Perhaps your business has recently grown or you require a different location. Perhaps it's time to hire movers to help relocate your office. An office relocation can be stressful enough at the best of times, with this in mind, without having to concern yourself with how your office furniture, stock, and equipment is going to make it safely to the new location. This is very much the reason why you need to be thorough when hiring commercial movers.
Commercial moving entails a great deal more than just trucks and movers. Anyone can appreciate how a badly executed commercial move can badly impact a client’s business operations in several critical ways. Be sure that the removals company you opt for can answer the various questions in depth before you sign any contractual agreement with them. If all goes to plan, your business could even carry on earning revenue with a small amount of interruption. If it goes badly, your business could potentially come to a standstill and the short-term implications may be significant.
With all of this in mind, here are a few questions to ask prior to hiring a corporate moving company.
What is the moving company willing to move?
Dependant on your stock type and your office, there may well be some kinds of restrictions on what the moving company can take with them. You will also want to establish a strategy for the various items you don’t want your movers to pack up and take with them. This could be items such as sensitive archive files or the contents of your company safe. Pack these items prior your commercial movers coming to pack up the interior of the business. Or, they could accidentally go in with everything else!
What will the movers pack for you?
Various commercial moving companies can only take pre-packed boxes and dismantled furniture. While this decreases the overall costs of your business move, it’s certainly worth considering a slightly more comprehensive moving package.
Without any kind of contractual agreement to pack your furniture and office items, you’ll need to ask others (namely your employees) for assistance. This creates an element of risk and error that is not going to be covered by insurance. A dropped computer, for example, could be a costly mistake - such an accident with a commercial mover may be covered by their insurance and ultimately less likely to happen in any scenario.
Asking fellow employees to assist with moving furniture also violates health and safety regulations. Moreover, if someone feels they want to pitch in to help, they could risk injuring themselves and you may face a hefty penalty, in addition to this paying sickness pay while your employee recovers.
You’ll also be faced with a certain amount of business downtime if members of your staff are packing, taking them away from core daily duties. A moving company that packs for you means all of your staff can continue to focus on business continuity.
What materials will be included for the move?
Suss out how your office furniture and objects will be packed up. If smaller items will be thrown into crates, will packing items like bubble wrap be supplied? This definitely and unsurprisingly reduces the risk of damage in the move process. Some companies will supply packaging materials, or will only use the cheapest available. This risks your fragile assets, including breakable items that could cost you a lot of money if things go wrong during the move. Be sure that your commercial moving company uses high-quality packaging materials to reduce risk.
Will you receive a breakdown of cost beforehand?
Will your moving company charge you by the item, or by the time taken to move items? Will packaging be included? Are there different levels of add-on insurance to factor in?
If a moving company gives one set price for your business move quote, ask them to break it down for. A price breakdown is a reasonable request and will help you to make fair comparisons so that you can get the balance of quality service that’s budget-appropriate.
Will your movers be able to install your furniture on arrival?
What will happen when your moving trucks arrive at the new office? Will everything be put in the foyer for you to organise or will they find a place for it? Or will the movers take items to the right location.
An end-to-end commercial moving company is the ideal option for you if you seek business continuity. There’s no point investing in the full move service at the start of the process, to have to then unpack everything yourself. It’ll open you up to the same risks of delays and difficulties as you would have faced packing up your own office yourself.
Who will be supervising the office move?
In most scenarios, a corporate moving company will come with a project manager, someone who works as a group supervisor or team leaders who oversee each aspect of the move and ensure quality, as well as maintaining and verifying any admin or inventories.
Does the company have the necessary insurance requirements?
Make sure that the company is insured. Be sure to request a certificate of insurance and make sure you know the company’s policy for when something is lost or damaged. What does the claim process entail? Are any losses and damages fully covered by the service’s insurance? It's certainly useful to be aware of any laws regarding these matters as well.
How is reinstallation of furniture handled?
Make sure that the service includes reinstallation of furniture if needed. Moreover, make sure that the company provides offers office furniture installers and can make a guarantee if they happen to offer fit and form. If the new site has special needs regarding existing furniture, those factors should be accounted for prior to any contractual agreement.
How will the moving company go about relocating the items?
How will the contents be transported out of the origin site into the moving vehicles? Also, what kind of vehicles are being used? Also will the contents transported from the origin site to the destination site?
Is there a process or policy in place for missing or broken items?
In the unfortunate and for the most part highly unlikely circumstance that something goes missing or is lost, its highly beneficial that you have a solid understanding of the protocol in place for these kinds of situations. It's certainly worth asking the removals company if they have a policy for missing or broken items and if so, what is it?
During an exciting time like moving office locations, it’s important to be completely aware and in control of what’s going on around you. By asking your potential commercial moving company these questions, you’ll have a clear understanding of the moving process, their expertise, and exactly how well your office’s items are going to be dealt with.
Michael Garrett - we are an office removals company who can assist you with your commercial business move
If you are seeking a business that offers professional business removal services? Look no further than Michael Garrett Removals.
Most types of moves can be stressful to carry out not to mention a complicated process, and there can be extra challenges to deal with if you’re undertaking a commercial move. Whatever size the office is, it’s likely that you’ll be moving heavy and expensive equipment, furniture and cabinets full of important materials. Not to mention the items themselves, office relocation involves liaising with staff, clients and vendors to efficiently coordinate the move.
Here at Michael Garrett Removals, we have the equipment and expertise to help your business with all of the above, and offer reliable commercial removals at competitive prices.
We’ve got the resources to move businesses of any size, whether it’s a small cross section of a company or a large corporation. Our corporate relocation services also include a packing and unpacking option, so you can rest assured while we take care of everything for you. For further information about our office movers in Paignton and Torbay, get in touch with a member of our team.
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