Office Refurbishment Company London: Costs & Choosing
Last updated: 7 October 2026
An office refurbishment company in London manages the structural, mechanical and cosmetic upgrade of an existing workspace, typically costing between £50 and £150 per square foot and taking 8 to 28 weeks depending on scope. Costs and timescales vary sharply by building type, tenancy status and whether mechanical and electrical (M&E) systems need replacing rather than just refreshing.
Key Takeaways
- Office refurbishment costs in London range from £40-60 per sq ft for low-budget work up to £95+ per sq ft for premium projects, according to K2 Space (2026).
- A typical London office refurbishment takes 8 to 12 weeks, though full-scale projects with M&E replacement can run to 28 weeks, per Soul Spaces / Initial Interiors (2026-2026).
- Refurbishments now make up 53% of the office development pipeline across the UK's Big Nine markets in 2026, up from 33% in 2026, per Avison Young (2026).
- Central London locations typically cost 20-30% more per square foot than outer zones, notes Pilcher London (2026).
- Recently refurbished space accounted for 70% of Central London office space acquired in 2026, according to Savills (2026).
What Is an Office Refurbishment Company, and How Does It Differ from Fit-Out or Design Firms?
An office refurbishment company is a contractor that upgrades an existing commercial space's structure, services and finishes rather than building from a bare shell. This distinguishes it from a fit-out company, which typically fits out a "Cat A" shell — the developer's base finish including raised floors, suspended ceilings and basic mechanical services — into a usable "Cat B" workspace with partitions, furniture and branding.
A refurbishment company sits between these roles. It often handles both the hard services — rewiring, HVAC upgrades, fire alarm renewal — and the softer Cat B-style finishing in a single contract, whereas a pure design company usually limits itself to space planning, interior concepts and specification, then hands construction to a separate contractor.
In practice, London businesses increasingly need this blended capability. Refurbishments accounted for 66% of all new construction start volume in London in 2026, after new-build starts fell 35%, according to Deloitte's London Office Crane Survey (2026), reported via Building Design. Deloitte's Philip Parnell, Partner and Head of Real Estate Valuation, put the trend down to more than sustainability rules alone: "The continued shift to refurbishments goes beyond sustainability requirements and represents challenges around scheme viability, delivery risk and addressing occupiers' evolving needs around quality and flexibility."
For businesses running security or facilities services alongside a refurbishment programme, this overlap matters. Priority First coordinates building management, key holding and site access during works, which sits closer to a refurbishment contractor's remit than a design studio's.
How Much Does an Office Refurbishment Cost in London?
Office refurbishment in London costs £50 to £150 per square foot on average, meaning a 1,000 sq ft office typically costs £50,000 to £150,000 from start to finish, according to The Page (2026). The wide range reflects how much of the building's fabric and services need replacing versus simply refreshing.
At the lower end, £40-60 per sq ft buys cosmetic work — redecoration, carpet replacement, basic partitioning — while £95 and above covers high-specification or premium projects with full M&E upgrades, bespoke joinery and building management system integration, per K2 Space (2026). Pilcher London (2026) puts basic cosmetic work at £50 per sq ft rising to £150+ for comprehensive refurbishment including full M&E replacement, and flags that Central London postcodes typically run 20-30% more than outer London zones.
| Refurbishment tier | Typical cost per sq ft | What's included |
|---|---|---|
| Basic cosmetic | £40-60 | Redecoration, flooring, minor partitioning |
| Mid-range | £60-95 | Partial M&E, new lighting, improved finishes |
| High/premium | £95-150+ | Full M&E overhaul, bespoke fit-out, BMS integration |
Worked example: a 5,000 sq ft office in the City of London undergoing a mid-range refurbishment at £75 per sq ft would cost approximately £375,000, excluding furniture, dilapidations and professional fees. A comparable project in Croydon or Stratford, outside the 20-30% Central London premium, could land 15-20% lower for the same specification.
Demand for this work is structural, not cyclical. 45% (£2.8bn) of London's office investment is now flowing into refurbishment or retrofit, with an expected shortfall of 7.6 million sq ft in new and refurbished space over the next five years, according to Glenigan's Construction Review (2026).
Ways to reduce refurbishment costs
- Phase the works across multiple floors rather than closing the whole building at once.
- Retain existing raised floors and ceiling grids where condition allows rather than stripping back to shell.
- Specify standard rather than bespoke joinery and lighting where the brand doesn't require it.
- Time the project outside peak contractor demand periods, where quotes can carry a premium.
How Long Does an Office Refurbishment Take from Consultation to Completion?
