Office relocation Archives - Colin Batt Removals & Storage

Relocating your business to Kent

We’ve run a business in Kent for 40 years and we love it. You will too. Here are four reasons why …

Fast trains to London

The high-speed rail link has made getting to London from many Kent towns so easy that they’re now closer to central London, in terms of journey time, than some parts of the capital. Ashford is half an hour from Stratford and 38 minutes from St Pancras; Canterbury and Folkestone are both reachable in an hour; Ebbsfleet, in north Kent, is 11 minutes from Stratford and 18 minutes from St Pancras. And everywhere else along the line – Whitstable, Dover, Deal, Margate, Faversham – has benefited too. This also makes for impressively quick travel to the rest of the UK – you can get from Ashford to York within three hours.

International travel

We promise this won’t all be about trains. But Kent is really good at them. Eurostar services take one hour and 39 minutes from Ashford to Brussels, and as little as one hour and 52 minutes from Ashford to Paris; they also stop at Ebbsfleet, 15 minutes further up the line. Add in the Port of Dover, Europe’s busiest ferry port, and the Eurotunnel, which carries 21.3 million tonnes of freight and 10.6 million passengers every year, and nowhere in the UK outside London is better placed for international trade and travel.

Park life

Kent has two science parks: Discovery Park, in Sandwich, has more than 160 businesses, including drugs giant Pfizer, while Kent Science Park, just outside Sittingbourne, is home to 66 more. The latter was named south east England’s best life science research facility in 2016 by the United Kingdom Science Park Association.

Kent also has an enterprise zone – a Government-designated area that offers members benefits including tax relief and business rate relief – the latter worth up to £55,000 every year for five years. The zone covers sites across Ebbsfleet, Medway and Maidstone, and is aimed at businesses working in medical and life sciences, engineering, manufacturing and creative and digital technology.

Money, money, money

There’s a lot of funding on offer to help companies in Kent – interest-free loans for small businesses through the Kent and Medway Business Fund, investment through the Kent Life Science Fund and the Kent Investor Network, and grants from the South East Business Boost and Low Carbon Across the South East programmes. There’s also the Kent Leader grants programme for small rural businesses, including farmers, growers and foresters. Locate in Kent, which supports businesses wanting to move to the county, can provide information.

When you do the sensible thing and move to Kent, you’ll need experienced commercial movers to handle the process for you, as office relocation can be extremely disruptive. At Kent removals company Colin Batt Removals, we’ve been helping individuals and companies settle in the county for more than 40 years. Our experienced staff are trained to make things run as smoothly as possible and keep the impact on productivity to a minimum. Our office relocation services include a full packing and unpacking service if you want it, as well as document storage during the changeover.

We’re based in Ashford, but cover all of Kent, particularly Maidstone, Canterbury, Folkestone and Tonbridge. Call 01233 740395 for a free quote.

Planning an effective office move

As businesses grow and change, it’s often necessary for them to move location, perhaps to a bigger office or to a place that is more conducive to a healthy working environment. Either way, when the time comes, there are some specifics you should bear in mind if you want a straightforward, hassle-free move. Here’s how to plan an effective office move.

Set a time frame

The time it takes for you to move office will vary depending on the size of your business. A company of less than 10 people may only need a day or two to get things sorted once they’ve completed all the paperwork; one that occupies several floors might need up to six months to get everything in order. Ensure you set a realistic time frame for the move so that you’re not rushing around at the last minute.

Consider the requirements once you have relocated

It’s easy to focus on the packing up aspect of moving, but you’ll also need to know how you want everything to look once you arrive at the new office. Ensure you have looked at the floor plans and know where desks, storage areas, seating areas etc will be. As part of this, you’ll want to check the new location and layout provide the things your current office doesn’t. Don’t, for example, devise a layout that negates the advantages of better disabled access in the new building.

Communicate

Good communication is key to a successful move. Not only will you need to communicate with your staff about moving dates, interruptions to their work and so forth, you’ll need to communicate with the team from both your current and new locations, so that no misunderstandings take place. You’ll also need to ensure that the company providing your office relocation services knows what’s expected of them, when they need to be on-site and where furniture and equipment needs to be taken once it reaches the destination.

Choose someone to oversee the move

On moving day, ensure you have people at both ends to oversee the relocation. Select and fully brief some members of staff you can trust, and who can work together to make everything go smoothly. Don’t have too many people involved though – it may lead to disputes rather than co-operation.

Don’t overlook the details

In the flurry of activity involving the removal of furniture, computers, specialist equipment and more, it can be easy to overlook the smaller items, such as plants, stationary and any artwork you may be moving. As for artwork, valuable pieces can be stored safely at a temperature controlled unit until you’re ready to put them up. At Colin Batt Removals, we offer such a service.

Choosing a removal company

When choosing commercial movers to carry out your office move, you’ll want to select a firm that is experienced in helping businesses to relocate. At Colin Batt Removals, we’ve been operating for over 40 years and can assist with your office move in Kent. Contact us today to obtain a quote.

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Tag Archives: Office relocation

How your business could benefit from relocating to Kent