Case study: Office relocation in London for a real estate firm

Project scope

BMG was awarded the contract to carry out the relocation from the client’s existing London offices to new offices in Canary Wharf. The relocation was to be carried out over a single weekend with limited furniture, staff belongings and IT to be relocated and set up at the new office.

Sustainability was at the heart of the move. The new office is rated as Outstanding by BREEAM, making it one of the most sustainable buildings ever built in the UK. The lease for the building includes, for the first time on the Canary Wharf estate, a legally-binding green lease clause. Both the client and the Canary Wharf Group will work in partnership to improve sustainability performance and exceed BREEAM targets. Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance (ESG) credentials were therefore a key driver for the relocation project.

Following the relocation of staff the client was looking to partner with a company to carry out the removal and clearance of the remaining loose assets. The goal was to avoid sending anything to landfill, and BMG was chosen because of our excellent track record with landfill diversion.

Landfill diversion

BMG allocated a full time move manager, Marc Pearce, for this project. He worked with the client team to discuss and identify routes to help maximise the extended life of the assets, including:

Relocation for use at the new office
Distribution across the client estate network for rehoming and reuse of furniture across all UK client sites
The option for client staff to collect and take ownership of items (this was later declined as an option)
The sale of high valued assets to 2^nd hand furniture partners
Donation of items to charities and organisations

Furniture management

We conducted a thorough digital furniture audit to understand the number of items and their condition. This helped the client determine what items they needed to purchase, what could be sold and what could be relocated to another site.

We engaged with multiple parties at the outset of the project including:

Key stakeholders across 13 different client offices
Business2Schools
Furniture refurbishment partners
Furniture resale partners

Early engagement ensured that there were no delays during the project, and all budgets could be created with confidence that they would not vary due to unforeseen costs.

Through the close engagement with the various parties, a total of 3,781 assets were cleared and rehomed, ensuring their reuse and extending their lifecycle. Thanks to BMG’s expertise in sustainable furniture management, we were able to divert 100 per cent from landfill.

Donating to good causes

We helped the client to donate 1,533 items to four local schools – Caterham High School, Heathcote School & Science College, Park View School and, Trinitas Academy Trust. We also handled the deliveries to all four schools.

Business Moves Group employees unload office furniture from a truck in a car park

Project summary

1,533 items were donated to Business2Schools
231 items were reused across the client estate
80 chairs were sold to a third party
1,192 items reused
646 returned to third parties/leasing companies
79 donated to Agenda 25

Over the space of six days, BMG was able to achieve a successful clearance of the office space. The old office was handed back to the landlord on time and the client was thrilled with the service we provided.

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