflection of your business and company culture. It’s where employees spend a significant portion of their time, so it needs to positively impact productivity and company culture, ensuring your team feels relaxed and comfortable.
Assessing Your Needs
Before assessing the physical office space you will be moving into, you must define your business goals and objectives. Are you aiming for business growth and expansion or planning to maximise profits? Implement these goals into your decision on how your office space can support these objectives.
Then, you need to determine your budget. It’s essential to have a comprehensive overview of all ongoing expenses and ensure you factor in costs, such as utilities, maintenance, insurance, property taxes, fit-out costs, moving services, etc.
It’s also a good idea to include a contingency fund within your budget to account for unexpected expenses, providing a safety net for peace of mind and preventing financial strain.
Next, it’s time to identify your space requirements:
- Are you aiming for rapid growth? If so, you’ll need a space capable of accommodating an expanding workforce.
- Calculate the square footage required for your office space.
- Taking into account workstations, common areas, meeting rooms, kitchen facilities, and storage spaces.
- Consult with employees, providing valuable insights into their space requirements.
How To Choose The Right Space
The next part of our office relocation checklist is about choosing the right physical space for your office and assessing all the factors your business needs.
Locations
Like the age-old adage, an essential aspect of a successful business is location, location, location. Below, we have outlined all the locational considerations you need to include in your office relocation project:
- Public transport – How near are the bus stations/stops, tube stations and train stations to the office? Is the office within walking distance from the stations? How easy is it for your employees to commute via public transport?
- Airport transport – Do you have a global presence? Will your employees need to fly for business? Think about how far your new office is from the airport to ensure efficient and hassle-free travel.
- Food – Where can employees go during their lunch break? Are there lots of food options? Are there suitable places to host clients?
- Competitors – Will you be located near any of your competitors? Will this cause any issues?
- Clients – If regularly visiting client offices, are they close to your new office or far away? If they’re too far away, employees may spend too much time travelling rather than actually meeting with clients.
- Employee commute – Consider the impact of the new commute on your employees. Is the commute busy, stressful or long? What are the traffic patterns like? You don’t want employees to arrive in a negative mood due to a stressful commute, and you must consider their well-being.
IT Infrastructure
In today’s fast-paced and technologically reliant business environment, IT infrastructure is a vital aspect when choosing the right office space:
- Data centre – Will you require a data centre in the office? Think about the size, if you need a comms room and the best place to position it.
- Internet connectivity – Practically all businesses nowadays require an internet connection. How fast is the internet? What is internet connectivity like?
As a specialist office design and fit-out specialist, we can ensure your new office space has all the latest technology and innovative features to help you keep up with modern-day business. We work with you to outline the needs of your business and employees to ensure the proper IT infrastructure and features are in place, making your office space work for you.
Efficiency
When choosing a location, you need to ensure that the property is in good working order and that your landlord has implemented all energy and efficiency regulations, such as:
- Energy efficient – How efficient is the building? This is a vital part of office relocation and should be considered carefully.
- When selling/renting a building, the landlord must give you an EPC (Environmental Performance Certificate), which will provide an idea of how energy efficient the space is. This is a legal requirement.
- Get an idea of energy costs from the landlord or previous tenants.
- Ensure the space has double glazing to help you reduce the cost of your energy bills.
- Light – How much natural light is in the space? This can improve employee productivity and well-being and also reduce energy costs.
Lighting is a critical aspect of all office spaces, with our team utilising a combination of natural and artificial light, maximising the benefits of both and ensuring that your office is as efficient as possible.
The Building
Building standards and regulations require specific features to be within your office building, which, combined with the needs of your business, can lead to various considerations when looking at the physical building as a whole.
- Disabled access – It’s legally required that your space meets the current Disability Discrimination Act regulations. This Act was replaced in 2010 by the Equality Act, so make sure the space meets all of the latest requirements.
