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A small office move in London can involve only a few desks and still need careful coordination. The key question is not simply whether the furniture fits in a van: it is whether each person can find their equipment, reach the right room and restart the work that matters after delivery.
Use this office moving checklist to prepare a clear brief for your moving company. It focuses on a small business relocation between offices, including serviced offices and shared buildings, rather than specialist machinery or a large corporate move.
Define what “ready to work” means
Write down the first tasks your business must be able to complete at the new address. That might be answering customer enquiries, accessing shared files or preparing orders. Name the person who will check each task and what they need to do it.
For example, delivering a receptionist’s desk does not make reception operational if the telephone arrangements, computer and building access are unresolved. Keep a short restart list separate from the full moving inventory so the business priorities remain easy to see.
Give every workstation a destination
Use a simple location code for each desk position, such as A1, A2 and A3, and mark those positions on a sketch of the new office. Label the matching equipment and boxes with the same code. Use words as well as colours so the system still works if a label is photocopied or read in poor light.
A useful inventory can have four columns:
| Item | Destination | Preparation owner | Delivery check |
|---|---|---|---|
| Desk and labelled fittings | A1, main room | Named office contact | Parts received; agreed assembly completed |
| Monitor in suitable packaging | A1, main room | Named IT contact | Correct item received for later setup |
| Stationery cartons | Cupboard B | Named office contact | Carton numbers checked |
Keep passwords and confidential information out of visible labels. Handle sensitive records and devices through your business’s own approved procedures, with a named person responsible for their handover.
Separate transport from technical setup
Confirm who disconnects equipment, packs it, transports it, reconnects it and tests it. These are separate tasks. A man and van booking should not be treated as an agreement to configure computers, reconnect a network or move specialist equipment unless that work has been expressly confirmed.
Ask your IT contact to plan the shutdown, backups and restart checks appropriate to your systems. For leased printers, specialist equipment or items with transport instructions, check with the supplier before making arrangements. Record anything that needs a separate technician or collection.
Obtain access instructions from both buildings
For each address, ask management which entrance the team should use and how to reach the office from there. Check lift reservations, loading-bay arrangements, reception procedures and permitted moving hours. An evening booking is only useful if the relevant doors, lifts and reception arrangements are available then.
Share the carrying distance, floors, steps, lift dimensions and any vehicle-height restrictions with your mover. Check current parking and loading arrangements for the exact address with the relevant authority or building manager; do not assume that an office parking space is suitable for a removals vehicle.
Our London and surrounding-area guides can help you identify the collection and delivery areas. For assessing the load, see our moving van size guide.
Agree the furniture work item by item
List desks, meeting tables, cabinets and shelving separately. Note which pieces will travel assembled and which may need dismantling. Provide photographs, dimensions and available instructions so the mover can assess the proposed work.
Confirm who empties drawers, keeps fittings together and undertakes any agreed reassembly. Do not assume that a cabinet can travel with its contents inside. Our furniture dismantling and reassembly guide explains the details worth recording before booking.
Make a collection-to-delivery handover sheet
Choose one person to coordinate the move and arrange a contact at each site. Give them the same current inventory, destination sketch and agreed schedule. Note which belongings must remain available until the last working session and which can be packed earlier.
- Before collection: confirm the item list, packaging and readiness of the receiving office.
- At loading: record any changes to the agreed inventory or destinations.
- At delivery: direct items to their labelled positions and check the carton and furniture list.
- Before sign-off: note missing items or concerns, then arrange technical restart checks with the responsible person.
Keep any change to timing, extra stops, storage or the work requested in writing. Ask how changes affect the quote rather than assuming they are included.
Send a useful office removals enquiry
For a small office move in London, send your postcodes, proposed date, furniture and equipment list, building instructions and the help you need. Include the restart priorities so the proposed plan can be discussed against the way your business operates.
Contact JP Man & Van or call 07925405549 to discuss your office move and confirm which transport, carrying and furniture tasks can be arranged.