Our top tips for moving your business

Now we certainly are not a professional removals company, and the extent of our shipments around the UK thus far have been based around pallets, so this blog post isn't a definitive guide by experts in the know, however, if you want some real honest advice from the point of few of a group of novices who had to work all hours to move, then read on.

For the past few months we have been going through the painstaking process of relocating our whole business, imagine the stress of moving house then multiply that by 100, then add some more.. Essentially the opposite method to all business forecasting! 

We had to change everything, even thinking about how the staff get to and from work. Moving is never quite as easy as it seems!

Obviously we knew we couldn’t just waltz in and start working; the building was literally stripped of everything, it was a shell, it had nothing, not even electrics, so we had to get to work turning it into a habitable environment, effectively running two warehouses at once.

There were priorities into what we went ahead with first, like getting the electricity up and installing the alarm system, which weren’t too much hassle but you can’t get any insurance without one and you can’t get into the building without the other!

So here is your first top tip, and we guarantee you won’t see it anywhere else. If someone called the Meter registration board, or Commercial Energy rings up, claiming as a new tenant/owner you need to register your meter with them, don’t. They do not work for any energy companies and are simply trying to get you into long term energy contracts without even realising it!!

Our second priority was to get the other essentials sorted before we could actually move in, such as a telephone line and broadband, but also to lease a forklift to operate the warehouse. 

So here’s your second top tip! Do a lot of research into who you use for your telephone lines. BT has had to split into two parts, the actual lines company is now separate to the billing side, so there are now a lot of companies that can get you some excellent deals out there! However, be warned, always read the small print. These offers that look great often aren’t. Optimum Calls for example will tie you into a five year contract and the deals only last for one! When in doubt, ask an expert, we used Red Maple Consultants for our telephones, but then we did have to wire them in too!

Never to be defeated by the essentials, we actually drew up our expansion plan before we moved in, meaning everything we have set up is designed to be replaced or added to. Now that might sound a tad over the top, but in our business we know we won’t be able to contain our growth plans in the current building, or at least with the building in its current shape. 

So here’s you third top tip, after such a big move, we would rather expand on site than go elsewhere; so make sure you plan ahead! If you’re not sure of where you will be going next, it’s always still a good idea to plan how everything should be laid out in both the warehouse and the offices when you actually move in! There is nothing worse than not being able to fit!

Quite handily, the issue of not being able to fit leads us onto top tip number four; there is ALWAYS more to move than you expect! 

Our tiny office alone went from four crates of bits and bobs to twenty six in a very short space of time. We originally planned to move everything in one day via a 40ft arctic truck; however at the last minute we were offered a double deck arctic so decided it was better to have the extra capacity if necessary! That turned out to be the right idea, we worked constantly in both warehouses for 16 hours and only just managed the move. The moral of the story here is; get the biggest truck you can!

So finally we are in, and we still haven’t managed to unpack properly! For those of you that would like to visit us the address is: Unit 4B, Admiral Point, Spectrum Business Park, Seaham, County Durham SR7 7PP, but please give us prior warning as we might need to clear you a path to the coffee!

So there you have it, four top tips and some photos to boot, well except we have one tip more. Leave time to unpack too! It’s all very well leaving your old life behind you, but you still need to operate out of the new one! So don’t do what we did and move on a Sunday!