THE GOLDEN RULE
Cabling goes in first. Everything else in an office fit-out — floors, walls, furniture — makes cable access worse and more expensive. Structured cabling is the one item that must be installed at shell stage, before decorators and desk assemblers arrive. Retrofitting a cable run into a finished office can cost 2–3× the original price.
PHASE 1 — BEFORE THE FIT-OUT
- Order the internet line early — business leased lines/fibre can take 4–12 weeks to install. Choose business-grade (SLA-backed), not residential
- Plan desk positions — every desk needs at least one network point; add spares (20%) for growth
- Plan the comms cabinet location — central, ventilated, lockable, near where the line enters
- Book a site survey — a professional maps cable runs, WiFi placement and cabinet needs (£150–£300, usually credited against the install)
- Install structured cabling — Cat6 minimum for new installs, £75–£100 per point, tested and labelled
PHASE 2 — CORE HARDWARE
- Router/firewall — business-grade, with VPN support if staff work remotely (£200–£800)
- Switches — managed, with PoE (Power over Ethernet) if you'll run access points, IP cameras or IP phones (£150–£600 per switch)
- WiFi access points — ceiling-mounted, roughly 1 per 20–30 users or per 250–350m²; mesh systems for awkward layouts (£100–£300 per AP)
- UPS — battery backup for the comms cabinet so a power blip doesn't kill the network (£100–£400)
- Networked printer/MFD — placed with cable and power access
PHASE 3 — WORKPLACE LAYER
- Laptops/desktops configured and enrolled — Microsoft Intune (or similar) so devices self-configure with policies and apps
- Email and accounts — Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace, set up before day one
- Cloud storage/file sharing — decided and permissions structured
- Phones — VoIP handsets or softphones; check the broadband can carry the calls
- Printing configured — networked, drivers deployed centrally
PHASE 4 — SECURITY (DON'T SKIP)
- Firewall rules reviewed, default passwords changed on EVERY device (routers, APs, printers, cameras)
- Guest WiFi isolated from the business network
- Multi-factor authentication on email and admin accounts
- Backups configured and TESTED (an untested backup is a hope, not a backup)
- Cyber Essentials application considered (~£300 — cheap credibility with clients and insurers)
REALISTIC BUDGETS
| Office size | Typical IT setup cost |
| 5 desks | £2,000–£4,000 |
| 10 desks | £3,000–£8,000 |
| 25 desks | £8,000–£20,000 |
| 50+ desks | £20,000+ (survey essential) |
Excludes computers themselves. Includes cabling, network hardware, configuration and labour.
THE 5 CLASSIC MISTAKES
- Cabling ordered too late — the double-cost retrofit
- Residential broadband for a business — no SLA, no fix time, congestion at peak
- Supermarket/consumer WiFi gear — fails under real office load
- No UPS — a 3-second power blink corrupts work and reboots everything
- Default passwords left on routers, printers and cameras — the #1 small-business breach route
QUICK SUMMARY
- Line ordered early, cabling at shell stage, survey before decisions
- Business-grade core: firewall, PoE switch, proper APs, UPS
- Configure and secure BEFORE move-in day, not during the chaos
- Budget £300–£800 per desk for infrastructure (excl. computers)
- A survey costs little and prevents the expensive mistakes — book one with Triset
