Energy and water contracts attach to premises, not to a business. Moving site therefore means the old arrangements stay behind and the new ones have to be established from scratch, which catches many businesses out during a busy period.
The current supplies stay with the old site
When you vacate a property, the supply continues to be delivered there and remains registered against that address. Your contract obligations do not automatically follow you, and the new occupier inherits the supplies rather than your agreements. Plan a formal end to the old arrangements, including a closing reading on the day you leave, so the final bill covers the period you were responsible for.
The new site may already have supplies in someone else's name
Premises that have been occupied before usually have live supplies registered to the previous occupier. A change of tenancy records that responsibility has moved to you; a change of supplier is a separate step. Trying to arrange the second before the first is one of the most common causes of delay.
Take readings on the day you take occupation, photograph the meters and note where they are. Those readings matter if a bill later arrives covering a period before your occupation.
Interim consumption may still fall to you
Once you take occupation, consumption at the site is generally your responsibility, even if the account is not yet in your name and the supplier relationship is still being established. Taking early readings gives you something to check a first bill against and helps avoid a dispute later.
Check what the site can support
Not every service you need may be immediately available. Electricity supply capacity, gas meter size and telecoms connections vary between buildings, and a new occupant may find that the previous use did not require what yours does.
- Whether the electricity supply capacity is sufficient for your equipment.
- Whether the gas meter size suits the heating and process load.
- What broadband or telecoms infrastructure reaches the building.
- Whether the water supply is metered, and whether surface water drainage charges apply.
Where an upgrade is required, lead times can run into months because physical work may involve a network operator rather than just a supplier. Establishing this early is far cheaper than discovering it after the equipment arrives.
Give yourself time
Moving is usually planned around the property, the fit-out and the staff. Utilities sit at the end of the list and are then rushed. Working through supply requirements, readings and lead times a few weeks before the move reduces the risk of arriving somewhere with no working connection, and it makes the first bills at the new site much easier to reconcile.
This guide is general information for UK households and businesses. It is not advice on your specific contract, and it does not replace the terms agreed with your supplier or the guidance published by regulators and network operators.