Office Relocation Checklist for Glasgow Businesses

An office move is a project with a hard deadline and a lot of people affected by it. Done well, staff leave on Friday, arrive on Monday and everything works. Done badly, the phones are down for a week and the accounts team cannot find their filing. We handle office removals across the city, and the businesses that have a smooth move are the ones that started planning early and wrote things down.

This checklist is for small and medium offices, roughly 5 to 60 desks. Bigger moves follow the same logic with more zeros.

12 weeks out: plan and appoint

• Appoint a move coordinator. One person owns the project. Give them authority to make decisions.
• Confirm the dates. Lease end at the old office, lease start at the new one, and any fit-out period in between. Build in a buffer if you can.
• Set a budget. Include removals, IT, new furniture, cabling, cleaning, dilapidations and a contingency.
• Get removal quotes. For an office move we always visit or do a video survey. Ask about weekend rates and whether the crew has done city-centre buildings before.
• Audit what you have. Desks, chairs, storage, meeting room furniture, kitchen equipment, servers, printers. Decide what moves, what is sold, what is recycled.

8 weeks out: IT, phones and the building

IT is the part that goes wrong most often, so start early.

• Connectivity. Order broadband or leased line at the new office now. Lead times in Glasgow can be several weeks, longer if new cabling to the building is needed.
• Phones. If you are on a hosted system, this is mostly a config change. If you have physical lines, arrange the transfer or the switch to VoIP.
• Servers and data. Back everything up before the move. Decide whether servers travel with the crew or with your IT provider.
• Desk cabling. Confirm the new office has enough data points and power at each desk. If not, book an electrician and cabling contractor now.
• Building management, old office. Notify them of the move-out date, ask about lift bookings, loading bay access, out-of-hours rules and dilapidations requirements.
• Building management, new office. Same questions in reverse, plus: are there protective floor coverings required, what are the goods lift dimensions, and is there a limit on moving hours?

6 weeks out: people and paperwork

• Tell staff. Share the date, the new address, the transport options and what they need to do. A short FAQ saves a lot of emails.
• Insurance. Tell your business insurer about the move. Confirm your removals company's goods in transit and public liability cover and get a copy of the certificate.
• Address changes. Companies House, HMRC, bank, suppliers, clients, website, email signatures, Google Business Profile, stationery.
• Post. Set up business mail redirection with Royal Mail.
• New furniture. Order it now if you are buying. Delivery to the new office should land before the move, not on the same day.
• Access and security. Order access cards or fobs for the new building. Arrange for the old building's cards to be returned.

4 weeks out: the detailed plan

• Floor plan. Draw the new office with every desk numbered. Each person gets a desk number, and every crate and item of furniture is labelled with it.
• Crates. Plastic crates are far better than cardboard for an office. We can supply them. Roughly two to three crates per desk.
• Lift bookings. Confirm the goods lift at both ends for the moving day, in writing.
• Parking and loading. For a city-centre office, check where the van can stop. Loading bays, bus gates and the Low Emission Zone all matter. Our parking guide has the detail.
• Weekend or weekday? Most offices move on a Friday afternoon and Saturday so the business opens on Monday. Confirm the building allows weekend access at both ends.
• Cleaners. Book an end-of-lease clean at the old office.

2 weeks out: pack the non-essentials

• Archive files, reference books, spare stationery and anything not touched daily go into crates now.
• Purge. Shred what you do not need. Every crate you do not move is money saved.
• Label everything with the desk number and the destination room.
• Confirm the removals booking, the start time and the contact numbers for the day.
• Print the floor plan and put copies at both offices.

The week of the move

Monday to Thursday:

• Staff pack their own desks into labelled crates. Personal items go home with them.
• IT team backs up, images machines if needed and labels every cable and peripheral by desk number.
• Empty and defrost the office fridge. Pack the kitchen.
• Take photographs of the old office for the dilapidations record.

Friday:

• Last backup. Shut down servers in the agreed order.
• Disconnect and label monitors, docks and desk phones.
• Removal crew loads furniture and crates in floor-plan order.
• Meter readings and keys handed to building management.

Saturday:

• Unload at the new office to the numbered plan.
• IT reconnects the network, servers and printers first, then desks.
• Test the phones, the internet and the door entry system.
• Walk the floor with the floor plan and check every desk is complete.

Monday morning

• Have the coordinator and someone from IT in early.
• A short welcome note on each desk with the wifi, the printer name and where the kettle is.
• Keep a snag list for the first week and fix things quickly.
• Return the crates to the removals company.

Two checklists at a glance

Timing	Key task
12 weeks	Coordinator, dates, budget, removal quotes
8 weeks	Connectivity ordered, building management notified at both ends
6 weeks	Staff briefed, insurance confirmed, addresses changed
4 weeks	Floor plan, crates, lift bookings, parking
2 weeks	Non-essentials packed, booking confirmed
Move week	Desks packed, IT backed up, move executed
Week after	Snag list, crates returned

Common mistake	Fix
Ordering broadband too late	Order at 8 weeks, chase weekly
No desk numbers on crates	Number the floor plan first, label everything to it
Goods lift not booked	Confirm in writing at 4 weeks
Van cannot stop outside	Check loading bays and bus gates in advance
Old fridge full of milk	Empty it on Thursday

Glasgow-specific notes

• City-centre buildings on the grid, Bothwell Street, St Vincent Street, West George Street and around, mostly have rear loading access or a loading bay. Ask building management which one and what hours.
• Some older converted buildings in the Merchant City have small lifts and awkward stairs. A survey matters.
• If you are moving to a business park such as those around East Kilbride or Braehead, access is easier but the distance from the city adds time.
• For larger commercial moves involving workshops or stock, we plan a separate schedule for the heavy items.

Need a hand?

We plan office moves with you, not just for you. Request a quote with your desk count, both addresses and your ideal dates, or call Peter on 07481 469221 to arrange a survey.