Moving Office Checklist: Everything Your Business Needs to Plan
Moving office sounds straightforward until somebody starts the spreadsheet.
Find the new space. Pack the laptops. Hire a van. Move.
Then come the questions.
Who is sorting the internet? When does the old contract end? Do we need new furniture? Who needs our new address? What happens to the post? Have we told clients? What about Companies House? And is everyone on the team actually happy with the new commute?
A successful office move isn't really about moving desks.
It's about moving a working business without unnecessarily interrupting it.
So if you're planning an office relocation, use this checklist to work backwards from moving day and make sure the important things don't disappear between the boxes.
How long does it take to move office?
There isn't one standard office-moving timeline.
A small team moving into a furnished, ready-to-use flexible office could potentially make the transition relatively quickly.
Moving into a conventional commercial property can involve considerably more: lease negotiations, fit-out, furniture, utilities, broadband installation, access systems and other suppliers.
That's why we'd recommend starting with your move-in date and working backwards.
For this checklist, we'll begin around 12 weeks before the move.
If your move is simpler, compress it.
If you're fitting out a larger office, start earlier.
8–12 weeks before: decide what your new office actually needs to solve
Before looking at addresses, work out why you're moving.
Perhaps your team has outgrown its current space.
Maybe you're paying for desks nobody uses.
Perhaps working from home no longer works for the business.
You might need better meeting facilities, more privacy, a more central location or simply a workspace with fewer things for your team to manage themselves.
Write down your non-negotiables.
Consider:
how many people regularly work from the office
your busiest day of the week
whether your team is hybrid
privacy requirements
meeting rooms
calls and quiet space
storage
accessibility
transport connections
client visits
opening/access hours
furniture
internet requirements
room to grow
total monthly budget
Don't start with:
“We have eight employees, so we need eight desks.”
Start with:
“How do these eight people actually work?”
Our guide to Choosing private office space in Brighton for teams of 2–12 goes into this decision in more detail.
8–12 weeks before: understand the real cost of moving
The monthly rent isn't necessarily the monthly cost.
Before committing to a new office, establish what's included and what you'll need to arrange separately.
Depending on the property, your budget might need to account for:
rent
VAT
deposit
business rates
service charges
electricity and heating
broadband
IT/network setup
furniture
cleaning
insurance
fit-out
meeting rooms
removals
storage
signage
repairs or reinstatement at your old premises
This is particularly important when comparing a traditional lease with a serviced or flexible office.
A flexible office may have a higher-looking headline price while already including several costs you'd otherwise need to organise separately.
We've broken this down in our Guide to office-space costs in Brighton.
The important number is not simply the rent.
It's the total cost of occupying the space.
6–8 weeks before: check your existing agreement
Before becoming too attached to your new office, check how and when you can leave the old one.
Look at:
notice periods
break clauses
required notice format
deposit arrangements
reinstatement or dilapidation responsibilities
cleaning requirements
keys and access cards
utilities
broadband and phone contracts
equipment leases
parking agreements
storage agreements
For conventional commercial leases, get appropriate professional advice where needed rather than assuming the move-out terms are straightforward.
You don't want to discover that your exciting new office comes with several months of overlapping costs because nobody checked the old agreement.
6–8 weeks before: involve your team
An office move affects more than the company postcode.
It can change someone's commute, transport costs, working pattern and daily routine.
Talk to the people who will actually use the space.
Ask what works in the current office and what doesn't.
Does the team need more quiet space?
Better meeting rooms?
Somewhere to eat away from their desks?
More opportunities to work together?
Fewer permanent desks and better communal areas?
There can also be employment-law implications when a workplace location changes, particularly depending on employees' contracts and mobility clauses, so businesses should seek appropriate HR or legal advice where necessary.
But even where the move is straightforward, involving the team early is simply good planning.
A beautiful office isn't particularly useful if nobody wants to work there.
4–6 weeks before: plan your IT before you plan the boxes
For many businesses, losing the desks for a day would be inconvenient.
Losing access to the internet, phones or critical systems would be considerably worse.