- Read more about the Equality Act
- Security – Is the building secure? Will you require extra security systems? How safe is the neighbourhood? Staff need to feel safe and secure at all times.
- Parking – Are there enough parking spaces available for employees and visitors? If not on-site, is there sufficient off-site parking?
- Outside building condition – What does the external condition of the building say about your business? Is it well-kept, or are upgrades required?
- Noise – Does the space echo? Is it located next to a train station or an airport flight path? Noise can be very distracting for employees and reduce productivity. Acoustic treatment can be applied to reduce the effects of noise pollution.
Cost Considerations
As with all business decisions, cost and budgets need to be at the forefront of your mind, which is no more relevant than when relocating offices.
- Fit-out costs/furniture costs – Does the space require a professional fit-out to upgrade, personalise or treat any issues? Will you move old furniture with you, or will you be purchasing new furniture to fit new company branding?
- Check out our Design and Build Services and get in touch to discuss what we can do for your business.
- Moving services – How much will it cost to move furniture/storage/files/IT equipment to the new space?
Negotiations & Legal Requirements
At this point, you should be in the final stages of deciding which space is ideal for your business and employees. Closely linked to cost considerations, there will be numerous negotiations and legal requirements you need to meet before you can move into your new office space, such as:
- Lease terms – Ensure you negotiate lease terms, length and possible breaks through your agent and solicitor. They will be able to inform you what can be negotiated.
- Dilapidation costs – Upon moving out, your landlord will require you to return your space to its original condition. Negotiating these costs when discussing the lease can save money in the future.
- Rent free periods – Negotiate rent-free periods with the help of your solicitor.
How Do You Prepare Employees For An Office Move?
This part of our office relocation checklist discusses how to prepare employees the transition into a new space. Ensuring your team is prepared for an upcoming move and regularly updated on progress is essential to a seamless and smooth transition.
The best ways to prepare your employees for an office move include:
- Allow your employees to familiarise themselves with the new space.
- Give them an induction to the new space and discuss new safety and security protocols.
- Schedule the move strategically and ensure it doesn’t clash with important events or dates.
- Provide temporary workspace solutions or ask employees to work from home for some time to minimise disruption to their working day and productivity if there is lots of movement in the office.
Clear Communication
Clear communication can make your office relocation project much easier, ensuring your team is aware of what is happening and giving them time to prepare for the move. Additionally, by communicating with your employees throughout all stages outlined in our checklist, you can ensure that your new space will meet their needs as well as the needs of your business.
Involving your team and ensuring clear communication will help ensure your new office space is perfect for your business and goals, as well as allow employees to feel valued and considered throughout the process. Communication is also essential when working with an office relocation partner, like Oaktree, as this will ensure your space has the features and technology you require, as well as ensure relocation progress is defined.
How Do I Move Employees To A New Office?
Finally, our tips for moving employees to a new office:
- Plan the transition to the new space – prepare and provide a timeline of events and assemble a moving team to take charge of the move.
- Communicate with your employees – keep them informed at all times and address any concerns or questions they may have.
- Ask for employee input – to make sure employees are being heard, ask for their input on the moving process.
- Employees need to be satisfied and comfortable to improve well-being and productivity
- Involving more people in the process will allow you to come up with innovative and more efficient solutions – two heads are better than one!
- Moving in – ensure you provide employees with proper induction and provide them with orientation assistance.
Conclusion
Now that you have a better understanding of what to consider when relocating offices, and with the help of our office relocation checklist, this process should be a lot simpler and allow for a seamless transition.
It is critical to ensure you include employees throughout the process to make sure they feel heard and are having input on their new workspace. This will make the process much more seamless, as everyone will feel involved and give their support. Save this office relocation checklist and refer to it as you go through the relocation process.
Good luck with your office move! Alternatively, explore our office relocation services and trust our team of professionals to guide you through every step of the process. To understand if an office relocation is right for you and your business, check out this blog post.