Relocating a business is a major decision in the life of a company. Shifting from familiar surroundings with established networks to a new location can be daunting for staff and management, but the benefits can be exceptional.

In many instances relocation has even underpinned the prosperity and future of a company. Relocating a business to regional NSW makes good economic sense; land costs are cheaper, transport can be more efficient and labour is plentiful.

Relocation: step-by-step

The degree of success achieved by a relocated business is directly related to the quality and extent of the prior groundwork which is committed to the process of site selection.

Those thinking of relocating a business to a regional NSW location can learn from others. The checklist below has been developed by NSW Trade and Investment based upon years of practical assistance to big and small companies. The checklist covers site selection and the physical relocation itself.

BUSINESS RELOCATION CHECKLIST Print-out and tick the following as you go to be sure you're ready to relocate
	Develop a site specification brief which allows matching of your essential and prefered location criteria against individual location options. This should include such criteria as proximity to raw materials, market access, transport, availability of skilled labour and energy specifications.
	Compare various locations for quaity of life factors and general amenity including education facilities, recreation facilities and quality, availability and cost of housing. This will be important for your family and your staff's families and could be a deciding factor in staff retention.
	Make key cost comparisons between different locations, such as site costs, building or factory lease costs, energy costs and freight costs.
	Ensure that sites have safe vehicular access and that there is sufficient space for on-site parking.
	Ensure all services required are available for connection and are adequate for current and future demands - electricity, water, gas, telecommunications and waste disposal.
	If business will benefit from high public visibility, consider sites which are in a prominent position near a major road or highway.
	Where possible, speak to businesses which have already relocated to your preferred location(s) or know the location(s) well. Friends, colleagues, family, locals and tourism guides may also reveal valuable business and lifestyle insights.
	Ascertain the nature and scope of all local council charges, contributions towards infrastructure, maintenance and requirements prior to making a final site selection.
	Establish that there are enough suitable employees within practical travelling distance of the preferred location or site. Talk to the manager of the local employment agency about the likely level of available employees and also the availability of training assistance.
	Make an assessment of whether local housing costs are compatible with salary levels of prospective or relocated employees.
	Ascertain the availability and cost of management, technical and scientific expertise required by your business in the area to which you are considering relocation.
	Assess prosepctive locations with respect to key transport needs for product distribution or personnel transport.
	Ascertain accessibility to suppliers or materials (or other inputs) and/or services for locations being considered.
	Ascertain the adequacy and cost of telecommunications infrastructure to support the business' communications and information technology needs.
	Assess local supply chain networks which can help your business collaborate with other firms to attain the scale necessary to compete for export orders or large domestic contracts.
	Seek advice on local community and council attitudes to your business activity. Where a development approval is requried to be submitted, early discussions with the local council are highly recommended.
	Assess the availability of business services to support your firm's growth at the location being considered.
	Contact the Business Licence Information Service (BLIS) of the NSW Office of Fair Trading to ascertain requirements for State and Federal Government permits and licences.
	Organise a familiarisation program for you and your family, plus key employees and their families to the preferred location to optimise the chances of these employees being retained by the business.
	Project manage the relocation in the same profesional manner as would be applied to managing a key account. Develop a relocation plan which assigns responsibilities to staff members for all aspects of the move including: timing of the move (consider aspects such as 'tax-time', down-time, school / public holidays etc) quotes for specialist transport of equipment and removalists for personal belongings decommisioning and recommisioning of plant insurance security changing of contact details on literature, stationery, marketing collateral etc staff orientation in the workplace and location of essential and emergency services in the area / region such as doctors, utilities, police, etc Importantly, put in place contigency plans to allow for down-time at the new location.