Somebody else's property · V
A landlord and a lease
A commercial move has more parties with an interest than any other job on this site: a landlord at each end, two building managers, a dilapidations schedule, and a business that loses money for every hour it is not operating.
The brief is not "when can you come". It is "how few hours can we be closed".
What a business move involves
The lease dates are the plan
On most commercial jobs the real constraint is not the move. It is a dilapidations date at one end and a lease start at the other, and in London those two rarely line up neatly.
Tell us both at the brief stage. Where they overlap, the move can be staged across several visits with almost no downtime. Where they do not, storage in the middle is the answer and it needs planning rather than panic.
Staging beats a single weekend
A business rarely has to move everything at once. Archives, spare stock, furniture from unused areas and anything seasonal can go early, which shrinks the critical window down to the things people actually need on Monday morning.
It is the most effective thing we do on commercial work, and it is free — a sequencing decision rather than a service.
Two buildings, two sets of rules
A London office move means dealing with a building manager at each end, and they will not have the same requirements. Different booking systems, different bay heights, different out-of-hours arrangements and two separate requests for our insurance certificate.
We handle that liaison as part of the job. What we need from you is the contact at each building, as early as possible.
What stays with your own people
Live systems. We crate, transport and place IT equipment; disconnection, reconnection and anything involving a server rack or a network needs your own team or a specialist alongside us, and we say so at brief stage rather than discovering it at midnight.
A landlord and a lease
Questions about a landlord and a lease
- 01
Can you work overnight or at a weekend?
Yes, and on commercial work in London it is normal rather than exceptional. Both buildings usually have to agree to it, which is part of what we arrange.
- 02
How far ahead should we brief you?
The moment the lease dates exist, even provisionally. Staging the move is what protects your trading hours, and it is only possible with a run-up.
- 03
Do you handle IT?
Crating, carrying and placing, yes. Anything live — disconnection, reconnection, a rack, a network — belongs to your own team or a specialist, and we work alongside them rather than around them.
- 04
Can you store between leases?
Yes, and that gap is one of the commonest reasons a commercial brief reaches us. Inventoried at collection and released against your schedule.
- 05
What about confidential files?
Crated, sealed and listed, and moved under your own chain-of-custody requirements where you have them. Tell us what those are at brief stage.
- 06
Will you provide an inventory for insurance?
As standard on commercial work — what was collected, its condition, and where it went.
What kind of address is it?
Both addresses, and what kind of building each one is. That second answer tells us how many people have to agree before anything can happen.