Office Relocation Announcement: How to Communicate Your Move to Employees and Clients

An office relocation is a big, exciting step for your business. Whether you’re moving to a larger, private space or a smaller serviced office, it’s a time to celebrate your achievements and look towards a brighter future.

But it can also bring a lot of upheaval for your employees. Relocating your office can cause your employees to have to reconsider commuting times and travelling methods, and they may be concerned about the amenities in the new area.

Given the radical change you’re asking employees to make, your office relocation announcement should be so much more than just an afterthought. It should take their feelings into consideration, be as transparent as possible and leave room for discussions. However, with so much planning and your moving office checklist to work through, sometimes the announcement doesn’t get the attention it deserves.

So, how can you broadcast your office move, when should you do it and what details must you include? Here’s our guide, along with a couple of office relocation announcement samples.

The Importance of an Office Relocation Announcement

Change can be difficult to deal with — even something as simple as moving desks from one side of the office to the other can feel like a big deal, so you can imagine how much impact an office relocation can have.

To make the moving project a successful one, you should involve your employees as much as you can. Ideally, they will have had some input in the process and may have even helped you choose your next business location.

Even then, some employees may still be apprehensive about the move. That’s why you need to provide plenty of notice, answer any questions they may have and explain the benefits it will bring, how it will impact them and what they need to do to prepare. As with most aspects of your business, transparency is key.

Creating an employee and client communications plan as part of your office move project will provide you with a clear roadmap to follow. It should set out timelines and responsibilities to ensure the various messages around the move are communicated in the right way.

Your office relocation announcement plan should include:

• A timeline of milestones and the messages you intend to send at each one
• The people responsible for creating the messages
• The channels you’ll send the messages through
• The metrics you’ll use to measure their success
• How you’ll invite and answer employee questions

Once you have a plan in place, you can think about what form your announcement will take.

Office Relocation Announcement to Your Employees

As the beating heart of your business, you need to make every effort to involve your employees in the relocation process and give them time to prepare. Meeting with employees face-to-face wherever possible is the best strategy to take. You can then follow up with an office moving announcement email so they have a hard copy with all the relevant details to fall back on.

The announcement should be clear and concise and be made long before the move happens (we will discuss that in more detail later). And, generally speaking, the more information you give your employees, the better. Your announcement should include:

• The date of the relocation
• Details of where you’re moving to
• The reasons for the move — e.g. more/less space, a cheaper deal, better connections
• The benefits of the move for employees — e.g. better facilities, more flexible office space, bigger social areas
• A clear timeline — e.g. what employees need to pack and when, what to do with unwanted items and when operations will start at the new location
• What the move will mean for employees — e.g. parking, access to public transport, other facilities
• Who to contact or direct any questions to

Once you have the content of your office relocation announcement, you need to think about how you’ll communicate it. Face-to-face meetings are always a good starting point. If that’s not possible, a video message from a relevant senior manager can be effective, particularly if it’s accompanied by a walkthrough or imagery of the new office. After that, most businesses send an internal notice in written form, either via the company’s intranet or email.

Office relocation announcement sample for employees

We’re moving office!

[Business name] will be relocating to [address] on [date]. This is an important step for the business and a big change for you, so we want to give you plenty of notice before the move happens.

After a long search, we have decided that this new office space will be a great new home for you and the business. As you know, we are outgrowing the current office and need a new space that can accommodate more flexible working methods. We think the new office will give us that, with modern coworking areas, lots of social space and even a sunny roof terrace.

It’s located just a short walk from [station] and there’s plenty of space to park. There are also shops, cafes, restaurants and green spaces nearby.

[Name] has been assigned the role of move coordinator and will be in touch with more details about the move, such as what to pack, when to pack and how to access the new building. Please get in touch with them at [email address] if you have any questions.

Please see the intranet article [link] for more details about the new location, including seating plans, facilities and the equipment that’s available.

Many thanks,

[Name]

Office Relocation Announcement to Clients and Contacts

Your employees aren’t the only ones who need to know about your office relocation — your clients, partners and suppliers also need to be informed. Even if you don’t see them face-to-face, it’s good practice to let them know you’re moving.

This office relocation announcement doesn’t have to be as thorough, but it should still include details of your new address, your contact details, reasons for the move and reassurance that business will continue as usual. You can also provide details of someone they can contact for more information.

Office relocation announcement sample for clients

Dear [client name],

We are delighted to inform you that we are moving to a new office location as of [date]. Our new address will be [full address].

Thanks to wonderful clients like you, we have outgrown our current workplace and have found a more modern space that matches our ambition. We want to reassure you that we have put measures in place to ensure there will be no disruption to the service you receive during this time. If you have any questions about the move, please don’t hesitate to get in touch on [phone number].

We look forward to seeing you and serving you at our new location.

Yours sincerely,

[Name]

When to Start Your Office Relocation Announcement

The size of your business should determine when you announce your office relocation. If you have hundreds or thousands of employees and a huge amount of office equipment to move, you may want to announce the move a little earlier than a small company would. For reference, smaller teams with fewer pieces of equipment to move can perhaps make the announcement a few months in advance, while larger corporations may need to make the relocation announcement even earlier, in order to give all teams the opportunity to voice concerns and opinions.

However, it’s important to keep in mind that this is just a rough rule of thumb. Every company and team is different and an office relocation can be unsettling for many people. Announcing a move too early can cause concern and stress for some unnecessarily — especially if you don’t have any specifics or confirmed plans.

Instead, use your best judgement to involve your team when it’s appropriate. You may wish to make the relocation announcement to your senior management team first for initial thoughts and potential concerns. Then, once everything has been decided and planned, you can make a larger, company-wide announcement closer to the moving time.

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