Moving office in London without losing a day of trading

Planning your move

Written by Daniel, founder, Metro City Moves

Moving office in London is not a bigger house move. The furniture is easier and the building is harder. Two landlords, two managing agents, a goods lift that has to be booked, a loading bay somebody else controls, and a date you cannot slip because the lease ends on it. Most of the work happens before anyone lifts a desk, and most of what goes wrong is access nobody confirmed in writing. This is the order we work in, and the questions worth asking early enough that the answers can still change the plan.

The short version

The building decides the date more than you do. Managed buildings restrict when you can move, and some only allow it outside office hours.
Book the goods lift the day you have a date. It is the single most contested resource in a London office move.
Get both landlords' rules in writing. Verbal permission from a receptionist is not permission.
IT is the long pole. Lines and connectivity at the new address take weeks, not days.
The old office has to be handed back in a state the lease describes. That is a separate job from the move.

Start with the two buildings, not the furniture

Before you price anything, get the rules for both addresses. Ask the managing agent at each end, in writing:

When are moves permitted? Many buildings allow them only outside core hours, which usually means evenings or a weekend. That decides the crew size and the cost more than the volume does.
Is there a goods lift, what does it hold, and how is it booked? Ask for the internal dimensions and the weight limit. A desk that will not enter the lift goes up the stairs, and that is a different job.
Is there a loading bay, and is it shared? If it is shared, ask how it is allocated. If there is no bay, the van is parking on the street and the borough's rules apply — the same rules as a house move, set out in our London parking suspensions guide.
What does the building need from us? Most managed buildings ask for the contractor's insurance details and a method statement before they will let anyone through the door. Some want it two weeks ahead.
Are there protection requirements? Floor and lift protection is often mandatory, and the building will stop the move if it is not in place.

Every one of those answers can move the date. That is why they come first.

The bits of London that change the job

The City and Canary Wharf run tighter than most. Access windows are narrower, security passes take longer to arrange, and a van without a pre-booked slot may not get near the building.
Congestion Charge and ULEZ apply to the vehicle, not the size of the move. Where a van stands on both is set out in our ULEZ guide for removals vans — worth checking before you compare quotes, because it is a cost that should appear separately.
Red routes rule out a suspension entirely. If either address is on one, the only route is a dispensation from TfL, and it needs working days of notice.
Older converted buildings are where the surprises live. A Georgian terrace off a Clerkenwell square can be a lovely office and a very slow move, because the staircase was built for people rather than for a boardroom table.

A timeline that works

Eight to twelve weeks out. Confirm the new lease dates and read what the old lease says about the state you must return the office in. Order the internet and phone lines — this is the item that most often decides whether you can trade on the Monday. Tell the managing agents at both ends that you are moving.

Six weeks out. Get quotes from firms that have seen both buildings. A commercial move priced off a floor plan is priced off a guess. Decide what is coming with you and what is being disposed of; those are two different jobs and one of them is regulated.

Four weeks out. Book the goods lift at both ends and get the confirmation in writing. Apply for anything the borough needs for the van. Order crates and labels. Tell customers and suppliers, and start on the address on the website, the invoices and the letterhead.

Two weeks out. Send the building the insurance details and method statement it asked for. Confirm security passes for the crew. Do a floor plan of the new office showing where each desk goes, and label the desks to match. This is the single thing that saves the most time on the day.

The last week. Staff pack their own desks into labelled crates. Photograph the back of anything with cables. Agree who holds the keys, and who is standing at each end on the day with authority to make decisions.

The old office is a second job

Handing back is where budgets get an unwelcome surprise. The lease usually describes the condition the space must be returned in, and a dilapidations claim is settled against that description rather than against what feels reasonable. Read it early enough to do something about it.

Two practical points:

Old furniture and IT do not go in a skip. Business waste has its own rules, and electrical equipment has its own again. Whoever takes it away should be able to give you their waste carrier registration number, and you should ask for it — the duty of care sits with you as the producer of the waste, not only with the person driving it away.
The clean is measured against the lease, not against how it looks. Book it after the last item has gone, not around the move.

What a commercial quote should tell you

The crew size, the vehicle, and how many trips.
The access window it assumes at both ends, and what happens if the building changes it.
Whether it includes crates, labels, and dismantling and rebuilding desks.
Whether the price is inside or outside normal hours, because that is a different rate.
Which public charges are passed on, listed separately.
What the cover is, and what it excludes — IT equipment is often treated differently from furniture.

If a quote arrives without a site visit, treat the number as provisional. Nobody can price a fourth-floor office with a small lift from a description of it.

Common questions

How far ahead should we start? Two to three months for anything over about ten people, mostly because of lines and lease dates rather than the removal itself. A small studio can be done in three or four weeks if the buildings are straightforward.

Can we move over a weekend? Often you have to. Many London buildings only allow moves outside core hours, so a weekend or evening move is the normal case rather than the premium one. Ask both buildings before you assume either way.

Who is responsible if the building refuses access on the day? You are, in practice, which is why the written confirmation matters. A crew turned away still has to be paid, and the date may not be available again that week.

What is the most common thing people forget? The goods lift booking at the destination. Everyone books the one they are leaving from.

Do we need to tell anyone official? Update Companies House if the registered office is changing, and HMRC for VAT and PAYE. Neither is difficult, but both are easy to forget in the week you are carrying boxes.

Should staff pack their own desks? Yes, into labelled crates, and give them time in work hours to do it. It is faster, it is cheaper, and people find their own things on the Monday.