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Leslie
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Friday, 1. January 2016, 21:28
Post #1
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Leslie
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Monday, 4. January 2016, 15:07
Post #2
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Flemish... furry... flirty... feline! (YODO) Perfection Purrs!
- Posts:
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- [url=http://z11.invisionfree.com/DanseMacabre/index.php?showtopic=332&hl=]Leslie[/url]
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OOC This is how it started a few months ago. A thought and a plan.
| Business plan - Step by Step |
- Step 1: Hire an Approved Inspector (from now on referred to as AI)
Agency: Approved Inspector
The following is a list that the AI aids in:
- Advise on how the building regulations apply to its work (to a degree)
- Check plans for compliance with building regulations.
- Issue a planning certificate (if requested) This is requested as Honeycomb is a complete build and project!
- Inspect the work as it progresses.
- Issue a final completion certificate (if requested) This is requested as Honeycomb is a complete build and project!
Step 1 takes a day to complete and will cost around 2,964 GBP to complete.
- Step 2: Obtain Planning Permission.
Agency: Planning Department of Local Authority (Local Authority is in this case the Enfield borough)
Here's a summary of what this step consists of:
- The planning application must be accompanied by a plan of the site, drawings of the development and any other information that could be useful for the council and in defending your wishes for the new construction. A fee is charged for the planning application based on the amount of floor space and the construction.
- Two ways for applications:
- Paper way: at least 3 copies are needed of the documents.
- Planning Portal aka the electronic way: if applied electronically no copies are required and there is a standard application form.
- The decision falls between 8 to 13 weeks depending on the size of the planned project. During this period the local authority committee (of the planning department) will gather information from services (such as nature conservation, heritage protection, highways...) who might have comments about the build in that specific area. These comments together with the plans will be taken in consideration. If a decision is not made within the estimated time of 8 to 13 weeks it means the application is denied. (Personally I think this might take up to 13 weeks seeing it is a complete new build and not a small one. This means the normal completion stage of this will be higher than recommended for this step.)
Step 2 takes around 95 days to complete and will cost around 6,676 GBP to complete.
- Step 3: Approved Inspector files the initial notice to the Local Authority.
Agency: Local Authority
Here's a summary of what this step consists of:
- Once the contract is signed and all the terms are outlined the AI helps the builder into making the initial notice for the local authority. This initial notice will inform the Local Council (Enfield in this case) what the AI has obtained and what the intention is of the project and the builders.
- Once the notice is accepted the AI will become responsible for plan checking and site inspections.
- The local council has 5 days to accept or reject the notice in writing (via email, fax or post). Acceptance is given by default of the local authority doesn't respond within the 5 days. No work can be done till this period has passed.
- Once construction work starts the AI will have to conduct at least 8 or 9 inspections at various stages of construction.
Step 3 takes 5 days to complete and is free of charge.
- Step 4:Submit application to local Fire Safety Office and obtain approval.
Agency: Fire Safety Office (From now on referred to as FSO)
Here's a summary of what this step consist of:
- The AI has to submit the drawing and the plans to the local Fire Safety Office. This has to be done by email. It is to ensure that the building is compliant with the latest fire and safety legislation and that fire and life safety systems are in place.
- By law, the FSO must respond within 15 business days (21 calendar days) and sends the comments and approval. This is done as part of plan of approval process and is recorded as an independent procedure since the AI interacts with the Fire Officer.
- Upon completion of the building a Fire Certificate used to be obtained from the FSO. However this is no longer required. Approved is approved and does not need to publicly shown by a certificate.
- The responsible person of the building must carry out a fire safety risk assessment and implement and maintain a fire management plan. There is an online 5-step survey to complete and use when needed during fire or life threatening scenarios.
- More than five people working in the building means it is a medium risk building. (I suspect there will be around 5 people without Leslie. One for the nightshop/off-license shop. Two for the pawn shop. Two for the charity store.)
- The FSO may perform an inspection from time to time even after completion of the build. This is mostly based on whether how old the building is, precedents of fires in similar buildings, complaints by neighbours.... and more. However when the building is new the safety prevention will have been constructed by the latest techniques which will lower the chance on inspections or being denied by the FSO.
Step 4 takes 21 days to complete and is free of charge.
- Step 5: Apply for water and sewage connection
Agency: Thames Water Utilities Ltd.
This is self explanatory and is combined with step 3 when the plans are being drawn and submitted.
Step 5 takes a day to complete and is free of charge.
- Step 6: Receive inspection from the water and sewage provider.
Agency: Thames Water Utilities Ltd.
Here's a summary of what this step consist of:
- After applying (step 5) the engineer instructs a Thames Water's contractor to assess the physical work involved to make the connection. This will take 2 to 3 weeks and includes:
- Site survey
- Size of site gang/workforce
- Equipment and materials needed
- Local highway department (whether there is an impact on the public road network)
- The report of the contractor will be send back to the engineer with a survey and technical proposal.