Establish early:
what internet connectivity exists at the new office
whether broadband needs to be installed
installation lead times
whether you need your own router/network equipment
who manages the network
phone/VoIP requirements
printers and other connected devices
server or specialist hardware requirements
access to cloud systems
backups
what needs testing before moving day
If you're moving into a serviced or flexible office, ask exactly what connectivity is already provided rather than assuming “Wi-Fi included” answers every IT question.
This is one area where a ready-to-use workspace can remove significant setup work — but businesses should still understand what is and isn't provided.
Your IT should be ready before your team arrives, not discovered when somebody opens their laptop on Monday morning.
4–6 weeks before: decide what is moving with you
Office moves are an excellent excuse to discover how much stuff businesses accumulate.
Do you actually need every desk?
Every chair?
That cupboard containing cables nobody has identified since 2019?
Categorise what you have:
Keep — coming to the new office.
Replace — required, but not worth moving.
Donate/sell — usable, but no longer needed.
Recycle/dispose — safely and responsibly.
If the new office is already furnished, you may need to move considerably less than expected.
That's not just convenient.
It can reduce removals, disruption, setup time and unnecessary purchasing.
3–4 weeks before: update the people and organisations that need your address
This is the part that's easy to underestimate.
Create one master list rather than relying on everyone to remember individually.
Depending on your business, this may include:
Companies House
HMRC
business-rates records
insurers
banks and lenders
accountants
suppliers
clients
professional bodies
licensing authorities
pension providers
payroll providers
couriers
subscriptions
stationery
contracts and templates
website
email signatures
invoices
social-media profiles
Google Business Profile
online directories
For UK limited companies, a registered-office change must be reported to Companies House, and the new address does not officially change until it has been registered.
Remember that your registered office, trading address and actual workspace aren't necessarily the same thing, so identify exactly which records need changing.
HMRC also needs to be informed of relevant changes to business details, with different processes potentially applying depending on the taxes and schemes your business uses.
Don't leave official changes until somebody notices that important correspondence is still going somewhere else.
2–3 weeks before: tell clients without making it complicated
Not every office move requires a dramatic announcement.
But anyone who might physically visit you needs to know where to go.
Update appointment confirmations, directions and relevant contact information.
For important clients and suppliers, communicate the move directly.
Tell them:
where you're moving
when you're moving
when the new address takes effect
whether your phone/email details are changing
whether there will be any interruption to service
If the move represents growth or a positive change for the business, it can also become a useful communications moment.
New office. New chapter.
Just make sure the practical information doesn't get buried beneath the celebration.
1–2 weeks before: test the new office as if it were already Monday morning
Don't just walk around admiring it.
Try to work there.
Can everyone access the building?
Does the internet work where you need it?
Are desks and chairs ready?
Can you connect to the equipment you need?
Do meeting rooms work as expected?
Does everyone know how to enter outside staffed hours?
Where are deliveries going?
How does post work?
Where are the fire exits?
Who does the team contact if something goes wrong?
If possible, have one or two people work from the new office before the full move.
A test day can uncover small problems while they're still small.
Moving week: protect business continuity
By moving week, most decisions should already have been made.
Now focus on keeping the business functioning.
Confirm:
movers and timings
access to both premises
keys/cards
IT responsibility
equipment inventory
backups
staff responsibilities
client communications
deliveries
emergency contacts
Label equipment by person or destination, not simply “office”.
And decide what absolutely must be operational first.
For many businesses, that's surprisingly little:
internet + laptops + phones + somewhere to sit + coffee.
Everything else can follow.
Your first week: don't assume the move is finished
Boxes being unpacked doesn't mean the office is working properly.
During the first week, ask the team:
What's missing?
What's awkward?
Which space isn't being used as expected?
Do you need another screen, chair or storage solution?
Are meeting rooms easy to access?
Is there anything making someone's work unnecessarily difficult?
Also check that important address changes have actually propagated online.
Search for your own business.
Check Maps.
Check your website.
Check directories.
Check invoices and templates.
