We have played our role in ensuring the success of a £1 million business relocation for a leading energy consultancy.

Broadfern, one of the UK’s most innovative and rapidly developing energy consultancies, outgrew their offices in Oak Tree Park, Redditch, last year and bought a new office building, Ravens Court, on the nearby Ravensbank Business Park.

And to minimise the disruption to employees and the knock-on effect it would have on Broadfern’s diverse client portfolio, which represents every major industry sector including Cadbury Trebor Bassett, Sanyo, Levi’s and Morphy Richards, the company appointed us to take care of the entire relocation programme to this 17,500 sq ft facility.

“They needed to ensure the move was successfully completed but simply could not afford to take their eye off the business,” said director Steven Jelfs.

“The upheaval of relocating a modern, sophisticated business, with all its physical and technological complexities, can set companies back months, even years, if not properly planned and managed.”

Our brief was complex but certainly achievable.

“There were encouraging signs from the outset. First and foremost, the company looked ahead and bought themselves that most valuable asset – time,” said Steve.

Planning began well over a year before the move itself when we were hired as relocation project manager in 2004 and brought fully on board from January last year.

Though the distance between the old offices and new location was small, the logistics and sensitivity involved in uprooting a mature organisation and fitting out brand new 17,500 sq ft headquarters were considerable.

Steven explained: “Our tasks fell into four main categories: time planning, project costing, co-ordinating specialist contractors and IT integration in conjunction with the in-house team.

“More specifically, we had to bring two formerly separate offices together under one roof and ensure there is still room to expand in the foreseeable future.”

With such delicate yet vitally important duties to perform, the client / provider relationship is all-important. Steven says this key element was assisted by the client’s willingness to accept advice from the specialists.

“Personalities are clearly important, as we are working very closely together over a significant period of time. In addition, whether it’s domestic or business, moving ‘home’ is commonly acknowledged as a potentially stressful experience. It was therefore extremely good to work with a management team prepared to accept a vision and with the confidence to allow experts to take the right action at the right time.”

This view is shared by Simon Butterfield of Broadfern: “We took a strategic decision to appoint specialists and to give them sufficient responsibility to execute the brief. This enabled us to stay focused on our own affairs, knowing that the relocation was in good hands.”

“We agreed a project fee from the outset, together with key target dates for clearly identified tasks. The approach certainly paid off for us, with the move completed on time and within the set budget. Most crucially of all, we experienced minimal inconvenience and distraction as a business.”