For office or commercial moves 
choose a CMG member

When an organisation decides to change its current workspace – whether it’s a few desks, a complete office move, a reconfiguration of an existing workspace or relocating a manufacturing or industrial facility – it can be a time of excitement or dread, depending on the role of the employee.

If you are tasked with managing the move whether it’s the first time or you are a seasoned facilities manager, any of our experienced and professional Commercial Moving Group (CMG) Members can help you not just avoid costly mistakes, but also share the weight of responsibility for the project.

Critically, in selecting a CMG Member for your move you can have complete confidence not just in your decision, but also in their ability to deliver what is agreed, and often more besides!

For office or commercial moves 
choose a CMG member

When an organisation decides to change its current workspace – whether it’s a few desks, a complete office move, a reconfiguration of an existing workspace or relocating a manufacturing or industrial facility – it can be a time of excitement or dread, depending on the role of the employee.

If you are tasked with managing the move whether it’s the first time or you are a seasoned facilities manager, any of our experienced and professional Commercial Moving Group (CMG) Members can help you not just avoid costly mistakes, but also share the weight of responsibility for the project.

Critically, in selecting a CMG Member for your move you can have complete confidence not just in your decision, but also in their ability to deliver what is agreed, and often more besides!

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Choosing a BAR CMG Member is the best way to ensure that the company you select to move your organisation won’t let you down.

Creating and maintaining a Standard for Commercial Moving

While many members of the British Association of Removers (BAR) are able to provide a wide range of moving services for commercial and office relocations, the Commercial Moving Group (CMG) is a specialist sub-group of BAR set up for that very purpose. All CMG Members can demonstrate this dedication by holding BS 8522 – the British Standard for Commercial Moving.

UKAS Certified
The BS 8522 is now further enhanced by UKAS accreditation, which is recognised and accepted all over the world, setting those companies who have it ahead of the competition both in the UK and abroad.

Formed in 1990 the CMG’s core aim is to promote the benefits of using certificated office and commercial moving specialists to the Facilities and Change Management Sectors, and to share knowledge between its Members. Created in 2009, after three years consultation with the British Standards Institute and other professional bodies, the BS 8522 Standard provides assurance that every CMG Member:

  • Complies with all health & safety requirements;
  • Is committed to corporate social responsibility in respect of its workplace, the environment and the community;
  • Adheres to a published Code of Practice as set down by the British Association of Removers;
  • Has demonstrated their expertise and ability to provide a professional service by padding a stringent selection criteria, and
  • Has passed an annual external audit to ensure all standards of service are being met.

BS 8522 is a regular requirement for major tenders in both the public and private sectors. The Standard covers the three phases of a Commercial Move:

  1. PRE-MOVE: The initial contact, survey and quotation
  2. THE MOVE: The operations phase
  3. POST-MOVE: The follow-up, which includes quality measurement and the remedying of any shortcomings.

Commercial Moving Group

Benefit from a CMG Member’s experience

Within the CMG is an enormous wealth of knowledge and expertise. From your initial enquiry through to the completion of the undertaking, choosing a CMG member to assist you during the relocation means you can benefit from their extraordinary depth of know-how, competence and skill.

They will assist you every step of the way, enabling you to plan and execute your move with the minimum of downtime and disruption to the business. Exploit this experience; CMG members will have carried out hundreds if not thousands of relocations so it’s unlikely they’ll come across a situation they haven’t dealt with before and in the event that they do, they’ll be able to call on similar experience to remedy the situation.

Ideally your contracted mover should be involved in your planning from an early stage helping to provide a feasibility study and detailed costing of the project. Make them a key partner from the outset as their years of acquired knowledge and range of skills will certainly bring a great deal of value to the project that will be of undoubted benefit.

Remember it’s how a service provider copes with the challenges that arise and any adverse situations that lets you know you’ve chosen the right mover. Choose a CMG member and you’re in safe hands whatever happens.

Dos and Don’ts

  • DO use contractors who hold certification to BS 8522 

  • DO evaluate very carefully the experience and suitability of the proposed contractor(s) by taking up detailed references 

  • DON’T take references at face value – check them out directly at source 

  • DO ensure that the contractor(s) have made you aware of any exclusions in the contract price and the costs of any extras 

  • DO establish a detailed project budget 

  • DON’T select contractors on price alone 

Discover the range of services CMG Members offer

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CMG Members love a challenge and coming up with solutions

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View our Best Practice Guide, full of tips for commercial moving

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Questions for your prospective commercial movers

Though it’s highly likely you already have a move management checklist for pre-selection on your shortlisted mover tender, we’ve put together a few key questions you might, if relevant to your needs, choose to ask all of your prospective commercial movers. These cover health and safety (including covid-19), as well as questions on experience, insurance and several regarding services they offer such a IT installation, decommissioning and furniture disposal.

Following this section we’ve also outlined the requirements any tender proposal should include so you can assess each company’s tender on a like-for-like basis rather than trying to compare their own tailored documents which may be difficult and time-consuming.

Questions for your prospective commercial movers

Though it’s highly likely you already have a move management checklist for pre-selection on your shortlisted mover tender, we’ve put together a few key questions you might, if relevant to your needs, choose to ask all of your prospective commercial movers. These cover health and safety (including covid-19), as well as questions on experience, insurance and several regarding services they offer such a IT installation, decommissioning and furniture disposal.

