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So today was the big office move, as my work finally swapped its two small floors on the edge of Bermondsey for a single big room in a government building up by the Thames.

The circumstances are rather different to those the last time I was involved in an office move. Back in 2002, in the dark days before this blog even existed, I moved from Richmond to Putney when the imminently defunct software company that I worked for at the time was purchased by its biggest rival (which has itself now been swallowed up in a hostile takeover). Back then, the move represented the end of an era, the final nail in the coffin of the old company, and offered a new office filled only with a selection of worried new colleagues, understandably concerned about the future of their own jobs, and consequently somewhat less than welcoming.

This time, however, it’s all positive–a growing company that has outlived its time in a small, cosy office and that badly needs the extra space. It was all a bit surreal turning up to a brand new office this morning, having my photo taken for a new pass, and meeting the security guards–it almost felt as if I’d started a new job, but for some strange reason all my old colleagues had decided to come with.

The new place is not short of comedy value, either. The other floors in the building are occupied by the Health and Safety Executive, and tales of their amusing bureaucracy’s desperate attempts to foil our attempts to outfit the office had already made it back to us. Today I particularly enjoyed the little warning signs in the bathrooms placed above each and every one of the taps that let us know that the stuff that comes out of the hot taps is “Very Hot Water”.