A typical office refurbishment project in London takes 8 to 12 weeks from start to finish, though full-scale projects involving structural or M&E work can extend to 28 weeks, according to Soul Spaces / Initial Interiors (2026-2026). The consultation and design stage — surveys, quotes, planning checks — typically adds several weeks before physical works begin.
Timelines depend heavily on building type. A straightforward cosmetic refresh of a single floor can complete inside eight weeks; a comprehensive refurbishment spanning multiple floors with new fire systems, lift lobby works and landlord sign-off routinely pushes towards six months.
Multi-tenant buildings add a further layer of delay risk. Works affecting shared risers, lifts or plant rooms usually require landlord approval and coordination with other occupiers' access, which a single-tenant building doesn't face.
What Questions Should I Ask When Comparing Office Refurbishment Companies in London?
Comparing office refurbishment companies in London means testing each contractor against the same fixed set of questions before shortlisting any of them. This keeps quotes genuinely comparable rather than differing on scope as well as price.
Ask each contractor to confirm, in writing:
- What is included in the headline price, and what sits outside it (dilapidations, furniture, IT cabling, professional fees)?
- Who is the principal contractor under the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 (CDM 2015) — the Health and Safety Executive's framework governing legal duties for planning, managing and monitoring safety on construction and refurbishment projects?
- What is the realistic programme, including landlord approvals and long-lead items like lifts or specialist glazing?
- Can they provide references or case studies from comparable London commercial buildings, not just retail or residential work?
- How will they manage noise, dust and access if staff remain on site during works?
- What insurance do they hold, and at what indemnity level?
- Who manages building security, key holding and out-of-hours access during the works period?
That final point is frequently overlooked. A refurbishment site with contractors moving in and out daily needs the same rigour as any construction site — controlled access, logged deliveries and a clear record of who was on site and when.
Priority First's own operational data illustrates why this matters: across a mixed-use development onboarded onto its platform, the company recorded 152 photographed checkpoints, up from zero before onboarding, as of August 2026 — bringing the same evidential standard to a live building that a refurbishment programme running alongside occupied space demands.
Who Is Responsible for Health and Safety and CDM Compliance During a Refurbishment?
The client commissioning the refurbishment carries legal duties under CDM 2015, even when a contractor manages the works day to day. The HSE's CDM 2015 guidance makes clients, principal designers and principal contractors each responsible for specific duties, and a business refurbishing its own office is a client under the regulations regardless of size.
For projects involving more than one contractor, the client must appoint a principal designer and principal contractor in writing, and ensure a construction phase plan exists before work starts. Priority First notes that notifiable projects — those lasting more than 30 working days with more than 20 workers at once, or exceeding 500 person-days — must also be notified to the HSE.
Fire safety during and after works falls under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, which makes a "responsible person" accountable for fire risk assessment throughout the building's occupied life, including during refurbishment when escape routes or fire doors may be temporarily affected. Building regulations approval, administered under the Building Regulations Approval framework, is generally required where works affect structural elements, fire safety provisions, means of escape, or thermal performance — a straightforward decoration refresh usually falls outside this, but M&E replacement or structural alteration rarely does.
Businesses should also confirm who holds keys and controls access once the contractor's working day ends. Out-of-hours key holding and alarm response, sitting outside the refurbishment contract itself, is exactly the kind of gap that leaves a half-finished site exposed overnight.
Minimising Disruption to Daily Operations During a London Office Refurbishment
Minimising disruption during an office refurbishment means sequencing work so that occupied and unoccupied zones are physically and operationally separated for the duration of the project. Most London businesses either phase the refurbishment floor by floor or move temporarily to swing space, rather than closing the entire office at once.
Practical measures that limit disruption include running noisy or dusty work outside core hours, installing temporary hoarding between live and works areas, and briefing staff in advance on revised access routes. Security and access control become more important, not less, once contractors, deliveries and staff are moving through the same building simultaneously.
Mo Hassan, Managing Director of Priority First, frames the standard this way: "The old image of security — arms folded, saying no — actively damages the businesses it is meant to protect. The modern standard is that the same officer is the most helpful person in the building and the reason trouble goes elsewhere. Those are not opposites; done properly, each makes the other more effective." That balance — controlling a live works site without obstructing the business operating around it — is precisely what a refurbishment programme in an occupied building needs.
