Relocating over the Festive Season: Silly or Savvy?
Things to keep in mind
As the festive season fast approaches, most companies are looking forward to the downtime and a well-deserved break. However, some may see this “cooling down” period as the perfect time to either stay or go and relocate to new and better premises.
Moving over the holidays requires precise planning. The industry generally follows the traditional builders’ holidays which run from the 15th of December to the 15th of January and most landlords, space planners and contractors take their annual leave over this period. This could drastically delay the relocation process with fit outs taking anywhere from four to eight weeks to complete, excluding the design process!
Moving into new offices over the festive season? Here are our top tips to consider:
We’ve compiled ten tips to keep in mind if you’re planning on relocating this festive season.
- Always be in direct contact with your broker. They should be the primary liaison between you and your landlord.
- People’s schedules become more complicated over the holidays. Ensure that your broker has arranged access to the property over this period.
- Remember that there are four public holidays over the festive season and some services may be unavailable on those days.
- Budget for increased wages for your contractors if they have to work on public holidays.
- To ease the process, ask for a more attractive rental rate or rent-free period for deals concluded over this period.
- Arrange for a team of outside contractors to work on the fit-out over the builders break in December.
Festive season moving perks
If you’ve read this far and only seen challenges, you may be thinking that choosing to relocate over the festive season would be pure madness. However, the best time to move is when your employees are out of office, so that there is little to no disruption to the workflow, and there are significant upsides that come with the festive spirit such as various incentives and specials.
It goes without saying that relocating over the festive season requires careful planning and a signed guarantee with various contractors to ensure that they meet their end of the bargain. It’s also important to make your staff aware of all changes prior to your offices closing. Hold regular planning meetings with your team to ensure that everyone is kept in the loop.
Whether your business is big or small, moving your business over the festive season may seem daunting, but with careful planning and thorough research, relocating during this time can be a savvy business move.
If you think you have missed the boat on taking advantage of this downtime, you haven’t. Get in touch with our team of consultants who can still help you find the best possible solution for your business.