Andy Burnham MP recently took to the stage at The People's History Museum in Manchester and delivered a speech that was, by most accounts, thin on detail and heavy on atmosphere. One concrete announcement emerged from the fog: an office was moving to Manchester. The crowd, presumably, applauded. But the case for why it was moving — what it would cost, what it would save, what it would fix — went largely unmade. A moving speech without the detail or the practicalities.
How You Can Give a Moving Speech at Work
That's a missed opportunity. Because announcing an office relocation isn't a ribbon-cutting exercise. It's one of the most consequential speeches a leader can give.
So let's put any notion of an emotional speech, or an atmospheric speech to one side. Because when you tell people an office is moving, you're not talking about buildings. You're talking about people's lives. Staff face decisions about where they live, how long they commute, whether their family can absorb the upheaval. Shareholders and voters face questions about whether the money has been well spent. A good relocation speech answers those questions before the audience even has a chance to ask them.
Here are four tips to make sure yours does.
Top Tips for Your Moving Speech
Tip 1: Say Why
Every successful relocation has a rationale — and it's rarely just one thing. When the BBC moved key operations to MediaCityUK in Salford, the case rested on rebalancing the BBC's cultural footprint across the UK. When the Met Office relocated to Exeter, the logic was proximity to the University of Exeter's meteorological research. When the Government Veterinary Service moved to York, cost was the primary driver. Whatever your reason — talent pool, cost savings, mission alignment, regional strategy — name it plainly. "We're going" is not a case. "We're going because..." is. That should be the content of your own moving speech.
Tip 2: Speak to the People it Affects
A relocation announcement made without acknowledging its human cost sounds either naïve or callous. Some of your people will be delighted. Some will hand in their notice. Most will be somewhere in between, quietly anxious. So, in your moving speech, address them directly. Tell them what support is available, what the timeline looks like, and what happens if the move doesn't work for them personally. The audience that matters most in a relocation speech isn't the press — it's the people sitting in the third row wondering what this means for their mortgage.
Tip 3: Anticipate the Second-Order Effects
Here's what relocation speeches almost never cover: what happens after the move. I once found myself on a plane to Oslo sitting next to a senior Government Veterinary officer, not long after their much-heralded move to York. He was cheerful, and full of interesting detail — their new offices occupied the former home of Adams Hydraulics, which had a pleasing symmetry given the agricultural nature of his work. Less pleasing was the fact that he and his colleagues spent a significant portion of their professional lives on the East Coast Mainline, commuting back to London for meetings with ministers. The ribbon had been cut. The reality was more complicated. A strong office moving speech looks around the corner.
Tip 4: Paint the Five-Year Picture
Where will this organisation be in five years as a result of this decision? What does success actually look like? If you can't answer that, you're not ready to make the announcement. The most compelling moving speeches — think of any major corporate headquarters move — articulate a vision, not just a postcode. Your audience needs to believe that the disruption is worth it, and that means giving them a destination, not just a direction.
Latest on Burnham’s plans:
— (((Dan Hodges))) (@DPJHodges) June 29, 2026
* As PM he will spend a minimum of a day a week in “No.10 North”
* He will not use No.10 as his main residence. His primary home will remain in the North West
* Senior advisors have already begun work on establishing the Northern Downing Street
Andy Burnham's Manchester announcement may yet prove to be a shrewd move. Not least because there is already a construction site that's earmarked as a central government building. But a speech that makes the case compellingly — rather than leaving the audience to take it on faith — would have served him, and his audience, rather better.
Tips for Your Office Moving Speech
Your moving speech demands that little bit extra. So make it count and don't leave your audience under-appreciated.
For more public speaking and presentation tips, you'll find our full series of tips here. There's a tip for every occasion an a case study for each scenario, such as how to make an impact with your speech. And when you're ready to sharpen your own public speaking skills, please don't hesitate to get in touch.
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