Case Studies

LSM have worked with Crawford and Company on a variety of projects since 2004. They are the world's largest independent provider of claims management solutions to insurance companies and self-insured entities, with a global network of more than 700 offices in 63 countries.

LSM were introduced to help develop a corporate office environment identity. This identity, which is created with standards for space usage and planning, furniture and interior design, will be used on all new offices and refurbishments of existing offices.

The Corporate identity has been applied on a number of projects by LSM, each of which involves strategic planning, space planning, project management, IT, procurement and move management.

All the projects were unique and success depended on LSM's ability to deal with every eventuality.

Newcastle - Relocation of office to a new property
Birmingham - Moving staff into additional space within existing building
Birmingham - Churn within existing offices
Glasgow - Relocated to larger space within existing building
Milton Keynes - Moving staff into additional space within existing building
Croydon - Churn within existing offices
Nottingham - Internal replan and installation of air-conditioning
Trinity Court, London - Internal replan and churn
East Anglia - Consolidation of three offices into replanned existing office

All projects have been on time and within budget, resulting in return business and happy clients, time and again.

"I can say that using LSM for our Newcastle Office move made the entire process extremely painless. LSM's understanding of our requirements as the customer and their attention to detail was absolutely first class. I would recommend LSM to anyone without qualification"

Giles Smallwood, Account Manager

"I have worked with LSM for several years and brought the relationship into Crawford and Company from my previous Company. They take time to understand expectation, work well to defined approaches and create solutions were problems might hinder progress. I am happy to recommend LSM"

Benedict Burke, Chief Operating Officer

Hyde is one of the largest housing association groups working in London and the South East of England.

They provide housing and related services to over 75,000 people. The group owns 20,000 properties and in addition manages close to 14,000 properties for local authorities and as part of a Private Finance Initiative.

At the beginning of 2005 The Hyde Group appointed LSM to carry out a strategic review and audit of all their operational offices including the groups Head office.

LSM visited over 35 offices across the south of England and interviewed 16 senior managers, Directors and Board members to produce a report for the Senior Management Team and Group Board outlining a strategic direction for future use and occupation of the groups' office infrastructure over the next 5 years.

The report contained specific action plans for several identified hot spots in the group portfolio.

LSM is now actively working with Hyde on a rolling program addressing each specific issue in order of priority.

Our strategic consulting team were involved at the outset of this relocation project, with the aim of sourcing a building to meet IDIS's specific requirements for both location and image. Due to specialised profession of the majority of staff, the new building had to be within a certain distance from IDIS's existing offices and warehouse in Surbiton and have good transport links, so they did not lose any crucial members of staff.

A new building was selected in Weybridge and LSM working closely with IDIS's property agents negotiated a favourable lease.

LSM's team fully space planned and project managed the tendering and fitout of the 16,000 sq ft building. The design incorporated a number of private office, large comms room, secure filing areas and break areas.

The relocation included 100 workstations and storage from the existing office which was supplemented with new furniture to match. In order to minimise disruption to the business the relocation of crates, furniture and IT was completed by midday Sunday to allow staff to unpack on Sunday afternoon. By 9am on Monday morning it was business as usual.

At Langley Mill, Nottingham, LSM were contracted to plan and build an extension to the Head Office to replace a series of aging portable buildings.

60 staff were housed in 13 interlinked portable buildings which needed to be moved away to create space for the new building.

A detailed move plan was written to co-ordinate the relocation of staff into temporary offices for the duration of the build. The temporary offices would be provided by reutilising some of the existing portable buildings in another area of the site. To avoid disruption to the business the buildings were de-commissioned moved and re provided with power and data all over one cold weekend.

The remaining buildings were demolished allowing the construction of a new 6000 sq ft modular building.

The new modular building was designed from 'the inside out' by LSM ensuring that all LS Group's requirements were incorporated. The design requirements were tendered to a number of modular building providers and a provider was selected and awarded the contract.

LSM managed the construction phase of both the groundwork's and the modular building and the internal fitout which included, data cabling, air conditioning, power, partitions, and break area.

