Office Relocation Checklist: IT, People and Furniture

Start with IT, people, and furniture as the three separate workstreams, each with its own timeline and owner. For IT, audit your current infrastructure, plan the migration of connectivity and hardware, and confirm broadband lead times in the new building before anything else - this is the longest lead time and most common bottleneck. For people, communicate the move early with a clear timeline, share the design of the new space if available, and confirm individual logistics. For furniture, engage a provider immediately after lease signing - if using a subscription, installation can typically happen two to four weeks before your move date.

IT migration is the highest-risk element of any office relocation and the most common cause of downtime. Key steps are: audit everything in the current space (connectivity, servers, hardware, peripherals); confirm connectivity lead times in the new building before you commit to a move date; plan the physical migration of hardware with a commercial IT removals team rather than a general removals company; test connectivity and server access in the new building before staff arrive; and have a fallback plan if there are issues on day one. Downtime during an office move is almost always IT-related and almost always preventable with early planning.

A typical office relocation covers: lease and legal (notice periods, lease review, dilapidations assessment); space planning and furniture (design, procurement or subscription agreement, installation timeline); IT migration (connectivity, hardware, server migration, testing); communications (team notifications, address changes, supplier updates, company registration); building works if needed (partitioning, decorating, cat B fit-out elements); commercial removals for equipment; and handback of the old space (pre-exit inspection, clearance, waste transfer documentation). Most of these workstreams run in parallel rather than sequentially - which is why a clear project plan with owners for each stream is essential.

Six months before the move date, confirm your notice period and formally notify your current landlord in writing as required by your lease. Simultaneously, brief an agent on your requirements for the new space and start searching. Four months out, shortlist spaces, negotiate, and instruct solicitors for lease review. Three months out, once signed, start the furniture and fit-out process. Two months out, plan IT migration and communications. One month out, confirm the move date with all stakeholders and finalise removals logistics. Move week: execute IT cutover, physical move of equipment, and staff move-in day.

Broadband is consistently the most underestimated lead time in office relocations. In some buildings and locations, new connectivity can take six to twelve weeks to provision from order date - which means if you confirm your lease and start the process immediately, you may still be waiting for connectivity on move-in day. Check with the building's service provider or your IT team before committing to a move date, and confirm the lead time explicitly in writing. If the building already has installed infrastructure, the lead time may be shorter - but this should be verified, not assumed.