Live Network Migration & Comms Room Relocation for giffgaff’s Uxbridge Headquarters
A phased network migration that relocated giffgaff’s comms room and recabled a 23,000 sq ft live office in Uxbridge, using swing spaces and temporary links to keep the business connected throughout.
ACCL was asked to design and deliver a new communications room and a phased network migration strategy for giffgaff’s 23,000 sq ft Uxbridge headquarters. With the existing comms room standing in the path of a major office redesign, ACCL used swing spaces and temporary Cat6A and fibre links to move the entire network infrastructure without taking giffgaff’s live telecommunications business offline.
The result
ACCL delivered a complete comms room relocation and network migration inside a live, occupied headquarters. The completed project provided giffgaff with:
- A purpose-designed new communications room, relocated out of the footprint needed for the office redesign
- A phased swing-space migration strategy, built around giffgaff’s day-to-day operations
- New Cat6A structured cabling installed throughout the office
- Temporary Cat6A and fibre links bridging the old and new network environments during the move
- Redundant legacy cabling identified and removed to recover containment capacity
- Wi-Fi infrastructure installed across the full office floor
- CCTV infrastructure installed across the office floor
- A dedicated PC build room for giffgaff’s IT team
Services delivered
Overview
giffgaff is a UK mobile network operator launched in 2009, which began with a small team working from an old rectory in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, before its continued growth led to a move to Uxbridge. In 2018, giffgaff took approximately 23,000 sq ft of office accommodation at Belmont House, Uxbridge, as the company continued to expand.
ACCL’s relationship with giffgaff began before the main office redevelopment, when ACCL was appointed to review, tidy and consolidate the company’s existing data cabinets, and later to design and deliver a dedicated PC build room for giffgaff’s IT team. That early work gave ACCL a detailed understanding of giffgaff’s network and communications cabinets, which proved essential when the office later underwent a much larger transformation.
As part of giffgaff’s new office design, the location occupied by the existing communications room was required for the new workplace layout, so the comms room needed to be completely relocated. For a live telecommunications business, this was considerably more complicated than simply building a new room and moving the equipment: the existing comms room supported employees who needed to keep working while construction and fit-out activities progressed around them. ACCL was asked to help develop both the new communications room design and the network migration strategy.
The challenge – keeping giffgaff operational
The principal challenge was straightforward to describe but considerably more difficult to deliver: giffgaff had to remain operational while the infrastructure supporting the office was being moved. A conventional migration would have required substantial areas of the office to be taken out of service while the old network was disconnected and the new infrastructure installed, which wasn’t suitable for a live headquarters.
Once employees had moved out of the original area, ACCL also faced a second challenge: the existing containment and cable routes contained substantial amounts of redundant legacy cabling, with insufficient capacity to simply install the new Cat6A infrastructure alongside it. Before the replacement cabling could go in, ACCL had to systematically identify and remove the redundant infrastructure first.
Designing the new comms room and a phased migration strategy
ACCL worked with the project team to design a replacement communications room around three communications cabinets, UPS infrastructure, a fire suppression system, copper and fibre-optic connectivity, and cable management and containment, with careful consideration given to cabinet positioning and cable routes so the finished room would be structured and maintainable for giffgaff’s IT team.
Rather than moving the complete office network in one go, ACCL developed a phased swing-space migration strategy: employees and network services would progressively move between the old and new areas as the fit-out advanced. The migration followed a carefully controlled sequence:
- Build new office area → install new Cat6A infrastructure → establish temporary Cat6A and fibre links between old and new
- Move employees into the completed swing space, releasing the original office area
- Remove redundant cabling from the released area to recover containment capacity
- Install replacement Cat6A, routed back to the new communications room, completing the permanent migration
The temporary Cat6A copper and fibre-optic links were one of the most important elements of the strategy: they created a bridge between the two environments, so the existing comms room could keep supporting the live network while newly completed areas of the office became operational, and giffgaff’s employees could keep accessing the services they needed even as the physical office and its network infrastructure moved around them.
Project context
Live office fit-out, network migration & comms room relocation · Uxbridge, London
Structured data cabling →Relocating a comms room in a live office?
ACCL designed and delivered a phased network migration and comms room relocation for a 23,000 sq ft live headquarters, using swing spaces and temporary links to keep the business connected throughout. If your office fit-out needs the same level of planning, a site survey is the place to start.
