Hi Beth

Bad news for the company, and at such short notice. If there is scope to negotiate with the landlord to extend by a couple of months  (whilst paying a higher rent for instance), that would be my first step, effectively buying time to find something more local;

If that is not possible, then there are several impacts to consider.

Central London salaries are generally higher than Greater London salaries for the very reasons you raise - extra travel costs, and extra travel time. whatever the situation, you may need to adjust your salaries globally to reflect this market difference - after all, when you go out to recruit new staff at a future date, you will clearly be competing with the Central London market...... try to get a handle on the market if you can.

Staff will probably be miffed and you need to find ways of keeping as many of them on board as you can. Given the short notice, this may in fact be a positive opportunity, because people are likely to be obliged to "suck it and see" for a while rather than look elsewhere and resign once they've found a local alternative. You therefore have an opportunity to get them accustomed to a new way of working during this "period of grace", which would not have been the case if tthey had 6 months warning.

In your shoes I would consider

• offering annual season-ticket loans to help people reduce the annual cost - it will also help to tie them in for a year, because if they leave  and seek a refund part way through the year, the refund will only be partial, but  they will still have to repay everything (indirect golden handcuffs - sneaky!)
• paying a one-off bonus for those choosing to relocate (half upon relocation and another half 6 months later so as to have a retention effect)
• during the first year, making a positive gesture of a contribution to additional costs (50%? 75%?) - obviously taxable, but would be appreiated
• possiblly look at staggering start and end times to help people's home situation
• is some people say "no" look at career progression or promotion opportunities for other staff, and use these as selling points for the move
• evaluating home-working possibilities

At another level, you will need to analyse whether you are in a redundancy situation because the place of work different, and the decision as to whether an offer of employment at the new site is suitable is to be judged through their eyes and not the company's

Whatever you choose to do, make sure that you communicate and consult openly and frequently as you move forwards

I hope this helps, and I'm sure others will have some great suggestions

good luck with this major challenge

Rays point on home working is definitely worth looking into (as are his others). This may not be along term solution, but will give more time.

Hi Beth

Just to echo Ray's great comments, just to add that moving workplace location even a mile or two eg towards central London is very highly likely to make it a redundancy situation ( for those who don't personally want to make the move of course ) - there is quite clear legal precedent about this ( involving a move of bus depots, or something like that: the exactitudes afraid I forget ).