Following this section we’ve also outlined the requirements any tender proposal should include so you can assess each company’s tender on a like-for-like basis rather than trying to compare their own tailored documents which may be difficult and time-consuming.

Throughout the pandemic all CMG members have been following the Removals Activities Under COVID-19 Conditions Guidance, a document that has been endorsed by Professional Bodies in the housing Sector including The British Association of Removers, National Association of Estate Agents/Propertymark, Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors and The Home Builders Federation to name a few. This document is updated on a regular basis and covers good working practice in the workplace environment to keep employees, visitors and contractors safe.

There’s no better proof of a commercial mover’s ability to successfully carry out the project you set them. This should be the minimum requirement on any a Commercial Tender document for further participation.

If you have a definitive date or dates with no opportunity for change, check early on that the mover is able to meet the schedule.

The remit for a commercial move is incredibly wide, and a company that excels in office relocations may not have the skills, knowledge or equipment to carry out a library or factory move. Ask for the mover to demonstrate their experience that matches your need, providing testimonials or reviews if possible.

Incredible as it may seem, some companies that carry out commercial and office moves only offer Mon-Fri 9-5 working hours. By necessity most commercial moves need to take place – at least partly – out of office hours and during weekends, so the organisation is up and running come Monday morning. This is standard for all CMG Members.

For commercial moves it’s essential that your mover has the right insurance in place including public liability, employee liability and goods in transit and storage cover so that most any eventuality is covered at every stage of the move. Depending on your move you may need other cover so it’s worth asking.

They will put together the strategy with you and will be your key point of contact before, during and after the move. They will be your saviour throughout the move process.

As well as providing you with the right sort of crates, boxes and protective materials the mover should be able to offer packing and unpacking services, at a time to meet your needs.

This is of course critical; without seamless IT integration most organisations won’t be able to work. They will either provide it directly or work with experienced partners who can ensure this is taken care of, from decommissioning to recommissioning and every stage in between.

Every CMG Member can advise you on the best method of disposal of your redundant furniture or IT equipment. This could be either to re-sell, recycle or donate, with the main aim being to reduce or completely negate the chance of it being sent to landfill. Once collected and responsibly recycled or resold your CMG Member will provide you with a certificate measuring your particular project against good practice standards.

All CMG members are required to have an Environmental and Waste Disposal Policy in place, with many of them certified to BS EN 15713 the European Standard for Secure Destruction of Confidential Material.

The majority of commercial movers will be able to offer inexpensive storage should you need it prior to the move, or if you need to create space for an internal refurbishment or restructure.

From putting right small issues to maintaining business continuity in a full disaster recovery situation, your mover should have documented processes in place. Their business is to ensure the business you work for or represent is able to carry on ‘business as usual’.

Procurement and what any tender should include

Procurement and what any tender should include

If you have had good experience from a contractor handling your occasional small moves with care and efficiency, they will probably be a natural contender when a large project arises. Nonetheless, a proper procurement procedure should still be followed (and indeed, the purchasing policy of the organisation will almost certainly dictate that there be a formal tender process).

A major commercial move is a truly critical project with the potential for extremely serious consequences if it is not carried out on time, without loss or damage. It is essential, therefore, to select a company with adequate resources, coupled with proven ability. Analyse their track record and performance, look for experience of your type of project in your industry sector and study their technical skills and knowledge. Ask for examples of previous projects similar to your own and take up those references at an early stage.

Your organisation may have its own format for formal tenders but often these are quite generic and do not reflect the specialist nature of removal work. Companies quoting will more than likely have their own proposal format. It can be helpful to lock this down by providing a list of headings against which their responses must be made, (see below). In this way you will ensure consistency of presentation and it will make it much easier to compare the responses, while being confident that they are all on a like-for-like basis.

Contractor tender proposal should include:

  • A full description of the services to be provided 
  • A statement of the company’s experience/suitability for the project
  • The availability and qualifications (experience and training) of their crews
  • Details of the equipment to be used 
  • A schedule of quantities 
  • The proposed timetable and programme 
  • Any exclusions from the services and the quoted price(s)
  • The scope and terms of insurance cover or liability; see ‘Insurance’ section on page 21 of the Best Practice Guide
  • Details of any special arrangements, handling equipment, packing methods and others
  • Risk Assessments and Method Statements 
  • Health and Safety Policies (including pandemic procedures  and processes if relevant)
  • Environmental Policy and Practices 
  • Certifications e.g. BS 8522, ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 45001, ISO 27001
  • Proof of Insurances 
  • Some comparable performance references
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Promoting Excellence

The Commercial Mover of The Year competition

Any removal company that holds BAR membership already demonstrates that their level of service, professionalism and transparency is of a very high level, and demonstrating the level of specialism required to become a CMG Member shows a further elevation. There is however always room for any company to improve and that is why each year BAR runs separate competitions for its members covering Domestic Moving, Overseas Moving and Commercial Moving.

Open to all CMG Members The Commercial Mover of the Year Award (CMotY) is designed to reward best practices and partnerships between commercial movers and their clients, with each case study being judged – by an external panel – on its own merits, therefore giving every CMG Member an equal opportunity of winning this valued accolade.

The finalist and the winner are announced at the Association’s Gala Dinner at the Annual Conference.

If you’re moving, look for the badge!