Relocating Queen Mary University of London: a phased, 12-month campus move

In 2022, Queen Mary University of London appointed Bishop’s Move to move its Institute of Health Sciences and several supporting departments out of their buildings for refurbishment, and then bring them back. We moved 180 staff and a specimen collection into temporary accommodation and returned them once the work was finished. The programme ran in seven phases over 12 months, and teaching started as scheduled in the summer term of 2023.

The project at a glance

Project detail	Summary
Client	Queen Mary University of London, a Russell Group university with over 32,000 students and more than 5,700 staff
Contract awarded	2022
Departments moved	Institute of Health Sciences and supporting departments, the Student Union, and two IT suites at the Mile End campus
Staff relocated	180
Sites	Whitechapel campus, Mile End campus, St Bartholomew’s Hospital and Bishop’s Move storage
Programme	Seven phases over 12 months
Outcome	No delays reinstalling materials, so teaching started as scheduled in the summer term of 2023

The brief: clear the buildings, then bring everyone back

The university needed every space emptied so construction could start. Once the refurbishment and upgrades were complete, staff had to come back and settle into the new space alongside other departments moving in for the first time.

That meant two moves for the same people: out to temporary accommodation, then home again. The specimen collection made the same journey. At the Mile End campus, the Student Union and two IT suites moved into refurbished spaces of their own. Every vacated space was cleared, and furniture from the teaching space went into our Thurrock warehouse until it could be reinstalled.

What we handled

The university asked us to provide these services across the programme:

Four sites, one programme

Moves started from the Whitechapel and Mile End campuses. From there, staff, furniture and equipment went to one of four destinations: back into refurbished space at Whitechapel or Mile End, to St Bartholomew’s Hospital, or into Bishop’s Move storage.

Seven phases, finished in time for the summer term

We delivered the work in seven phases over 12 months. For a university, the start of term is the date that matters: a refurbishment can slip, but students arrive when they arrive. Nothing held up the reinstallation of materials at the end of the programme, so teaching started as scheduled in the summer term of 2023.

Planning a move for your university or department?

If your project looks like this one, with several departments, more than one site and a term date that cannot move, our university and education removals team can plan it with you, starting with a pre-move survey. Departments with laboratory equipment or specimen collections can also call on our laboratory removals service.

To see how we moved and stored a university library collection during a two-year refurbishment, read our University of Surrey relocation and storage case study.

Bishop’s Move was founded in 1854 and is a founding member of the British Association of Removers. You can see our accreditations and memberships in full.

To talk through your business relocation, call our business team on 03300 585100 or email [email protected].