Scotland’s premier arts festival has completed a temporary move from its historic headquarters into new office accommodation thanks to the expertise of a management specialist.

Staff and organisers behind the Edinburgh International Festival have relocated into interim premises in the Capital, to allow their headquarters in the Capital’s iconic Hub building on the Royal Mile to undergo a major heating upgrade.

The move was carried out by Lothians-based Space Solutions Relocations – a sub division of commercial property expert Space Solutions – which relocated EIF’s staff from the 4th floor of the converted 18th Century church premises The Hub to temporary office accommodation at Macdonald Road.

As part of the project, Space Solutions Relocations also worked with Recycle Scotland to secure recycled office furniture for the EIF’s temporary premises – meaning that they did not have to move all of the organisation’s existing furniture and equipment to the new base, and saving the festival time and money.

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Ben Slater, business development manager at Space Solutions, said: “The Hub is currently undergoing major work to install new central heating, so the EIF team have let alternative temporary premises on Macdonald Road while this upgrade is taking place.

“It is a very busy time for the festival at the moment, especially as the relocation was scheduled just two weeks after the official launch of the 2011 Festival. Therefore, we had to ensure that the entire EIF team was able to relocate swiftly and smoothly to Macdonald Road with the minimal disruption to their operations.

“Our ongoing partnership with Recycle Scotland enabled us to secure office furniture and fully fit out the temporary base prior to the move. This was the most cost-effective solution and ensured that we only had to move the staff and IT kit rather than all the furniture as well. By carrying out the relocation this way, we ensured that the move was completed as swiftly as possible and that the EIF was able to make significant savings – by minimising the amount of out-of-hours work that we had to perform. We were able to carry out all of the essential relocation work over a single weekend whilst removing the remainder of the furniture from the Hub during the following week.

“Of course, once the upgrade to the Hub is completed, all of the EIF’s staff will be keen to return to their iconic Royal Mile headquarters - so we will be on hand to help move them all back home, with the minimal disruption on their work for the 2011 Festival.”

Space Solutions is Scotland’s biggest independent expert in helping businesses manage changes within the workplace. It operates from bases in Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dundee and Livingston - to design, build, fit out, refurbish and relocate business environments.

(GK)