Ask about company records before the office is cleared
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Office clearance can remove the physical location of company records before anyone has decided where they should go. Put the records question on the adviser agenda before cabinets, computers or storage services are treated as surplus.
GOV.UK's company and accounting records guidance distinguishes records about the company from financial and accounting records. The actual retention, location and access requirements need checking with the relevant advisers, including how the proposed closure route affects them.
Brief the future custodian
Identify the record categories, current locations and people who understand them. Include paper and digital material, plus records held by outside providers. State which company each group belongs to if several businesses share an office.
The custodian brief should answer where the records will be held, who can authorise access, how requests will be handled and which adviser is confirming the requirements. Do not nominate a family member merely because they have spare storage space without checking the arrangement.
The working index can make the records findable. Entity identification prevents a shared cabinet becoming a confused archive of different companies.
Resolve retention questions before disposal
Ask advisers about the specific categories, periods, preservation needs and eventual disposal process. Do not use one informal rule for everything in the room or assume that scanning automatically permits destruction of originals.
A fictional office has signed agreements in a cabinet, accounts in a subscription service and shareholder records held elsewhere. A plan to take the cabinet home addresses only one location. The business still needs advice and workable access for the other categories.
Business account handover should be considered before cancelling the service or removing the device used to access it. Technical access, permitted use and the legal record requirement are related but separate questions.
Keep staff and other personal information subject to appropriate privacy controls. A general asset coordinator may need to know that records have been dealt with without seeing their contents.
Confirm what clearance can actually include
Once the responsible people have established the records arrangement, record which furniture, devices or areas can enter the disposal scope and what still requires work. Do not infer that a room is ready because boxes have been moved out of sight.
Tell UK Auction Group the relevant confirmed exclusions and dependencies. The physical disposal plan should follow the records decision rather than force it through an approaching collection date. Keep the custodian route available so future company queries can be answered after the familiar office no longer exists.
Explore closure enquiries and records.
Sources
This guide is general information and education only. Legal, tax, employment and safety decisions may need a qualified adviser who knows your situation. Read the disclaimer.