Recovering containment capacity from redundant cabling
Once employees had moved out of the original office area, ACCL identified and removed substantial amounts of redundant legacy cabling from the existing containment and cable routes. There wasn’t capacity to simply run the new Cat6A infrastructure alongside it, so the old cabling had to come out first.
Removing the legacy cabling recovered valuable containment capacity, improved cable management and stopped obsolete infrastructure from being left above ceilings, beneath floors or within containment, before the replacement Cat6A structured cabling was installed and routed back to the new communications room.
Technologies used
ACCL’s role
This project required far more than installing a new comms room in isolation. ACCL provided giffgaff with a complete network migration service, including:
- Review, tidy and consolidation of giffgaff’s existing data cabinets
- Design and delivery of a dedicated PC build room
- Design of the new communications room, including cabinet positioning and cable routes
- Design of the phased swing-space migration strategy
- Installation of new Cat6A structured cabling throughout the office
- Installation of temporary Cat6A and fibre-optic links between old and new environments
- Identification and removal of redundant legacy cabling
- Installation of Wi-Fi infrastructure across the office floor
- Installation of CCTV infrastructure across the office floor
- Coordination of the migration around giffgaff’s live day-to-day operations
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Related guidance
Foreword by Wayne
“The challenge wasn’t simply installing new cabling; it was working out how we could move the infrastructure supporting a live business while keeping its people connected throughout the project. We designed the new comms room and then used swing spaces, temporary fibre and Cat6A links to progressively move the network as the fit-out advanced. Once an area was released, we could remove the redundant infrastructure and rebuild it back to the new comms room. It was a carefully phased migration rather than a conventional cabling installation, and our previous knowledge of giffgaff’s network helped us plan the transition while minimising disruption to their operation.”Wayne Connors, Managing Director, ACCL
Frequently asked questions
What work did ACCL carry out for giffgaff?
ACCL’s work included data cabinet consolidation, the design and installation of a dedicated PC build room, Cat6A structured cabling, fibre-optic connectivity, comms room design and relocation, legacy cabling removal, Wi-Fi infrastructure and CCTV.
Where is giffgaff’s Uxbridge headquarters?
giffgaff’s headquarters is at Belmont House, Belmont Road, Uxbridge, London. The company took approximately 23,000 sq ft of office accommodation at Belmont House in 2018.
Why did giffgaff’s communications room need to be relocated?
The existing communications room occupied an area required as part of the redesigned office layout. A new communications room therefore had to be created and the live network progressively migrated to it.
How did ACCL keep the office operational during the comms room relocation?
ACCL developed a phased migration strategy using swing spaces and temporary Cat6A and fibre-optic links between the old and new network environments, so employees could move into completed areas while subsequent sections of the office were refurbished and recabled.
What is a swing-space network migration?
Swing space provides a temporary or newly completed working area into which employees can move while their normal workspace is refurbished. Network connectivity is established in the swing space first, allowing the original area to be released for construction or infrastructure works without requiring the entire business to stop operating.
Why were temporary fibre and Cat6A links required?
The temporary links maintained connectivity between the existing communications room and the newly installed network infrastructure, allowing services to remain available while employees and network connections were progressively migrated.
Why was the old data cabling removed?
Existing containment and cable routes had limited available capacity, so redundant legacy cabling needed to be identified and removed before the new Cat6A infrastructure could be installed. Removing obsolete cables also resulted in a cleaner, more maintainable installation.
What was included in giffgaff’s new communications room?
ACCL helped design the room to accommodate three communications cabinets, UPS infrastructure, the fire suppression system, structured cabling, fibre connectivity, cable management and the associated network equipment.
Did ACCL install Wi-Fi and CCTV for giffgaff?
Yes. ACCL installed the cabling and supporting infrastructure required for Wi-Fi coverage across the office floor, plus CCTV infrastructure providing coverage across key areas of the headquarters.
Can ACCL relocate a communications room while an office remains operational?
Yes. Live comms room relocations require detailed planning because existing network services normally need to remain available throughout the works. ACCL can use phased migrations, temporary copper and fibre links, swing spaces and out-of-hours changeovers to progressively transfer infrastructure while minimising disruption.
Relocating a comms room or migrating a live network of your own?
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