Budget for the period when you have two premises

These figures are fictional planning inputs, not typical UK costs. Assume the owner has allocated confirmed costs to weeks for comparison. Actual invoices may follow a different schedule.

A fifth week at the same costs adds £1,500. The resulting £7,500 is the overlap budget under that assumption. It is not the total move cost: fit-out, professional fees, machinery work and deposits sit elsewhere.

Check what changes in the fifth week. Perhaps a temporary security arrangement ends at week four and a replacement costs more. Perhaps contractors can no longer return in the following week. Enter those changes separately rather than extending every number mechanically.

Write the start and end trigger beside each cost. For the old premises, use the adviser-confirmed contractual position. For security, use the supplier's agreed booking. For utilities, check what remains needed while equipment, contractors or staff are still present.

Do not automatically remove every old-site cost when production stops. Equally, do not charge a full trading-site consumption estimate to an empty unit without checking the likely activity. Record the basis used so the budget can be revised.

Check the business rates position when the old premises become empty before assuming that cost ends. Carry any unconfirmed treatment as an explicit budget assumption.

Then make a payment calendar. A quarterly rent payment and a refundable deposit can create a cash requirement that a weekly cost table hides. Keep the following separate:

• an expense expected to be incurred;
• money paid in advance for a period;
• a deposit whose return is conditional;
• a possible later adjustment that remains uncertain.

Ask the accountant how to present tax, accruals and refundable amounts. A forecast sale receipt is also a separate line. Until its amount and timing are established, it should not be treated as money already available to pay the next premises bill.

Compare the overlap cost with the work it allows. A week that provides time for a necessary inspection or an agreed installation stage has a specific purpose. An extra week caused by unassigned decisions needs a different response.

For each proposed extension, write down the unfinished task, who will complete it and what evidence will confirm completion. Use those facts in a short-extension request. A request for a defined period is easier to assess than an open-ended promise to be out soon.

Changing occupation can also affect the insurance discussion. Give the broker the actual sequence of trading, vacancy, works and remaining contents using the closure-to-handback insurance questions.

If the move creates surplus equipment, ask UK Auction Group about the proposed relocation and surplus. Include the working overlap dates and mark the date beyond which extra premises costs become difficult. Keep any eventual sale proposal separate from the property budget until its terms are known.

Return to Leaving business premises for related exit decisions.