- Within 5 days the engineer will assess and approve of the plans before sending a receipt and the report back to the builders.
Step 6 takes a day to complete and is free of charge. (The days portrayed in this step is calculated in step 7 where you actually obtain the water and sewage connection.)
- Step 7: Obtain water and sewerage connection.
Agency: Thames Water Utilities Ltd.
Step 7 takes 20 to 26 days to complete and will cost around 5,321 GBP to complete.
- Step 8:Request and receive energy performance certificate (EPC) from Accredited Energy Assessor.
Agency: Accredited Energy Assessor
Here's a summary of what this step consists of:
- All commercial buildings require and Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) whenever built, rented or sold. The certificate records show how energy efficient a building is. Ratings go from A to G.
- The builder/constructor has to submit the EPC and the Recommendations Report upon physical completion of the building and notify the local authority Building Control officers or AI, who will not issue a certificate of completion until the EPC is provided.
- This is important for the energy efficiency and carbon emissions so the costs and the energy safe construction can be implented in the investment when building or buying a building.
- A recommendation report comes with the EPC. This gives cost effective and other measures to improve the rating (if necessary because new buildings are usually closely followed to build energy efficient.) "A" ratings are the best and can be given even when small recommendations should be implanted to make it even better.
Step 8 takes a day to complete and will cost around 78 GBP to complete (only the application). However the fee for the EPC to gather the best rating possible may vary between 55.00 to 100.00 GBP. This step can be combined with step 2 when all the plans are being made so the build can start to make it as energy efficient as possible.
- Step 9: File completion certificate with the Local Building Control Department.
Agency: Local Building Control Department
- Once the building is completed the AI needs to be notified about the completion. The final inspection gets done by the AI within the 24 hours and makes up the certificate of completion. A copy of this completion certificate will be send by the AI to the Building Control Department of Local Authority (LABC). This needs to be done within 5 days after completion of the final inspection. LABC then files the documents and sends an acknowledgement of receipt to the AI.
- This is not legally required but the LABC can perform an inspection in practice before legalising the certificate of completion.
Step 9 takes a day (or 5 depending on when the certificate of completion is handed in) to complete and is free of charge.
More information This only completes the building project for a commercial building. However the shops that are going to be put into the Honeycomb have their own regulations to be allowed to open. Hence why the following post will be the planning to open up each shop in the building. The office (to be explained in further posts) has no special requirement. It will merely get listed as Headquarters of Queen Bee Enterprise and the basement is a private area which officially will be a storage space for QBE.
Edited by Leslie, Monday, 4. January 2016, 15:12.
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Leslie
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Friday, 8. January 2016, 12:46
Post #3
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Flemish... furry... flirty... feline! (YODO) Perfection Purrs!
- Posts:
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- Group:
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- Joined:
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- Character Sheet:
- [url=http://z11.invisionfree.com/DanseMacabre/index.php?showtopic=332&hl=]Leslie[/url]
- ABP
- 85%
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- Charity Shop:
- How to get started:
- Only registered as charity you can open a charity shop. So you have to register with the Charity Commission. (This is a formality and only takes a few documents to fill in and knowledge of the fact you will be running a non profit business. Explained further in the list.)
- Familiarise yourself with the statutory obligations that come with being a retailer, charity, employer and occupier of property.
- Familiarise yourself with the tax side of running a charity shop. Charity shops benefit from being exempted from corporation tax, zero rated VAT on the sale of donated goods, and 80% mandatory non-domestic business rates relief. ( Charities can apply for relief of up to 80% if a property is used for charitable purposes. This is to apply with local council.)
- Approach your local council, to arrange rates relief.
- As a charity you don’t pay tax on most of your income and gains if you use it for charitable purposes - this is known as ‘charitable expenditure’.
This includes tax:
- on donations
- on profits from trading
- on rental or investment income, eg bank interest
- on profits when you sell or ‘dispose of’ an asset, like property or shares
- when you buy property
- As a charity you pay tax on:
- dividends from UK companies
- profits from developing land or property
- purchases - but there are special VAT rules for charities
- You must pay tax on any money you don’t use for charitable purposes. This is known as ‘non-charitable expenditure’.
- You can claim back tax that’s been deducted, eg on:
- donations (this is known as Gift Aid)
- bank interest
- Create a budget for the shop, with likely income (from sales) and expenditure (from rent, wages, repairs, bills, insurance, etc.). Remember that 60-80% of a shop’s income will go to running costs, such as rent and wages. Try to work with volunteers as much as possible to keep costs of wages down.
- Raise your start-up capital. You will need at least £5,000 to pay the rental deposit, as well as for the shop-fit, essential building repairs and staff recruitment.