An illustrative parallel from Priority First's client base shows how this plays out operationally. A commercial building in Chelsea and Knightsbridge needed SIA-licensed officers — holding a licence issued under the Private Security Industry Act 2001 by the Security Industry Authority — covering the site through the evening once staff numbers dropped and deliveries, contractors and access needs continued regardless; every patrol, incident and handover was logged with a photograph, GPS location and timestamp, at a cost of roughly £15,000 a year. The same logic applies directly to a refurbishment site inside an occupied office: contractor access continues after most staff have gone home, and someone needs to be accountable for it.
What Should Be in a Refurbishment Contract or Quote to Avoid Hidden Costs?
A properly scoped refurbishment quote states, item by item, exactly what is included, what is excluded, and how variations will be priced before work starts. The most common source of budget overrun is ambiguity over what counts as a "variation" once works are underway.
A quote or contract should specify:
- A detailed schedule of works, broken down by trade and floor.
- Named exclusions — dilapidations, furniture, IT infrastructure, landlord licence fees.
- A fixed payment schedule tied to milestones, not just deposit and completion.
- The retention percentage held back pending snagging, and the timeframe for its release.
- Who holds responsibility for CDM duties, and who is named principal contractor.
- Liability and insurance details, including public liability limits.
- A defects liability period, typically 12 months, covering post-completion snagging.
Businesses comparing London firms against national or regional contractors should weigh local knowledge against overhead. London-based firms typically understand borough-specific planning quirks, listed building constraints in conservation areas, and landlord approval processes in multi-tenant Central London buildings more precisely than a contractor based outside the capital, though national firms occasionally offer lower day rates on larger, less bespoke projects.
Your office refurbishment company checklist
- Confirm the exact cost per square foot and what tier of work it covers, using the table above as a benchmark.
- Establish who is principal contractor under CDM 2015 before works start.
- Check whether building regulations approval applies to your scope.
- Request a fixed-milestone payment schedule with a stated retention period.
- Ask how site access, deliveries and out-of-hours security will be managed throughout.
- Review at least two comparable London commercial case studies from the shortlisted contractor.
- Agree a realistic programme in writing, including landlord approval timescales for shared-building works.
FAQ
How much does an office refurbishment cost in London?
London office refurbishments typically cost £50-150 per square foot, meaning a 1,000 sq ft office costs roughly £50,000-£150,000, according to The Page (2026). Basic cosmetic work sits at the lower end; comprehensive M&E replacement pushes costs towards £150+ per sq ft.
How long does an office refurbishment take?
A typical London office refurbishment takes 8 to 12 weeks, though full-scale projects can extend to 28 weeks, per Soul Spaces / Initial Interiors (2026-2026). Timescales depend on whether structural or M&E works are involved and how many contractors need landlord sign-off.
What's the difference between office refurbishment and office fit-out?
Office refurbishment upgrades an existing space's structure and services, while fit-out typically converts a bare "Cat A" shell into a finished workspace. Many London refurbishment contractors now handle both scopes within a single contract.
Do I need planning permission for an office refurbishment in London?
Most internal refurbishment work doesn't need planning permission, but building regulations approval often applies where works affect fire safety, structure or means of escape, per GOV.UK. Listed buildings and conservation areas in boroughs such as Westminster or Kensington and Chelsea can trigger additional consent requirements.
Who is responsible for CDM compliance during a refurbishment?
The commissioning business is the client under CDM 2015 and holds legal duties regardless of company size. Clients must appoint a principal designer and principal contractor in writing on projects involving more than one contractor.
Can staff continue working during a refurbishment?
Yes, many London refurbishments are phased floor by floor or zone by zone specifically so staff can remain on site. This requires clear physical separation between works and occupied areas, plus revised access and security arrangements.
How do I choose between London and national refurbishment contractors?
London-based contractors generally hold stronger local knowledge of borough planning rules and landlord approval processes in multi-tenant buildings. National firms can sometimes offer lower rates on larger, standardised projects but may lack the same familiarity with Central London building constraints.
Securing Your Office Refurbishment Site with Priority First
A refurbishment programme changes a building's risk profile the moment contractors start arriving daily, deliveries increase, and normal access routines break down. Priority First manages exactly this kind of transitional period through its Construction Site Security service, alongside key holding and alarm response for out-of-hours cover once the contractor's day ends.
Priority First's own onboarding data shows how quickly this cover can be established: three new sites, including a 10-checkpoint serviced residence, were taken fully live within a fortnight in July 2026, with checkpoint mapping, officer induction and photographed patrols running from night one. That same speed matters for a refurbishment site where security cover needs to start the moment contractors mobilise, not weeks later.
If your London office refurbishment needs site security, key holding or facilities management coordinated alongside the works, contact Priority First for a quote based on your building and programme.
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