How to find the best Office Removals company?
Office removals are more than just moving a few boxes of documents. You should consider many large and heavy office equipment, such as office desks, board room desks, cubicle boards, chairs, filing cabinets, water machines, fridges, microwaves, computers, printers, and photocopiers. The sheer number of items to move can be overwhelming for inexperienced office movers.
VanHelper is a stress-free way to find your ideal office removal partner for free. Tell VanHelper about your move, and we will connect you with the best local removal companies in one go. Get office removal quotes directly from professional office movers on a single website. The office removal companies are prepared to listen and understand any concerns you may have with your move and will provide professional recommendations tailored to your specific office move.
Average Office Removal cost in the UK
For moving the office only, you should expect to pay around £120 per head or workspace, which means that a 30 workstation office would be in the range of £3,600.
Size of office | Average cost |
---|---|
3,000 Sq. Ft | £4,000 to £7,000 |
10,000 Sq. Ft | £6,000 to £20,000 |
Other services that may increase the price:
- Furniture dismantling and assembly, where the experts will dismantle your bulky furniture and reassemble them.
- Packing, where the experts will pack your office on your behalf.
- Shredding, where the experts will shred and dispose of confidential documents as part of the move.
- Disposal, where the experts will dispose of the item on your behalf.
- Hiring Plastic containers, where the company will hire eco-friendly plastic containers for your employees to put their equipment in so that the removal company can transfer it securely.
- Storage, where your company can purchase additional packages for warehouse storage, usually at discount rates.
Other costs when moving an office
Stamp Duty Land Tax
Non-residential / Mixed used property transactions or leases over £150,000 are subject to SDLT
There are also considerations for the Net Present Value of your rent.
You must pay this when taking up a new lease or purchasing a new commercial property as part of your office move.
- Up to £150,000: 0%
- £150,001 to £250,000: 2%
- Above £250,000: 5%
License to Alter, Landlord’s approval to alterations
As a tenant moving to a new office, you must be aware that any alterations you carry out, cosmetic, structural or otherwise, require your landlord’s formal consent through a “License to alter”. The first step is always confirming with your solicitors whether a License to Alter is required.
- Varies in cost, usually covered by the tenant, expect the costs to be absorbed by Solicitors, Schedule of Conditions, Survey of the Premise.
Solicitor’s cost
Your lease is a legal document for your new office; therefore, you should have a legal representative on the matter to review your lease contract and the terms and conditions before you sign.
You should expect some negotiations with the landlord’s legal as well.
- Varies in cost: £2,000 to £8,000+ depending on the office's size and the lease's structure.
Schedule of conditions
You should document the conditions of the office at the start of the lease and before you have carried out any refurbishment. Take photographs and use commentary against the pictures to create a schedule of conditions on which the tenant and the landlord can agree.
- £1,000 to £2,000, dependent on whether you would do this yourself or with professional help.
Survey of the premise
Surveys on the structural integrity and repairs for your new office
- £750 to £8,000 depending on the condition and size of the office.
Refurbishment / Fit-out cost
How you furnish and equip your office is a personal preference. Each company has a different corporate theme, so the cost can vary here. However, such work is usually carried out before your office moves so that your employees have a fully fitted workspace when they move in.
- £20 to £80 per Sq. Ft.
Superior Landlord’s consent to sublet/assignment of a lease
If any subletting is involved or the lease requires the consent of a superior landlord before you can sign, additional costs will be involved.
- £1,000 to £4,000
Building and terrorism insurance
It is usually the landlord’s responsibility to ensure the building is insured with Building and Terrorism insurance. However, remember that the landlord will recoup this cost as a 'Service Charge'.
- £1 per Sq. Ft.
Contents Insurance
One of the most important insurance you need to consider when moving to a new office is Contents insurance, as you may want to recover any losses or damages in the unlikely event of theft or other insurable damages.
- Varies in costs, dependent on the total value of the contents to be insured.
Business rates increase
Every five years, the government will re-evaluate the business rates. The business rate consists of a percentage of the “Rate-able value” of your building in scale with the occupational percentage you lease as a tenant.
- City of London: 43.7%
- England: 43.3%
Dilapidation
Your obligation as a tenant is to return the office in the same condition as before you moved in, which means alterations you've made to the office need to be reverted.
- £5 to £20 per Sq. Ft.
Beware of FRI Lease (Full Repairing and Insuring)
In a commercial property, an FRI lease means that the tenant is responsible for all the repairs and insurance.
You should be wary of this type of lease when moving to a new office as you might be responsible for repairs beyond the normal Dilapidation repairs you would normally expect.
A typical example is a side door that was not working when the tenant first moved in; when they vacate the property after the terms of the lease, they will be responsible for repairing the side door even though it was not working on day 1 when you moved in!
To avoid this situation, you should ensure that your solicitor amends the repairing obligation in the lease. Hence, it considers a Schedule of Conditions and the Premise survey and states that you would return the property in its original state.
You need to understand that when you are taking out a full building lease, this also means the structure of the building, including the roof, so your structural and premise survey is one of the most important documents you will have to avoid the potentially costly repairs.