Branch Relocation Without Disruption

Background

A major national equipment hire company relocated its largest Western Australian branch to a new leased facility. As a critical operational hub supporting mining-location sub-branches across Western Australia and the Northern Territory, the branch operated as a largely self-sufficient state operation within the national business, requiring reliable local technology infrastructure to support day-to-day operations across regional locations and time zones.

The branch operated in a 24/7 environment, with staff onsite for 16 hours each day and an after-hours IVR service transitioning customer calls to an on-call team outside those hours. The relocation required all critical services — including hire and field services management systems, internet connectivity, telephony, call centre services, IVR routing, security systems, and operational communications — to be fully operational from day one with no disruption to trading.

The new leased facility contained existing structured cabling and a communications rack but had no wireless infrastructure. The project required validating and extending the existing infrastructure, deploying a new enterprise network, and integrating connectivity, security, and operational systems across the office, workshop, yard, and detached service shed.

Ron Le Mesurier led the end-to-end technology workstream, managing solution design, stakeholder engagement, vendor coordination, implementation, testing, and cutover delivery alongside the wider site relocation programme.

Project Management & Stakeholder Engagement

Ron Le Mesurier managed the technology workstream end to end, coordinating directly with the branch manager and operations team, the cabling and camera contractors delivering the technical build, and the carriers provisioning the new comms services — while working around the separate builders and electrical contractors delivering the site fit-out to keep every workstream aligned to the same fixed move date.

• Project Governance & Reporting: Established project governance practices including regular stakeholder updates, progress reporting, risk identification, and escalation of key issues to ensure alignment with business expectations and the fixed relocation timeline.
• Business Unit Engagement from the Outset: Brought business unit leads and managers with a stake in the relocation into the planning process from the start, rather than only informing them once decisions were made.
• Stakeholder List & Communications Plan: Built a contact list of every key person across the business, site build, and vendors, and ran a communications plan setting out who needed updates, on what, and at which stage of the project.
• Procurement & Vendor Management: Managed the procurement process for required technology services, hardware, and specialist contractors, coordinating supplier engagement, commercial requirements, and contractor delivery to ensure the project remained aligned with scope, schedule, and operational requirements.
• Single Point of Coordination: Acted as the one point of contact across the cabling contractor, camera contractor, and carriers, so the branch didn't have to chase multiple parties to keep the technology build on schedule.
• Milestone Planning Against the Move Date: Built and tracked a schedule working backward from the fixed relocation date, sequencing comms provisioning, cabling, network, and security work so each dependency was cleared in time for the next.
• Regular Progress Updates: Provided the branch manager and client stakeholders with regular status updates through the build, flagging risks — such as carrier delays — early enough to manage around them rather than being caught out at cutover.
• Sequencing Around the Site Fit-Out: Coordinated the technology build's timing with the separate builders and electricians running the site fit-out, sequencing cabling and containment work around their schedule to avoid clashes, without directly managing their trades.
• Staff Communication: Briefed branch staff ahead of go-live on what would change — desk phone extensions, network access, and the new camera and access control setup — so the team knew what to expect on day one.
• Cutover Risk Management: Ran a structured testing and cutover plan for comms, network, and security systems ahead of the move, so any issues were caught and resolved before the branch opened for trade, not after.

