Moving Your Office Without Losing a Working Day

Updated: 5 min read

Stacked boxes in an office during a move

For a business, a move isn’t measured only in euros but in lost working hours. An office that stays closed for two days loses sales, appointments and credibility. The good news is that an office move in Athens can be done without losing a single working day — as long as it’s properly planned. This is the playbook we follow with our business clients.

In our experience, office moves that run late rarely do so because of the furniture. They run late because of the organisation: an internet line that wasn’t activated in time, unlabelled boxes, a room nobody measured. That’s why this guide starts with planning, not with the truck.

How do you move an office without downtime?

Schedule the move outside working hours — usually Friday evening or Saturday — and label every box by department and workstation. IT equipment is disconnected with photos of every connection, the internet at the new premises is live before you arrive, and the team sets up the desks so everyone can get to work on Monday morning.

The timeline: 8 weeks out

The bigger the office, the earlier planning should start. For an office of 10–30 people, we suggest:

  1. 8 weeks before: appoint one move coordinator inside the company. One person makes the decisions and deals with the moving company.
  2. 7 weeks before: ask for quotes and site visits at both the old and the new premises.
  3. 6 weeks before: order the transfer of your internet and phone lines. It’s usually the slowest part.
  4. 4 weeks before: draw a floor plan of the new space, with a number for every workstation.
  5. 3 weeks before: clear out files and equipment. Anything you don’t need is recycled or securely destroyed.
  6. 2 weeks before: tell clients, suppliers and banks about the new address. It’s best to have your accountant handle the change of registered address with the tax authority (AADE) and the business registry (GEMI).
  7. 1 week before: hand out boxes and labels to staff for their personal belongings.
  8. Moving day: disconnect, load, move and set up — all outside working hours.

Labelling: the secret to a fast move

In a home move, a box that ends up in the wrong room is a minor nuisance. In an office, it’s half an hour lost by someone hunting for a client file. That’s why every office move we do uses one consistent labelling system:

  • A colour per department (e.g. blue for accounts, green for sales).
  • A workstation number that matches the floor plan of the new space.
  • A box number (e.g. “Accounts – Desk 4 – Box 2/3”).

The numbered floor plan goes up at the entrance of the new office, so the team can put every box and every chair in the right place without having to ask.

Computers, servers and IT equipment

IT equipment is the most delicate part of any office move.

  • Run a full backup of your data before anything is unplugged.
  • Photograph the connections at every workstation and in the rack before a single cable comes out.
  • Label the cables with the same number as the workstation.
  • Move monitors upright, wrapped in foam or blankets.
  • The server moves last and is set up first, ideally with your IT technician present.

Our team transports your equipment safely; we recommend leaving network and server configuration to your own IT technician.

Files and confidential documents

Business files often contain personal data about clients and staff, so moving them calls for care and GDPR compliance. Use closed, sealed boxes or locked filing cabinets, keep a list of what’s in each box, and don’t leave confidential documents in shared areas during loading. Anything you no longer need is best securely destroyed before the move.

Office furniture: dismantling and set-up

Desks, bookcases and filing cabinets are usually taken apart for the move. Small parts go into labelled bags taped to the matching piece of furniture. At the new premises, the team reassembles and places everything according to the floor plan. If the new space isn’t ready yet, the furniture can go into storage for a while.

When is the best time to move an office?

Friday evening or Saturday is best, leaving Sunday for any loose ends and letting Monday start as normal. Avoid your busiest periods — month-end closing in accounts, for example, or the sales season if you run a shop.

What to ask a moving company about an office move

  • Have you moved offices of our size before?
  • Can you work evenings or weekends?
  • How do you protect computers and monitors?
  • How do you keep our files confidential?
  • What insurance cover is there for the equipment?
  • Is the price fixed, or do you charge by the hour?

For more questions, see our guide to the 7 questions to ask before choosing a moving company.

Updating clients and your online presence

A new address isn’t just for the postman. A business needs to update it everywhere it appears:

  • Google Business Profile: update the address a few days before the move, so customers find you in the right place on Maps.
  • Website and email signatures: footer, contact page, quote and invoice templates.
  • Business directories: update every directory you’re listed in, with identical details.
  • A sign at the old premises: a simple note with the new address for the first few weeks.

Your first day in the new office

The move is only really finished when your team is working normally. On the first working day, check that:

  1. Internet, Wi-Fi and phones work at every workstation.
  2. Printers and shared folders are accessible to everyone.
  3. Every employee has found the boxes for their desk.
  4. Keys, access cards and the alarm have been handed over and set up.
  5. Everything left over from the move, such as empty boxes and packing materials, has been cleared away.

A quick walk round by the move coordinator at the end of the first day catches small problems before they become big ones.

How much does an office move cost?

The cost of an office move depends mainly on the number of workstations, the volume of files and furniture, the floors and whether the move happens outside working hours. You’ll find the indicative starting price for offices in our price list, but the final price of every office move is set after a site visit, in a written quote.

Book a site visit and get a quote

For any office move in Athens and Attica, we come for a site visit free of charge, plan the timeline with you and give you a written, fixed price. Get in touch to arrange a visit.