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!

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.

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
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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.
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

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.