How it works
The case starts with a baseline: the annual occupancy cost of every building or floor in scope, and evidence of how much of it is used, taken from measured attendance and occupancy rather than headcount.
It then describes the target estate and what it takes to get there. Recurring savings come from rent, service charges, taxes and operating costs that stop. One-off costs include moves, fit-out of the receiving space, reinstatement of the space given back, any break penalties, and the booking and coordination tools needed to run a shared office.
Finance approves numbers it can trace, so good cases keep categories apart: cash savings with the lease dates that make them possible, cost avoidance such as a lease not taken, uncertain income such as sublease rent, and modeled benefits such as collaboration or retention. They also show the risk: whether the smaller estate still fits the busiest day.
How to measure it
- Baseline occupancy and peak-day attendance for every building in scope, over enough weeks to cover seasonal swings.
- Annual occupancy cost per building, using the same cost lines everywhere.
- Payback period: one-off costs divided by annual recurring savings.
- Peak-day fit: seats needed on the busiest day in the target estate against seats available.
Examples
- A company with two half-used floors models consolidating onto one at a break date: savings come from rent and service charges, costs from a weekend move and reinstating the released floor.
- A regional council compares closing one of three buildings with closing two, and finds the second option fails the peak-day test.
Benchmarks
RCS England consolidated two floors into one and saved over £40,000 a year.
Kadence customer story: RCS England
Common mistakes
- Mixing hoped-for sublease income with contracted savings.
- Leaving out one-off costs such as reinstatement, dilapidations and IT.
- Sizing the target estate to average attendance, so the plan fails on the first busy day.
- Using bookings or headcount as the evidence of use.
How Kadence helps
Kadence supplies the evidence and the options behind a consolidation case. Workplace Insights reports attendance, occupancy, no-shows and heatmaps from check-in and presence data, with custom dashboards in Insights Plus. SpaceOps scenario planning compares consolidation options side by side, guided workflows help consolidate floors, and plans export as PDFs for stakeholders.
Scenario planning · Workplace analytics · Denbighshire County Council story
Frequently asked questions
What should a business case for office consolidation include?
The current annual occupancy cost, measured use of each building, the target estate, the one-off costs of moving, recurring savings with the lease dates that make them possible, and the risks, including whether the smaller estate fits the busiest day. Keep cash savings, cost avoidance and modeled benefits on separate lines.
How do you calculate the savings from office consolidation?
Add the recurring costs that stop, such as rent, service charges, property taxes and operating costs for the space given back, then subtract any new recurring costs in the receiving space. Set the one-off costs of the move against that annual saving to find the payback period.
What evidence do finance teams expect in a consolidation case?
Measured occupancy and attendance rather than headcount or bookings, costs that trace to leases and invoices, and a timeline tied to lease events. For example, RCS England consolidated two floors into one and saved over £40,000 a year on the strength of measured use.
Why do consolidation business cases fail?
Most fail on credibility or capacity. Mixing uncertain sublease income with cash savings undermines trust, and planning to the average day leaves the smaller estate overcrowded when attendance peaks.
Related terms
- Office consolidation Moving teams from several floors, buildings or sites into less space, then giving up or repurposing the space that is freed.
- Cost per seat The total annual occupancy cost of an office divided by the seats it provides, or by the seats actually used.
- Sublease Letting leased space you no longer need to another party, while staying responsible to the landlord under the original lease.
- Lease event A lease date that forces or allows a decision, such as an expiry, a break option, a renewal option or a rent review.
- Office right-sizing Matching the amount and type of office space to how people actually use it, based on measured demand rather than headcount.
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