An office move is judged on Monday morning. A shop move is judged on whether the doors open on time, with stock on the shelves and the till taking payments.
This guide covers how to plan a shop move around your trading days, how to move stock without losing track of it, what happens to fixtures, tills and security, and what to sort out for the new premises. For help with the move itself, see our commercial relocation service.
What’s different about moving a shop
- The trading clock. Every day the shop is shut is a day of lost sales, so the move has to fit between trading days.
- Stock. A shop move is judged on whether stock arrives complete. That can only be shown if it was counted before it left.
- Fixtures. Shelving, counters and displays. Some are freestanding, some are fixed or wired in, and they need different handling.
- Customers. People need to know where you’ve gone, and find you on the first day.
Plan around trading days
Pick your quietest trading window and work back from it. Most shop moves can happen overnight or between trading days, so customers see no interruption.
Before you fix a date, ask both landlords, or centre management if you’re in a shopping centre or managed parade:
- which evenings or days a move is allowed, and at what times
- whether there’s a service lift or loading bay, and how to book it
- what they need beforehand. Estates and shared yards often want vehicle registrations, crew names or an induction arranged in advance.
Then check the new unit will actually be ready. Shopfitting, flooring and electrics should be finished before stock arrives. If the fit-out is running late, part of the stock can go into storage while the rest moves.
Stock: count, pack, move, recount
Treat the stock as a stocktake with a vehicle in the middle.
- Run it down where you can. Hold back new deliveries in the run-up to the move, and clear slow lines before they need packing.
- Count before you pack. Count against your stock system, by line or section.
- Pack by section. Crate stock by section, and label each crate to where it goes in the new shop, not just what’s in it.
- Move the shop floor last, unload it first. Back-of-house stock can travel early. Front stock goes on the vehicle last and comes off first, so the counter can serve while the back is still being sorted.
- Recount at the other end. Check the count against the first one before you open, while there’s still time to find a missing crate.
If you keep a stock system or asset register, we work to your numbering rather than inventing our own, so what arrives can be checked against what you already track. Counts are taken at the survey and again as loading goes on.
High-value or age-restricted stock needs its own plan. Agree with your own insurer how it travels and where it sits overnight, and don’t leave it in a part-fitted unit without the alarm working.
Shopfittings and fixtures
Walk both units with a floor plan of the new shop, then sort the fixtures into three groups:
- Freestanding: shelving units, display tables, rails and counters that aren’t fixed down. These can be moved, or taken apart and rebuilt, as agreed and priced at the survey.
- Fixed or wired in: anything screwed to walls, bolted to the floor or connected to the electrics, such as lit displays and signage. Leave these to your shopfitter or electrician. Fixed electrical work is a job for certified trades, not a removals crew.
- Staying behind: check your lease for what you have to leave and what you have to put right before you hand the unit back.
Order the new fascia sign early. Check with the landlord what’s allowed before it goes up.
Tills, card machines and security
- Broadband first. Order broadband and phone lines for the new unit as soon as the date is likely. Lead times for business lines run to weeks.
- Tills and card machines. Speak to your till and card terminal providers early. Ask how each terminal connects, and test them at the new unit before opening day.
- Alarm and CCTV. Have the alarm working at the new unit before any stock arrives.
- Keys and codes. Collect keys and alarm codes for the new unit ahead of the move, and plan who returns the old set.
Anything hardwired needs disconnecting and reconnecting by whoever supports it, not by the removals crew, so book them for the move window.
Paperwork for the new premises
A few things are tied to the premises rather than the business. Check them early:
- Business rates. GOV.UK says your business rates could change if you move premises. In England and Wales, report changes to the Valuation Office Agency. Scotland and Northern Ireland handle business rates differently.
- Food. If you sell food, register the new site with its local authority. In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, the Food Standards Agency says to register at least 28 days before trading. In Scotland, ask your local authority or see Food Standards Scotland.
- Alcohol. In England and Wales, a business that sells alcohol on a permanent basis needs a premises licence from the licensing authority, usually the council. Talk to the council’s licensing team about the new premises early.
Customers: telling them you’ve moved
- Put a notice in the old window with the new address and opening date.
- Update your website, Google Business Profile and directory listings on the day you move. A profile still showing the old address sends customers to a building you’ve left.
- Tell suppliers and delivery firms, and change the address on receipts and invoices.
Opening day
Get the front of house working first: counter, till, card machine, lights and the shop-floor stock. The back can be finished after opening. Walk the shop floor before you unlock, run a test sale, and check the alarm sets. Empty crates come back to us once you’re trading again, so the new stockroom isn’t full of packaging.
How we plan shop moves
We survey both units first and ask which part of the business has to keep running. For a shop, that’s usually the counter. Counter stock, fixtures and back-of-house are moved overnight or between trading days, and front stock is unloaded first. Stock is crated by section and counted at the survey and as it’s loaded. You get an itemised written quotation built on an agreed inventory, with anything charged separately set out at the survey.
Moving a shop in Manchester or Edinburgh? See our commercial removals in Manchester and commercial removals in Edinburgh. For anywhere else in the UK, request a quote or read about our commercial relocation service.
Frequently asked questions
Can you move a shop overnight? Often, yes. Most single-unit shop moves can be planned overnight or between trading days, with the counter and front stock moved first. The size of the shop and the access rules at both units decide it, and the survey sets the timetable.
How do you move stock without losing track of it? Count it before it’s packed, crate it by section and label each crate to its place in the new shop. Then count it again at the other end against your stock system, before you open.
How much notice does a shop move need? Start with the landlord or centre management, because access rules and lift bookings set the date. Smaller trade units can often be moved at shorter notice than a large unit, so ask early and keep the date flexible until both buildings have confirmed.