Office Relocation Planning: A 12-Week Timeline for UK Businesses

Why 12 weeks

The biggest UK office moves fail because they were treated like a slightly larger house move — planned in a fortnight, executed at the weekend, staff walking into chaos on Monday. An office relocation is a project, not a move. Twelve weeks is the minimum for anything above five staff. Below is what happens in each week.

Week 12: Lock the fundamentals

Before anything else moves, three decisions need to be signed off in writing.

• Confirmed lease break or exit date at the outgoing office
• Confirmed handover date at the new office
• Named internal project lead with 4 hours a week protected in their calendar

Week 11–10: Appoint the removals partner and start IT scoping

Get fixed price quotes from two or three commercial removals companies (not house-move companies moonlighting on office jobs). Ask specifically about: crate hire and labelling systems, out-of-hours crew availability, IT and server room experience, dilapidations support and post-move waste removal.

In parallel, start scoping the IT cut-over with your internet and phone provider. New broadband installs often need 4–6 weeks lead time — later than most SMEs realise.

Week 9–8: Fit-out and floor plan

The new office fit-out (desks, meeting rooms, kitchen, cabling) needs to be in progress by week 8 to hit the move date. Draw a floor plan with named desks — this becomes the crate destination guide on move day. Every crate gets labelled with the desk number, not a person's name.

Week 7–6: Communicate to staff in writing

Staff need three things: the move date, the new address (with travel/parking details), and a clear packing responsibility. Silence from leadership is where morale drops. A single all-hands email in week 7 followed by weekly project updates keeps the story clear.

Week 5–4: Crate hire arrives

Crates are delivered to the office with labels. Each staff member packs their own desk into their assigned crates. A hard deadline goes on the wall: everything must be in crates by 5pm the Friday before move day. Anything not in a crate does not move.

• Crates delivered and distributed
• Labelling system briefed
• Deadline announced (and enforced)
• IT team starts secondary server prep at the new office

Week 3: Address changes and dilapidations quote

Update the registered office address at Companies House, notify HMRC, update the postal address with banks, insurers, key suppliers and clients. Get a dilapidations quote for the outgoing office — landlords rarely refund deposits without one.

Week 2: Final walkthrough at both sites

Removals project lead walks both offices with the internal project lead. Any last additions (a filing cabinet no-one had labelled, a fridge that needs to move) get added to the manifest. Parking suspensions applied for at both ends.

Week 1: The final push

Staff pack the last of their desks. IT cut-over is scheduled for the Friday evening or Saturday morning. Cleaning is scheduled at the outgoing office for the following week. New office kitchen is stocked before Monday.

Move weekend

A well-planned office move happens over a weekend so staff arrive Monday to a working office. Removals crew loads Saturday, unloads and places crates at desks Sunday, IT team does final validation Sunday evening. Project lead does the Monday-morning walk-through at 07:30 before staff arrive.

The first Monday

Kitchen has milk. Broadband works. Every desk has its crate. Meeting rooms have chairs. Someone is at reception to point new arrivals to their seat. If any of those five are missing, the move looked bad even if the removals part was perfect. That's why the project takes 12 weeks, not two.

Typical UK office relocation costs (2026)

End-to-end, including survey, crate hire, packing, transport, reassembly and out-of-hours timing where required.

• Small office, 5–15 staff, local: £800 – £2,200
• Medium office, 15–50 staff, local: £2,200 – £6,500
• Large office, 50–150 staff, local: £6,500 – £18,000
• IT and server room add-on: £1,500 – £8,000
• Long distance (over 100 miles): +25–45%