- Setting up shop:
- The shop will need to have a good sized backroom for storage and stock preparation, as well as a nice public area. In order to comply with Health & Safety legislation and the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA), the shop will need to be safe, well lit, and accessible to those with disabilities.
- Fit the shop. The public area will need shelves, railings and a counter with a till, while the backroom will need storage and sorting facilities. Security equipment is highly recommended.
- Hire a shop manager, with retail experience. They will be responsible for all the shop’s activities, including stock, volunteers and cash handling, as well as report writing on sales etc.
- Find volunteers. You will need a minimum of two people working in the shop at all times, for safety, security, and stock processing. Train your workforce, so as they know about your charity’s aims, retail law, product safety, stock preparation and spotting valuable goods, as well as issues like health & safety and security.
- Running shop:
- Encourage donations, whether through chatting to the public or doing house-to-house collections using donation sacks. There are legal obligations involved in house-to-house collections.
- Sort, clean and price your stock. Unsold textiles (i.e. too old or damaged) may be bought by a textile recycler, who will recycle or export them.
- Make sure the shop is a safe and secure place to be, and to work in. Paperwork – such as risk assessments – must be completed to prove this. Display the correct posters and notices, including: employer’s liability insurance certificate, Health & Safety law poster, employer’s Health & Safety policy statement, fire emergency instructions and the emergency aid notice. The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents website for more information.
- Make sure the shop is welcoming to disabled customers and volunteers, so as to comply with the DDA regulations. This involves practical things, like having a ramp over steps, as well as training staff on how best they can help.
- Make sure the shop complies with consumer law, and sells safe goods of satisfactory quality.
- Apply for a music licence if desired.
- Pawn shop:
- What to know as pawnbroker:
- A pawnbroker is someone who is in the business of lending money by purchasing tangible personal property from a seller, with the understanding that the property will be redeemed or repurchased by the seller in an allotted amount of time. Pawnshops are business establishments in which pawnbrokers conduct this sort of business. Pawnshops must adhere to certain regulations to conduct business.
- Each established pawnbroker or someone who is just about to open a pawnbroking shop needs to join the National Pawnbrokers Association of the UK. To join the NPA you will need to have been issued a Consumer Credit License (Category A).
- All new members are seen either by the Chief Executive or a Council member at their premises to ensure that their business will be operating correctly. The meeting is designed to check that everything is as it should be and all the rules and procedures for being a pawnbroker are explained and questions answered.
- In general, pawnshops are places of business that have a clean, healthy and safe environment. No illegal activity is allowed in these establishments and they are required to have substantial insurance coverage. Sometimes shops are required to have up to £650,000 of liability insurance depending on the size of the shop. The bigger the shop and administration the higher the risks and insurance.
- All pawnshop owners obtain an occupational license with which to operate. Owners must have the license before opening a pawnshop. An occupational license is required to be under the specified owner’s name. Owners cannot have a felony or misdemeanour conviction that is directly related to duties and responsibilities of operating a pawnshop.
- A pawnshop is not allowed to sell or discard articles within seven days of purchase from a seller. Within this period it may only be sold back to the seller. Gold, silver, diamonds, or other gems of value cannot be removed from the shop and be melted or cut within seven days of a sell. If a seller defaults on a sell to the pawnshop, the owners can only put the item up for sale to the public after 60 days of default.
- Every pawnshop must keep specific and consistent records.
Record keeping includes reporting time, date and place of purchase for each item. If conducting business with a dealer, the pawnshop is required to have the name of the dealer or person acting on behalf of dealer. The shop records the name, age and address of each seller. Pawnshops must confirm identification of each seller’s driver’s license, state identification or other proper form of identification. A detailed description needs to be kept of items being sold, including identifying numbers or marks upon the goods and/or even make a logbook with pictures.
- A detailed receipt must be given to sellers and have an additional copy for the register. Receipts are issued at no charge to the seller.
- Business cannot be conducted with individuals under the age of 17 without a written and signed consent from parent or guardian. Consents must be kept on file at all times.
- Signs for the pawnshop building must be purchased from the planning and zoning administrator. These signs are affixed to the actual facility where business is conducted.
- Shops can not be within a certain range of a church property line, school, public park, another pawnshop or commercial areas. The distance is determined by the local council.
- What to know as customer:
- An item (known as a pawn) is handed to the pawnbroker who will value it for you.
- A ‘Pre-contract Information Document’ needs to be given. It contains detailed information of the terms of the credit agreement before the transaction takes place so you are aware of the terms.
- A credit agreement needs to be signed with the pawnbroker and be given a period of time in which to pay back the loan. The maximum is seven months, but it can be less, such as 30-90 days, for example.
- You will be given a pawn receipt which you’ll need to keep to prove you own the item.