The first week is when the new office becomes your office.
Allow it to evolve.
The office-moving checklist
8–12 weeks before
☐ Define why you're moving
☐ Agree budget
☐ Understand team attendance
☐ Choose location requirements
☐ Decide must-haves vs nice-to-haves
☐ Compare total occupancy costs
☐ Start office viewings
6–8 weeks before
☐ Review existing lease/agreement
☐ Confirm notice and move-out responsibilities
☐ Agree new workspace
☐ Communicate with employees
☐ Review contracts where location may be relevant
☐ Create the move budget
4–6 weeks before
☐ Confirm internet/IT arrangements
☐ Plan phones and connected equipment
☐ Review furniture requirements
☐ Book removals if needed
☐ Arrange insurance
☐ Decide what to keep, replace, sell or recycle
3–4 weeks before
☐ Prepare official address updates
☐ Update Companies House where applicable
☐ Update relevant HMRC details
☐ Check business-rates requirements
☐ Notify banks, insurers and suppliers
☐ Prepare website/directory updates
☐ Arrange post handling/redirection if required
1–2 weeks before
☐ Tell clients and visitors
☐ Test internet and equipment
☐ Test building access
☐ Confirm desks/furniture
☐ Confirm deliveries and post
☐ Check health, safety and emergency arrangements
☐ Run a test working day where possible
Moving week
☐ Back up critical information
☐ Confirm movers
☐ Label equipment
☐ Keep essential systems accessible
☐ Give staff final instructions
☐ Confirm old/new office access
☐ Test essential systems again
First week
☐ Gather team feedback
☐ Fix practical issues
☐ Check all address listings
☐ Update anything missed
☐ Review workspace layout
☐ Settle in
One thing people forget: you're not only moving an office
You're moving people's routines.
You're moving systems.
You're moving client touchpoints.
You're moving contracts, equipment, addresses and working habits.
That's why the easiest office move isn't necessarily the shortest physical distance.
It's the move with the fewest unnecessary complications.
For some businesses, taking an empty commercial unit and building exactly what they want is worth the work.
For others, moving into a furnished flexible office where much of the infrastructure already exists can make considerably more sense.
Neither is automatically right.
But you should know what you're signing yourself up to before you choose.
Moving office in Brighton?
If your checklist currently starts with “find the new office”, WERKS can help with that part.
We provide private office space for small and growing teams across Brighton, with furnished options, flexible arrangements and the wider facilities of the WERKS community.
You can compare what to look for in our Private Office Space in Brighton guide, understand the real cost of office space in Brighton, or explore whether coworking or a private office makes more sense for your team.
And if you're ready to start looking:
You bring the team.
We'll show you the spaces.
Moving Office FAQs
How far in advance should you plan an office move?
It depends on the type and size of move. A small team moving into a furnished flexible office may need much less preparation than a business taking a conventional lease requiring fit-out, broadband installation and new furniture. Working backwards from your intended move date is usually more useful than applying one fixed timeline.
Who should I notify when my business moves office?
Your list may include Companies House, HMRC, business-rates authorities, banks, insurers, suppliers, clients, professional bodies and online directories. The exact requirements depend on your business structure and circumstances.
Do I need to tell Companies House when my office moves?
If your limited company's registered office address is changing, yes. Companies House must be notified, and the new registered office does not officially change until the change is registered. Your physical workspace and registered office are not necessarily the same address.
Should employees be consulted about an office move?
An office relocation can affect employees' workplace and commute. Employment contracts, including any mobility clauses, may also be relevant. Employers should check their circumstances and obtain HR or legal advice where necessary rather than assuming every relocation can be handled identically.
What should I organise first when moving office?
Start with the requirements for the new workspace and your existing contractual obligations. Once the new office is agreed, internet/IT, staff communication, removals and address changes should be planned well before moving day.
Is moving into a serviced or flexible office easier?
It can reduce the number of things a business needs to arrange when furniture, connectivity, utilities and building facilities are already provided. Exactly what's included varies by provider, so confirm everything before committing.
