Refurbish or Relocate? How to Decide What’s Right for Your Business

When you spend your days refurbishing other people’s buildings, you’d think deciding what to do with your own would be easy.

Apparently not!

Our Cannock HQ has been Inco’s home for years, but with the business continuing to grow, we’re getting pretty close to full. Desks are filling up, teams have grown and the question of whether we can keep making our current space work, or whether it’s time to look for somewhere new, has definitely been on our minds.

It’s also a conversation we’re very familiar with.

As a refurbishment and fit-out principle contractor, we regularly work with businesses whose buildings no longer quite work for them. Sometimes they genuinely need more space. Sometimes they have plenty of it, they’re just not using it particularly well. And sometimes they’ve already decided to relocate, only to discover their shiny new office needs rather more work than the property brochure suggested.

So, while we weigh up our own options, we thought we’d share some of what we’ve learned from helping clients do exactly the same.

Before you move, find out what you've already got

When an office starts feeling cramped, moving can seem like the obvious answer.

But before you start searching Rightmove Commercial, it’s worth understanding whether you’ve actually outgrown the building, or just the way it’s currently configured.

This is where getting a refurbishment contractor involved early can be really useful.

We can look at an existing space and help establish what’s realistically possible. Could the layout be reconfigured? Are there underused areas that could work harder? Could partitions be moved, additional meeting rooms created or welfare areas relocated? Could changes to M&E services open up completely different options for the floorplan?

Sometimes, relatively straightforward changes can give a business far more usable space than expected.

Other times, the answer is pretty clear: you’ve outgrown it.

And knowing that before spending money on a refurbishment is just as valuable.

What could an office refurbishment ACTUALLY change?

A lot more than paint and carpet.

Commercial refurbishment can completely change how a building works, particularly if the existing layout was designed for a business that looked very different five, ten or twenty years ago.

Depending on the space, we can help with everything from stripping out and starting again to targeted improvements to the areas causing the biggest headaches.

That might include:

• Full internal strip-out and reconfiguration

• New partitions, meeting rooms and private offices

• Open-plan and collaborative working areas

• Breakout spaces and kitchens

• Reception and front-of-house areas

• Toilets, showers and staff welfare facilities

• Flooring, ceilings, decoration and finishes

• Mechanical and electrical upgrades

• Lighting and power

• Heating, cooling and ventilation

• Fire alarm and life-safety systems

• Accessibility improvements

• Energy-efficiency upgrades

• External works and building improvements

  
  

The important bit is that all of those elements work together.

There’s little point designing a brilliant new layout only to discover the existing ventilation, lighting or electrical infrastructure can’t support it. Looking at the building as a whole from the beginning can help avoid expensive surprises later.

And you don't necessarily need to move out while we do it.

This is probably one of the biggest concerns we hear around workplace refurbishment!

What happens to everyone while the work is going on?

Depending on the building and scope, the answer doesn't always have to be 'find another office for three months'.

We regularly plan works around live environments. That could mean phasing the refurbishment floor by floor or area by area, temporarily relocating teams within the building, completing disruptive elements outside normal working hours, or programming particular works around quieter periods.

There will always be some disruption when you’re changing a workplace, but good planning can make a huge difference.

It’s one of the reasons we’d always recommend involving your contractor early rather than waiting until every detail has already been decided.

But sometimes, moving really is the answer!

We’re refurbishment people. We could quite happily tell you every building can be transformed.

But sometimes it doesn't make commercial sense.

If you’re already using every available square metre, have no realistic room to expand and expect your team to continue growing, spending heavily on your existing office might only buy you another year or two.

That’s part of the conversation we’re having about Cannock.

Yes, there are things we could change. But the more important question is whether those changes would give us enough room for where Inco is heading next.

And if the answer is no, relocation starts looking much more sensible.

Found a new office? That's where fit-out comes in

Of course, deciding to move doesn't mean the refurbishment conversation disappears.

It just moves buildings.

Most commercial spaces aren’t handed over perfectly configured for their next occupier. You might find the right location and the right amount of space, but still need to turn an empty or dated building into somewhere that actually feels like yours.

That could mean a complete office fit-out, including layouts, meeting rooms, kitchens and welfare spaces, M&E installations, lighting, flooring, decoration, furniture and finishes.

This is also where early contractor involvement can be particularly valuable.

If you're considering a new building, let us look at it before you commit!

Understanding the condition of the space, what needs changing and the likely level of investment required can give you a much clearer picture of the real cost of relocating.

A cheaper lease on a building requiring significant M&E upgrades and a complete fit-out may not look quite so cheap once everything is factored in.

Don't forget energy performance

Whether you stay or go, it’s also a good opportunity to look at how efficiently your workplace is performing.

Lighting upgrades, heating and cooling improvements, controls, insulation and other building upgrades can all form part of a refurbishment programme.

We’re increasingly delivering projects where improving energy performance is just as important as improving how a building looks.

And we've seen what a difference those works can make. Across our wider refurbishment projects, we've delivered schemes involving significant energy upgrades, including projects where EPC ratings have been dramatically improved alongside the refurbishment itself.

So if your current building works spatially but is expensive or inefficient to run, that doesn't necessarily mean you need to abandon it.

So...are we moving?

Good question.

We haven’t got the boxes out just yet.

But with our Cannock HQ nearing capacity, we’re doing exactly what we’d advise a client to do: looking properly at what we have, what could be changed, what the business is likely to need next and whether investing in the existing space makes sense compared with finding somewhere new.

And perhaps that’s the biggest takeaway?!

Don't start with 'should we refurbish or relocate?” Start with “what does our business need from its building?'

Once you understand that, you can work out whether the building you already have can deliver it.

And if you’re having that conversation at the moment, bring us in early.

Whether that means helping you understand what could be achieved through refurbishment, planning works around your existing team, or turning a completely new space into your next workplace, our teams deliver commercial refurbishment and fit-out projects across the UK.

As for Cannock?

Watch this space. 🧡