Kev Stephenson

MEWP time

Just had the same pop up/ web site again. First time in about 10 days

I ask that the contractor supplies an invoice with UTR which shows they are registered with HMRC. You can phone HMRC and make sure this tallies to the company/person you are using and that they submit self assessments or accounts as required. I state on their initial employment documentation (health history, emergency contact info, qualification checklist, etc) that all payments made to them will be gross and the contractor is required by law to declare all income from me and pay any taxes due. This is signed by the contractor before they start. I also only pay contractors by BACS and state in the reference box 'subcontracting, invoice number xyz'. Pretty hard to hide this from HMRC or say it was my wages, I thought the employer paid the tax. My accountant and tax adviser both state I am doing more than enough to satisfy the 'all reasonable measures' clause the HMRC state should an issue arise with a subbies tax. If you were to list someone as employed would you state this is there primary job (therefore entitling them to use there tax free element with you) or an additional job where tax code could be zero? If employed are you supplying all PPE and do they take it home to potentally use with other companies? What about there vehicle, do you insure it for their business use or insist they meet at your yard? What if while they are subbing elsewhere they break a leg. Are you going to pay 6 plus weeks sick pay or even be liable for a claim for injury whilst employed (unlikely)???

I have the same issue when I tend to use a lad during his college holidays to clear any back log I may have or cover holidays. He may go 6 weeks with no work from me due to college then work solid for 2 weeks. He currently registers as self employed and earns not enough to pay tax so gets to keep the lot, that covers me as I get an invoice from him. Looked at putting him on contract but there appears no gain and a hit for me having to pay tax and NI.

If you spent (or financed / leased) £18k on a chipper and lost half the value in 3 years thats £9k or £3k a year, or £250 a month, or just over a tenner per working day. If you can't afford a tenner a day for a key work tool then look at your pricing and see if you are one of the people devaluing the industry. That comment is not directed toward Fredward or anyone specifically. I just get peed off with the shear number of people who see the top line job price and feel they could go self employed and do it for £100 less out the back of an astra with a barely towable chipper and have more cash than there employed mate. This vicious circle then means said self employed person is working hand to mouth and makes no allowance for replacing kit thus fueling the domestic race to the bottom. Rant over - sorry.

I agree with the above and have just had a second warranty call out to my Forst machine this time for a sheared bolt (first was an air leak on the diesel filter at less than 20 hour old). I made the call to Redwood around 3pm on Tuesday and the engineer was with me with new parts before 11am the following day. I would honestly much rather have a machine with a couple of issues and a perfect backup than see one fault in 3 years of operation and have a nightmare either getting spare parts or a refusal to honour a warranty meaning many days off the road. I've run timberwolf, greenmech and now Forst over the last 8 years. Had problems with the support for the TW which meant days off the job for issues. The GM had a loom fire at 5 months old however within 18 hour I had been given a loan machine (delivered to my door) and mine went back to the factory for a full rewire at no cost to me. Other minor issues within my 3 years of ownership were met with a perfect response and quick supply of parts or advice. I buy new machines, run them for 3 years until the warranty is out then sell them. A warranty is like insurance, you get good or cheap but rarely both and without it you could be screwed. With the chipper on Wednesday we lost no work due to the next day turn around. Lose 2 or 3 days due to no chipper and you can be £1-1.5k down, suddenly that cheap used chipper becomes expensive.

I've read quite a bit so here's my input. Cabstar or similar for the payload. If you are freelancing then why do you need a tipper?? I wouldn't pay a subbie more just because they have the ability to cart chip. If you are freelancing don't bother with a chipper. You are allegedly going to work with a pro tree outfit. If they haven't got a chipper ask yourself why. Advertise yourself honestly, you don't want to profess to be the worlds best climber and not be able to do the job you have been brought in for. Confirm the company you are subbing for carry suitable insurance covering you and the work you will be dong. Keep yourself tidy, your kit tidy and everything fully serviced and legal.

nothing for 24 hours

Stefan, if you are going to the AA show in May let me know and I will meet you and let you have any used teeth I have in exchange for a beer.

Are the used teeth really worth sharpening (or worth any money to anyone). I have 12 or so once used teeth and bought a box of 50 from predator when I bought my 460 so have plenty of spares. I change the leaders for the secondaries each time I change, the tertiaries I leave until blunt.

Sales man peeing contest??

:thumbup:

The x155 has a beer holder too!!

As self employed you generally draw more per worked day than employed. Put this extra in a bank or jar and when there is a bit in here take a paid holiday. That is basically what the employed do only it is planned properly by the employer. As self employed there is much less going to the gov in NI contributions than there is for an employee as the employer pays in a decent chunk for employees.

If you only have half an acre look at the x155. Can mulch or collect, 42" deck. Done 60 hours on mine since July with no issues.

It's all about equality. Let her go get her own!!

If you are on anywhere near £200 a day employed then stay where you are!! £350 a day would be approx £100 for the Groundie (including your employer expenses) £100 a day to run the show (fuel, insurance, spares, van expenses, etc) including a bit to one side for replacing kit. £50 a day to save for your chipper leaving you £100 a day

financially no and I would have the issue of the potential for damage to a vehicle I don't own. Also means other lads can use it though the day if needed.

There is nothing complicated about it, how many people do you know who have company cars!! What use is a Ford Fiesta when I need a stump grinder on site that won't go on the trailer with the chipper??

Sorry I seem to have missed the bit where I asked should I buy a van!! I have a number of vans for the different teams, one of the lads is going to be taking one (VW t5) home as a perk and i am permitting personal use. I can easily write my own policy but didn't want to miss anything so if there was one in existence I could modify then why reinvent the wheel and risk missing something vital. It costs the company next to nothing, he pays 14p per mile private use (over commuting) to cover the fuel used and gets the benefit of a full insured, taxed and serviced vehicle for around £50 a month in tax. According to HMRC a company van is worth the equivalent of ~£4k per year. He's happy, I'm happy, I just need a policy to cover the company.

Doe anyone have a copy of a policy they either issue or has been issued to them when they have been provided with a company van which they can also use for personal journeys? I have bought a van for one of my team leaders which will occasionally be used for work but most miles will be for commuting and his personal use. I know (and he knows) there will be a tax hit for him. I am looking to write a policy to include such as responsibility for maintenance, servicing, cleaning, parking tickets, speeding fines, use limits, etc, etc and wondered if there was one I could modify. Thanks in advance Kevin

My D-max auto has done 27mpg average over 24k miles on the original bridgestone dueler road tyres. I've just fitted cooper discovery AT3's in the same size and dropped to 26ish MPG. I don't drive very sympathetically and a lot of journeys are short hence the slightly poor mpg. 32mpg is what dreams are made of!!

The link I posted last year has changed to maps.kirklees.gov.uk/treepreservationorders/

A 1m3 crate holds 1m3, basic physics says you can't put more VOLUME in a fixed space. You can however take 1 cubic meter of wood and stack it in such a way that it occupies more space due to air between the logs. It is still however 1 cubic meter of wood. If you were to advertise you have 1.75 cubic meters of logs in a cubic meter box you are 1. lying and 2 in breach of trading standards. The best way is to sell for example a 1 cubic meter crate loose filled with logs or a builders bag loose filled with logs. Never state the volume of logs you are selling. As an example if you went to the pub and ordered 2 pints of beer and the bar man got 2 pint glasses and half filled each with beer and topped them up with water would you have 2 pints of beer?

Sold here as 'bulk bag'. No mention of weight