- When you’ve repaid the money owed you get the item back. But if you don’t repay the loan after the agreed period the pawnbroker can sell it to recover the cash.
- It is possible to extend the loan, once you have paid back the accrued interest.
- There is a 14-day cooling off period, within which you have a right to withdraw from the agreement.
- If you can not pay what you owe by the deadline, and you borrowed 75 GBP or less, the pawnbroker will keep your pawn.
- If you borrowed more than 75 GBP, the pawnbroker can sell the pawn to recover the debt you owe. The pawn is yours until it is sold and you can still redeem it by paying what you owe including the interest that has built up.
- When the loan period is about to finish a notice needs to be send to the customer to inform them. Either to buy back or extend the period of loan. Without reaction the pawn is put up for sale.
- As customer no credit checks are required unlike a loan with the bank.
- Interest rates:
- Short-term loans over £1000: charges are in the region of 4%- 5% interest per month.
- Short-term loans of less than £1000 charges are in the region of 6% interest per month.
- Long-term loans might have higher rates depending on how much will be loaned, for how long and what pawn is given in return.
- Night shop/Off-license store:
- An alcohol licence must be acquired to start an Off-license shop. The council (the Licencing Authority) will take a few things in consideration before even granting a licence:
- The prevention of crime and disorder
- Public safety
- The prevention of public nuisance
- The protection of children from harm.
Once the council has assembled that these pointers won't get endangered a licence will be granted. (Seeing as I have opted to start this across a police station there won't be many issues with acquiring a license. The police station wasn't chosen randomly. It's a cheap security as well. Like a silent guard. And I do believe in the phrase "hide in plain sight".)
- In total 2 licences need to be applied for:
- Any business or other organisation that sells or supplies alcohol on a permanent basis needs to apply for a Premise License:
- You'll need to complete an application form and send it to your local council, along with the fee. You may also need to send copies of your form to the police and other ‘responsible authorities’.
- police
- local fire and rescue
- primary care trust (PCT) or local health board (LHB)
- the relevant licensing authority
- local enforcement agency for the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974
- environmental health authority
- planning authority
- body responsible for the protection of children from harm
- local trading standards
- any other licensing authority in whose area part of the premises is situated
- A public hearing must be held if any representations are made in respect of the application. If a hearing is held, the licence can be granted. There can be subjects that need additional conditions, licensable activities listed in the application can be excluded or the application can be rejected.
- An application takes 28 days. If no comments are made and no request for a hearing is done within those 28 days you'll get your license within the 10 days.
- In case a hearing to defend the request for the licence is requested the hearing will be within 20 days of the last day. (The 28th day of the previous point)
- You are not required to have a personal licence to be employed in an off-licence store that sells alcohol. Premise licensed to sell alcohol must have a designated premises supervisor, who holds a personal licence. Anyone who plans to sell or supply alcohol or authorise the sale or supply of alcohol must apply for a Personal Licence:
- Applications must be in a specific format and be submitted to the licensing authority where the applicant ordinarily lives, together with the disclosure of convictions declaration and be accompanied by:
- the required fee
- the original certificate of an approved licensing qualification
- two photographs of the applicant, one of which must be endorsed by a solicitor, notary, person of standing in the community or any professionally qualified person, with a statement verifying that the photograph is a true likeness of the applicant
- a basic criminal conviction certificate which must be under one month old upon the date that the application is received by the licensing authority
If an application is submitted without a fee or one of the required documents, it will be considered incomplete and returned to the applicant.
- There's a 14 day consultation period in which a hearing can be asked for. Withing this period the council will see if there are no relevant offenses to be considered. The police can give any concerns and criminal information about this person within these 14 days. If no offenses are to be found you'll receive your licence within 10 days after the 14 day period.
- If a hearing is requested and/or offenses are found, the applicant must go to the hearing to defend his/her wishes to acquire the personal licence. The hearing will be within 20 days of the last days. (The 14th day of the previous point)
Administration for the shops. As you notice this is all pretty complicated to do on your own. So for the shops an accountant agency will be hired to keep an eye on tax laws, income and expenses. There are accountants who specify in these types of shops.
Both the charity shop and the pawn shop have been listed for a certificate to be open 24/7.
Except for the night shop/off-license. These are meant and only allowed to be open when regular shops/supermarkets are closed so they have nightly hours and regulations from the start.
Licenses and safety measurements. Everything about the shops was already in the plans when going to the council for the building project. Hence why all the licenses were applied for as well. Some steps have been going simultaneously such as the licenses and the safety regulations as these are usually all done by the same authority/council. And the plans needed to be adapted during the build for each shop and checked by these departments. It would have been foolish to complete the build and then having to tear down parts again for these specific shops. Not to mention it would have taken long to complete and it's already a huge project.
For every shop and licence that needed to be applied for a clean Basic Disclosure Record needed to be handed in.
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