In-house services support an efficient and cost-effective relocation
An international financial firm with offices in 14 countries around the world made the strategic decision to consolidate three existing sites into a newly refurbished headquarters site which involved moving 300 staff.
Crown Workspace was commissioned after submitting a competitive tender bid to attend to the provision of move management support including specialist packing, confidential shredding, offsite storage and a sustainable clearance solution.
Flexibility and a tailored approach to adapt to changing needs
Following appointment, Crown Workspace appointed a move manager to implement a move strategy in close liaison with the client’s project team.
The initial phase was for Crown to manage the complete packing of the staff pedestal contents as well as all the bulk filing from existing storage cabinets. With the client’s team working from home during the Covid-19 pandemic, a pre-appointment rota was implemented to allow the staff members to complete personal packing if desired. To facilitate recycling and waste management, Crown Interiors provided a series of mobile waste containers during the packing process. Crown’s IT team managed the decommission and safe packaging of IT equipment.
Due to the pandemic, the refurbishment of the new headquarters was delayed, and the client requested off-site storage for 4 months for all filing and furniture identified for reuse, which was provided by Crown in the specialist storage facility.
Expert packing and relocation were required for the client’s fine art collection, which was stored in Crown Fine Art’s temperature-controlled warehouse.
Crown Records Management division assisted with the transfer of confidential archives to an offsite facility and attended to the confidential shredding of filing that was identified as no longer required.
Once the fit-out of the new premises was completed, furniture, filing and IT was released from storage and delivered by Crown to the site according to the plans. Cartons and crates were decanted to an agreed holding area and a post-move support team was commissioned to deliver cartons to staff who were permitted to return to the office on a phased basis to conform with the government restrictions and the regulations surrounding working from home.
Crown’s Sustainability team put together a strategy to process all unwanted items. Surplus furniture and IT technology was cleared sustainably or donated through the network of charities linked to Crown’s ‘Giving back’ project. Through the Office Resale division, a £34,000 credit was generated via the sale of surplus assets, which was offset against the overall project cost. Sustainability outcomes were reported to the client by Crown’s sustainability team.
Satellite sites were cleared within the timescale of the end-of-lease agreements to enable hand back to the respective landlords.
Crown Workspace’s integrated service divisions offered a tailored in-house solution for this project. Sustainability was a key factor and through close liaison and detailed asset audit, a reuse strategy was implemented which yielded positive financial and environmental outcomes.
The relocation and clearance were delivered as per expected timelines and within the budget, and with Crown’s flexible and proactive attitude surrounding pandemic setbacks and additional service provision, the client’s expectations were exceeded. Daily reporting ensured that the client felt well-supported throughout the project.
The services provided included:
- Project management
- Fine art packing and specialist storage
- Sequential filing packing and storage
- Confidential shredding
- IT Decommission
- Offsite storage
- Relocation
- Sustainable IT and furniture reuse solution
- Recycling of surplus items according to the waste hierarchy