The Challenge

• Fixed Move Date: The branch had a locked relocation date, driven by the lease on the old site, leaving no room for the network or comms build to run behind schedule.
• No Disruption to Trading: The branch needed to keep trading at the old site right up until the move, then be fully operational at the new site immediately after — the entire relocation had to run in parallel with business as usual, with no closure, no downtime, and no gap in service to customers at any point.
• Business Continuity Maintained: The branch needed to transition to the new facility without operational downtime, with critical communications, business systems, network services, and security infrastructure available from the first day of trading. As a key operational hub supporting Western Australia and Northern Territory operations, any disruption would directly impact business continuity.
• New Comms Contracts on the Clock: Business-grade internet and phone services needed to be ordered, provisioned, and tested well ahead of the move, since carrier lead times for new services at a new address can run to several weeks.
• Call Centre Continuity: The branch's hire desk operates as part of a wider call centre queue, with an IVR routing customer calls to the right team during the 16-hour staffed day and switching over to an after-hours on-call service outside those hours — both paths needed to keep working exactly as before, with no disruption to how calls reached the branch at any hour.
• Mixed-Use Site: The new premises combined an office, a workshop, and an open equipment yard — each with different coverage, cabling, and security requirements.
• Working Within Existing Infrastructure: As a leased building, the site already had structured cabling and a comms rack in place, but no WiFi anywhere — the project had to work within and build on what existed rather than starting from a blank site, while still delivering a fully current network.
• Detached Service Shed: The service department operated from a separate shed away from the main building, needing its own network connection, access control, and camera coverage extended out to it rather than treated as part of the main fit-out.
• Client-Chosen Camera System: The branch manager wanted to carry over the same camera system he'd used at his previous branch, rather than adopt a new platform, and had his own contractor to install it — Ron needed to design the network to support that system and coordinate the install, without owning the camera platform itself.
• Coverage Beyond the Office: Yard staff and mechanics needed reliable WiFi outside as well as in — for handheld scanners, mobile devices, and equipment checks — while the workshop also needed a way to display maintenance schedules, plant run-ups, and dispatch information without staff having to leave what they were doing to check.
• Security and Data Traffic Together: Security cameras and the core business network needed to share the same physical infrastructure without security traffic being able to see or interfere with business systems, or vice versa.

The Approach

Ron Le Mesurier ran the technology build as its own coordinated workstream alongside the branch's physical move, so both were tracking to the same go-live date rather than one waiting on the other:

• Comms Contracts First: Business-grade internet and voice services for the new address were ordered and provisioned at the very start of the project, ahead of any physical works, to absorb carrier lead times and guarantee the connection was live well before move day.
• Desk Phones, IVR & Call Centre: Reconfigured desk phone extensions and the branch's call centre queue and IVR routing for the new site ahead of the move, including the after-hours switchover to on-call outside the 16-hour staffed day, and tested inbound call flow end-to-end before go-live, so customers calling the branch at any hour experienced no change in how their call was answered or routed.
• Additional Cabling Design & Compliance: Verified and tested the leased building's existing structured cabling and comms rack for compliance before relying on any of it, then designed the additional cabling needed for phones, data, and WiFi across the office, workshop, and yard perimeter, managed the cabling contractor delivering the install, and tested and certified every outlet — existing and new — for compliance before sign-off.
• Unified UniFi Network: Managed the contractor installing current-generation UniFi switches, gateway, and wireless access points into the building's existing rack, and handled the full UniFi setup and configuration — giving the branch the same unified platform used across the wider network of sites, centrally managed and monitored consistently with the rest of the business.
• WiFi From Scratch: The building had no WiFi at all prior to the project, so indoor and outdoor wireless coverage was designed and deployed as an entirely new addition rather than an upgrade to an existing network.
• Indoor and Outdoor WiFi Design: Designed separate indoor and outdoor wireless coverage — office-grade WiFi through the building, and weatherproof outdoor access points across the yard — and tested coverage across every zone so yard staff and mechanics had reliable connectivity for handheld scanners and mobile devices while working outside, not just inside the office.
• Service Display Panels: Coordinated the contractor installing networked display panels in the workshop showing maintenance schedules, plant run-up checklists, and dispatch information, and configured them onto the network — giving the service team a live, shared view of what needed doing and what was going out, without relying on paper boards or someone walking over to check.
• VLAN Segmentation: Configured separate VLANs for the security camera network and the core data/business network, running over the same physical cabling and switches but fully isolated from each other — so a camera feed has no path onto the business network, and vice versa.
• Camera Network Design & Coordination: Designed the cabling pathways and a dedicated, isolated VLAN to support the branch manager's preferred camera system — the same platform he'd used and was familiar with at his previous branch — and coordinated the install with his own camera contractor from a project management perspective, rather than installing or specifying the camera platform itself.
• Contractor Coordination: Scheduled and sequenced the camera contractor's work alongside the rest of the technology build and physical fit-out, keeping their install on track against the same fixed move date as every other workstream.
• Service Shed Connectivity & Access Control: Managed the contractors extending additional cabling, network connectivity, and access control out to the detached service shed, tested the outlets for compliance, and configured the access control system so entry could be managed and logged the same way as the main building.
• Service Shed Cameras: Coordinated with the branch manager's camera contractor to extend the same camera system out to the detached service shed, on its own isolated VLAN alongside the shed's network and access control.
• Parallel Delivery with the Move: Timed the cabling, network build, and camera installation to run alongside the physical fit-out and equipment relocation — with the old site continuing to trade uninterrupted throughout — and completed testing and cutover before the branch opened for trade at the new site, so there was no closure and no disruption to the business at any point.

