Office Removals in Old Trafford
Studios by the water, offices on Talbot Road and trade units on the edge of Trafford Park. The one area where the first thing we check is the fixture list.
- Dates checked against fixtures
- Offices, studios and trade units
- Written price after a survey
The calendar matters as much as the premises
The short version. Tell us the counts, both addresses and the window you have in mind. We will check it against what is on at either ground, survey the premises, then price it in writing.
Every commercial area has its own constraint. In most of Greater Manchester it is the building, or the loading, or a landlord. In Old Trafford there is an additional one that no other area we work in has to think about, which is that two major venues sit within a few hundred metres of a great deal of the commercial property.
On a day with a home fixture at either ground, the roads around Chester Road, Talbot Road and Trafford Wharfside are managed, parking restrictions extend a long way out, and the tram is running at capacity. A vehicle that would reach a door in ten minutes on a Tuesday may not reach it at all.
None of that is a reason to avoid the area, and businesses here move successfully every week. It simply means the date comes before the plan rather than after it, and it is the first thing we look at when somebody gets in touch.
Beyond that, the commercial property here splits between offices and studios on one side and trade and industrial units on the Trafford Park fringe on the other. Those are counted and priced differently, so we would rather know which you are at the outset.
Where businesses are around Old Trafford
Six kinds of premises inside a small area, with very little in common.
Trafford Wharfside
Offices and studios along the water towards the Quays, in newer buildings with proper loading and lifts. Straightforward premises, and the constraint is usually the road outside rather than the building itself.
Talbot Road and the Chester Road corridor
Established office space and small professional premises along the main routes. Older buildings in parts, stairs as often as lifts, and loading from roads that carry a great deal of traffic.
Trafford Park fringe
Where the residential streets meet the industrial estate. Trade counters, workshops and storage units with yards and shutters, and the office is usually a small part of the job.
White City and the retail corridor
Retail and roadside units with service yards. Trading hours set the window, and deliveries need working around rather than ignoring.
Old Trafford streets
Small businesses, studios and premises above shops among the terraced housing. Street loading with restrictions, and an early start matters more than a larger vehicle.
Cornbrook and the city fringe
Newer developments and converted space running towards Manchester. Managed buildings with their own rules on lifts, hours and access.
What we establish first
Four things, and the order genuinely matters here in a way it does not elsewhere.
The first question here rather than the last. Fixtures and events at either ground change the roads, the parking and the tram completely, and a move booked across one is a move planned around traffic instead of premises.
Desks and cabinets for an office, bays and pallets for anything on the Park fringe. The two are priced on different things and using the wrong measure produces the wrong figure.
A yard and a shutter, a loading bay with a limit, or a main road with restrictions. Within a mile here you get all three.
Fully operational, partly running, or simply moved. All three are legitimate and they produce different plans.
Send the details
The counts, both addresses and roughly when. We will tell you straight away if the date is a problem.
On the edge of the Park
The Trafford Park side of this area works to a completely different rhythm from the offices along Talbot Road, and businesses moving between the two are frequently surprised by it.
The estate carries heavy vehicle movement throughout the working day rather than in peaks. That is not commuter traffic that clears by ten, it is steady, and it means a mid-morning start on the Park fringe is no faster than an early one. Where a move involves several trips, that difference compounds across the day.
The premises themselves are usually the easy part. Yards to reverse into, roller shutters, level access and space to turn are all normal, which makes the physical work far simpler than an upper floor on a main road. What has to be planned instead is the sequence and the weight, because these jobs are counted in bays and pallets and a half empty unit can be heavier than a full office.
The other thing worth establishing is your own delivery schedule. If goods come in or go out on fixed days, the move needs to sit in a gap rather than across one. A unit that is mid-move when a booked delivery arrives has a problem no amount of crew resolves, so work out what is due in that week and either pause it or plan around it.
Finally, ask about vehicle access at the destination specifically for large vehicles rather than in general terms. Some units on the estate fringe have restrictions on approach, height or turning that are invisible on a map and immediately obvious when a lorry attempts them.
Planning around what is on
This is worth setting out properly, because it is the piece of local knowledge that most affects whether a move here runs smoothly.
Both grounds host fixtures and events across most of the year, and the effect on the surrounding area is considerable. Roads are managed for several hours before and after, parking restrictions are enforced across a wide radius, and the tram and the approach roads carry very large numbers of people. For a business trying to load a vehicle on Talbot Road, that is the difference between a straightforward afternoon and one that does not happen.
Concerts and one-off events are the ones that catch people out, because they are less predictable than a league fixture and frequently on a weekday evening. A firm planning an evening move to avoid disrupting staff can walk straight into the worst possible slot without realising.
What we do about it is simple. Before a date is agreed we check what is on. Where a preferred date is unworkable we say so and suggest an alternative, usually a day or two either side, which almost always resolves it. Where a date cannot move, we plan the timing around the event rather than against it, which typically means starting considerably earlier or working after the area has cleared.
