Handing back the old office in Hope Island
David Nguyen · Office Cleanout · Hope Island
The story
A friend in Hope Island gave me Clear Out's number, and I sat on it for a fortnight before ringing. Our small practice was merging with another one, and our office had to be empty by the end of the month for the landlord's make-good.
Thirty-odd desks, chairs, a boardroom table, filing cabinets, a broken photocopier, old monitors and a server rack nobody knew how to unplug.
Hope Island is gated golf and canal estates with strict presentation standards, and getting things out isn't always simple. Gate passes and estate speed limits are arranged before arrival.
They offered a time the next morning. I asked if they needed me to move anything to the kerb first, and they said no, they'd take it from where it was.
They arrived a few minutes early, introduced themselves and did a quick walk-around. The price they gave me was a bit under what I'd budgeted, which was a pleasant surprise.
We had a fair bit of e-waste. They separated it all so it went to an e-waste recycler, and kept the hard drives aside for our IT contractor.
The space is unrecognisable. I keep walking past it just to look. I'd use them again without thinking about it, and I've already passed the number on to my sister.
If I'm honest, the hardest part was deciding to do it. Once that was done, it was easy.