Project Lifecycle

Results

• Executive Sign-Off Secured Up Front: The design was formally approved by the state manager and the business CEO before build work began, giving the project clear executive backing from day one.
• Zero Downtime at Move: The branch opened for trade at the new site fully connected — no gap in internet, phone, or point-of-sale connectivity.
• Comms Live Ahead of Schedule: New business internet and voice services were tested and confirmed live before the physical move took place, removing carrier lead time as a risk to the go-live date.
• Seamless Call Centre Handover: Desk phones, the call centre queue, and IVR routing carried across to the new site with no interruption — including the after-hours on-call switchover — so the branch's 24/7 phone coverage continued without a break through the move.
• Full Yard and Workshop Coverage: Camera coverage across the yard, workshop, and entry points was live from day one, on the branch manager's preferred, familiar system, giving him visibility over hired equipment and stock from the outset.
• Reliable Coverage Indoors and Out: Yard staff and mechanics have consistent WiFi coverage across the yard and workshop, not just inside the office, supporting handheld scanners and mobile devices used day to day.
• Live Service Information on the Floor: Networked display panels give the workshop a shared, real-time view of maintenance schedules, plant run-ups, and dispatch — replacing manual boards and reducing time lost checking status by hand.
• Service Shed Fully Connected: The detached service shed was brought online with network connectivity, access control, and camera coverage all live for the branch's opening day, despite sitting outside the main building.
• Client's Preferred System, Delivered on Schedule: The branch manager's own camera contractor delivered his familiar, chosen system across both the main site and the service shed, fully coordinated into the same fixed-date build without becoming a separate, disconnected project.
• Segregated, Secure Network: Security camera traffic and core business systems run on fully isolated VLANs over shared infrastructure, reducing risk without the cost of separate cabling networks.
• Issue-Free First Week: Stayed on site for a full week after go-live, ensuring any issues in the business's first week of operating from the new building were caught and resolved immediately, followed by a formal PIR to close out the project.
• Consistent Platform Across Branches: The new site runs on the same UniFi network platform as the rest of the business, keeping management, monitoring, and support consistent branch to branch.

Transferable Approach

This project reflects a repeatable pattern for any business relocating a site with hard operational dependencies on its network. Comms contracts should be the very first thing ordered, not the last, since carrier lead times are usually the longest pole in the schedule and the easiest thing to get caught out by. Running the technology build as its own parallel workstream — rather than waiting for the physical move to finish first — is what makes a same-day go-live possible. VLAN segmentation lets security and business systems share the same physical infrastructure safely, avoiding the cost of running two separate networks while still keeping each one fully isolated. Where a site has an existing system on a different platform, that same VLAN approach means it can be brought onto the new network without needing to be replaced or run on separate cabling, keeping the transition simpler and cheaper for the client. And building on the same platform used across other sites keeps a growing business easy to manage centrally, rather than accumulating a different setup at every location.