It is also worth thinking about your own staff and customers. A move that requires people to travel in on a fixture day is harder on them than the removal itself, and for client-facing businesses it affects whether anybody can reach you.
Tell us the date you have in mind at the first conversation. Checking it takes a minute and it has saved a number of businesses from booking the worst day available.
What we move
Whatever the premises holds, from benching to pallet racking.
- Desks, benching, chairs, screens and monitor arms
- Filing cabinets, pedestals and archive boxes
- Server cabinets, comms racks and network equipment
- Studio, production and broadcast equipment, with notice
- Reception furniture, signage and waiting areas
- Racking, shelving, stock and materials
- Workshop benches and trade counter fittings
- Storage while premises are fitted out
Studios, agencies and equipment that matters
The area along the water towards the Quays has a concentration of creative and production businesses, and moving one has considerations an ordinary office does not.
The equipment is the first. Cameras, lighting, audio, editing hardware and displays are valuable, sensitive and frequently owned rather than leased, which means the business carries the loss if something goes wrong. Anything in that category is worth identifying at the survey rather than the morning, so it is packed properly and travels appropriately rather than being treated as general office equipment.
The second is that a lot of it is on hire or on a schedule. Production businesses often have kit going out and coming back regardless of what else is happening, and a move that ignores that calendar creates a problem the removals firm never sees. Work out what is due out and in during the move week and either pause it or plan around it.
The third is cabling and configuration. Edit suites and studios are set up in a specific arrangement that somebody understands and rarely wrote down. Photograph the back of everything before it is unplugged, and label by position rather than by type, because six identical cables become an afternoon of guesswork otherwise.
Anything requiring specialist installation or calibration at the far end needs that person booked, and booked for after we have delivered rather than the same morning. That sequencing point applies everywhere, and in a studio it is the difference between working on Monday and working on Thursday.
What the cost turns on
Five things, and the first is genuinely specific to this area.
The fixture list
Genuinely a pricing factor here. A weekend move during a home fixture at either ground is a different proposition from the same move a week later, and it is worth checking before a date is fixed.
What the premises actually holds
Counted with every door open. Storerooms, the archive and the space behind the printer are where commercial quotes go wrong, whatever the size of the business.
Getting alongside
Yard, bay or public road, and for how long. Within this small area the range is unusually wide.
The hours you need
Evenings and weekends are standard and priced differently, though here a weekend is not automatically the quiet option.
Anything needing a specialist
Hard wired equipment, plumbed-in machinery, anything under a service agreement. The cost sits in the coordination rather than the lifting.
Where we work
Old Trafford and the surrounding area, taking in Trafford Wharfside, Talbot Road, the Chester Road corridor, White City, the Trafford Park fringe and the streets running towards Cornbrook and Stretford. Work further afield is on our business removals page.
You might also need
Business removals
Commercial work across the wider region.
Office removals in Stretford
The next area along, covered separately.
Storage
Space for equipment while premises are being prepared.
Dismantling and reassembly
Benching and storage taken down and rebuilt.
Common questions
Does a match day really affect our move?
More than anything else on this page. On a home fixture the roads around both grounds are managed, parking is restricted over a wide area, the tram is at capacity and getting a vehicle to a door on Chester Road or Talbot Road becomes genuinely difficult. We check the fixture list before agreeing a date rather than after.
So should we avoid weekends entirely?
Not necessarily, but a weekend here is not automatically the quiet option it is elsewhere. A Sunday with nothing on is excellent. A Saturday with a full house at either ground is the worst slot of the week. Midweek evenings are frequently the better answer in this particular area.
We are on the Trafford Park side. Is that different?
Quite different. Those premises have yards, shutters and level access, and the job is counted in bays and pallets rather than desks. The estate also carries heavy vehicle movement all day, so timing matters for a different reason.
Can you move studio and production equipment?
We pack, move and reinstate the physical equipment. Anything needing a specialist engineer or recommissioning under warranty needs that person booked, and the day is built around their availability.
How much notice do you need?
Four to six weeks for a straightforward office, and longer here than elsewhere if you want a specific weekend, because the genuinely quiet dates are fewer than the calendar suggests.
We are in a managed building near Cornbrook. What will they want?
Usually permitted hours, a lift booking and sometimes evidence of insurance or contractor approval. Ask them for their contractor requirements in writing as soon as you have a date and send them across.
Can equipment go into storage?
Yes, and it is worth raising at the quote stage rather than when a fit-out slips. Items come back out in the order that suits you rather than all at once.
Which areas does this cover?
Old Trafford, Trafford Wharfside, the Chester Road and Talbot Road corridors, the Trafford Park fringe, White City and the streets towards Cornbrook and Stretford.
Book a survey
Send what you have and the date you are considering. We will check it against the calendar and come back with a written figure.