Why moves go wrong

Two things catch businesses out. The first is the gap nobody owns, where the old tenant assumes the landlord told the suppliers, the landlord assumes the new tenant did, and the supplier quietly bills whoever’s name it can find. The second is the default pricing that fills the vacuum, because a property with no agreed contract is supplied on deemed rates, which sit far above anything negotiated.

Neither problem takes much solving once you can see it coming, and seeing it coming is the whole job of a checklist.

Three months out, know what you’ve got

Pull together the paperwork for every supply at your current site. Electricity, gas, water, waste collection, card terminals, broadband and phone lines. For each one you want the contract end date, the notice period, and the account number. For energy you’ll also want your MPAN and MPRN, both printed on your bills.

The timing question is whether your contracts end near your move date. A contract with two years left doesn’t usually transfer to the new address, and some suppliers charge early termination fees when you move mid-term, while others let you end the agreement with proof of the move. Ring each one and ask, because the answers shape the budget.

Six weeks out, give notice

Tell every supplier your move date in writing. For energy this is the change of tenancy process, and our change of tenancy guide walks through it in detail. You’ll typically need the move date, a forwarding address, and details of who takes over the property, usually the landlord or the incoming tenant.

Water and waste both need notice too, and waste especially tends to hide rollover clauses that renew the contract for another year if you miss the window. Check that one first.

Check what the new premises actually has

Before you exchange on the lease if you can, and immediately after if you can’t, find out what supplies the new site has. Which meters exist and where they are. The MPAN and MPRN for the site, which the landlord or agent should provide. Who currently supplies each utility, which you can check for electricity and gas through the details in ECOES and Xoserve via any broker, or by asking us. Whether the electricity supply capacity (measured in kVA) suits your kit, since a commercial kitchen or machinery may need a three-phase supply the unit doesn’t have. For water, note the site’s SPID number from a current bill if the landlord has one, because it identifies the supply the same way an MPAN does for electricity.

This is also when you find out if the site sits on an independent gas transporter network or has an unusual meter setup. Better to know before the removal vans are booked.

Moving day, readings and photos

Take a reading from every meter at the old site as you hand back the keys, and every meter at the new site as you take them. Photograph each one with the serial number visible, because the meter serial number is what ties a reading to a meter if anyone disputes it later.

Send the closing readings to your old suppliers the same day and ask for a final bill for each account. A real reading now stops an estimated read deciding your last bill for you, and estimates at handover have a way of estimating in the supplier’s favour.

Energy at the new site, escape the defaults

From the day you’re responsible for the property, the incumbent supplier is charging deemed rates. There’s no exit fee and no notice period on those, so you can move to a proper contract immediately, and you should. Get two or three quotes on the same day and compare them properly. Our guide to comparing business energy quotes covers exactly how, and if you’re a smaller operation the small business energy guide covers the protections you’re owed along the way.

One warning shaped by experience. You’ll get cold calls at a new commercial address, some claiming to be the current supplier needing a contract signed urgently. Nothing about deemed rates is urgent enough to sign on a first phone call.

Water, waste and the rest

Business water is switchable in England and Scotland, and a move is the natural moment to compare, since you’re setting the account up fresh anyway. The process mirrors energy, and our water switching guide covers it. Waste collection needs a contract in place from day one, because trading without one risks duty of care problems, and commercial waste quotes vary widely for identical bins. If you take card payments, tell your terminal provider the new address early, because re-registering a terminal to a new location can take longer than you’d expect and a till that can’t take cards is a bad first morning. While you’re at it, check whether the new site’s broadband can actually run the tills before opening day rather than during it.

If the site needs new connections or bigger meters

Units that have been split, newly built or long vacant sometimes have no live supply at all, and that’s a different process with longer lead times. A new electricity connection or new gas connection runs through the network operator and can take weeks to months depending on the works involved, so it’s the first thing to start if it applies to you. The same goes for meter installations and upgrades where your equipment needs more capacity than the site has.

Common traps

The ones we see most. Waste contracts that rolled over because notice was a week late. Deposits paid to the old supplier and never chased after the final bill. Shared meters in multi-unit buildings, where you’re recharged by the landlord and can’t switch at all, which changes the whole checklist and is worth confirming before you sign the lease. Serviced offices sit at the far end of that spectrum, with utilities bundled into one fee, and the question there is what happens to the price at the first review rather than who supplies the power. Standing charges quietly running at an old site that was never formally closed down. And signing the first energy contract offered at the new place out of relief rather than comparison.

Every one of these is cheaper to prevent than unwind.

The condensed checklist

Three months out, list every supply at both sites with end dates and notice periods, and query early exit terms with each supplier. Six weeks out, give written notice everywhere, start the change of tenancy process for energy, and order any new connections or meter work the new site needs. One week out, confirm handover details with the landlord and line up quotes for the new site. On the day, read and photograph every meter at both ends, submit closing readings, and request final bills. Week one at the new place, agree an energy contract to end the deemed rates, set up water and waste, and check the first bills that arrive against your own readings.

None of it is difficult. It’s just fifteen small jobs that all want doing in the right order, in the busiest month your business has had for a while.