Our move management team, then co-ordinated the relocation of the staff from the temporary buildings into the newly constructed office.

The project duration was 9 months.

"LSM's performance on our project was well in excess of our expectations. Their attention to detail, expertise and management ensured that our new commercial office was completed on time and on budget. The professionalism of the LSM team shone throughout the project, particularly evident when they managed the temporary relocation of the 60 commercial office staff and their subsequent move into the new office, both moves without any downtime. Undoubtedly LSM added value to our project and we look forward to working with them again on future development projects. Thank you LSM"

Mark de Rozarieux, Finance Director, LS Group Limited

LSM's strategic consulting team identified a new building of 11500 sq ft in Kirby Street, EC1 for CLA.

The selection of the building took into consideration both existing space requirements and predicted growth for the next five years, facilities within the building, location and impact on travelling for existing staff.

LSM worked closely with CLA's property agents to ensure the best possible lease terms and conditions.

The project management started with the design of the office interior, providing a pleasant working environment and incorporating all building, fire and disabled legislations.

Detailed space plans were developed incorporating CLA's requirements to create a mainly open plan environment but incorporating a number of glazed ¾ height private offices and meeting rooms.

After analysing the capabilities and expansion capacity of CLA's telephone system it was decided to provide a new system for the new offices, LSM managed the evaluation of a suitable system and negotiated and managed the installation.

Our Design team sourced and space planned new furniture to suit the clients' teams and their requirements for storage, desk space, break out areas etc.

Alongside the management of the Fitout of the new building LSM were also working closely with CLA's IT team, their contracted support providers and 3rd party IT resources to ensure that the relocation of the servers and PC's went without hitch. A detailed plan covering a 2 week period of activity was developed which guaranteed that all areas of risk had been minimised and contingencies planned.

Once the building was completed in budget and on time, the 84 staff members were successfully relocated from their old offices in Tottenham Court Road over one weekend.

"LSM gave us sound advice on the choice of our new premises and designed a new office structure and modern working environment which considered the needs of both our business and staff. From close of business Friday night, LSM project managed the relocation and Monday morning we started work without a hitch. As with most companies, our IT side of the project was critical and the biggest risk, LSM project managed all the contractors professionally and were proactive in dealing with issues as and when they arose."

Julie Smith HR & Administration Manager

Every project is unique and New England BioLabs gave LSM a complicated job specification which was undertaken and completed successfully by our team.

Having outgrown their existing space in Hitchen, New England BioLabs, negotiated to relocate to the building next door, with their neighbours moving into the space they would be leaving!

Once the space was vacated by the neighbouring company, LSM set up a temporary office within a floor for the staff to work from. This was to be a 2 phase move project.

The remainder of the space, which was split into offices and warehouse, was refurbished with new air conditioning, partitioning, data cabling, flooring, tea points etc. Our Design Team space planned the clients existing furniture and importantly their warehouse which contains storage freezers which play a vital part in their business.

The Move Management team then relocated the staff from the temporary space into the refurbished area.

The refurbishment of the temporary space was then carried out to being to the same standard throughout.

The project was completed "on time and on budget" and delivered to another satisfied customer.

With a building of 13,500 sq ft already sourced, our Design team moved in to space plan new furniture, office areas, meeting rooms and provide an open plan single floor working environment for the company.

Initially a detailed storage audit was undertaken to identify storage requirements, this information was combined with IPD's headcount and facilities requirements to create a building use template which identified the style of furniture to be utilised.

The new furniture was chosen from a vast range of manufacturers, to suit the client's requirements and working habits. A range that would be available to the client in the future and that was adaptable.

LSM's design team space planned and project managed the fitout, which included the installation of power and data, creation of meeting rooms, break area and comms room. To accommodate the additional plant required for the comms room an additional plant enclosure was created on the roof.

The move management team were involved in moving the staff of 160 people from Camden to Clerkenwell, London. The move out of the existing building proved particularly challenging and involved closing the road so a hoist could be used to take out the storage and crates from the upper floors of the building.