benedmonds

Wasn't the consensus that this 75% was not a valid figure..? As Aardvark has said it's to do with your relationship with the workers..

From their web site: Employers be aware.. It's not jut the HMRC who will shaft you..

Good post and I agree with what your saying but most freelance/subbie groundies and climbers are not going to pass those tests.. A Climber might get away with it. If they have own kit. But a free lance goundie...? Not sure I would be happy if I had booked fred and he sent his mate, I can't see that happening The OP has been offered to contract "for a while.." Presumably he will be expected to turn up. Don't get me wrong as an employee if your happy with the situation your paying your tax etc, then you nothing to worry about. It's the employer who will get shafted..

Not so. You can be employed to one company and self employed as well. If the HMRC believe you are employed then having a few invoices ain't going to matter. Use their handy tool and it will tell you if it believes you are an employee or not. There are plenty of folk out there with jobs being paid PAYE and self employed at weekends. It is unlikely to make a difference to the employee, the employer should be aware however. Because as I understand it, the employer is the one who will get chased to pay any unpaid taxes etc.. Also an employee could presumably make a fuss and claim employee rights that the employer hasn't been giving the employee, due to the fact they incorrectly thought they were a sub contractor.. and therefore not entitled to them.

What are you going to do for the other 21 hrs in the day.. Man up and drive home...

It's b*%*cks.. whatever it is. Go to the HMRC site... and stop repeating numbers that some bloke down the pub/on an internet forum told you...

It's only 300 miles.. Land Rovers have been a favoured vehicle for expeditions for about 40 years.. You just plod along, if your off the beaten track it's not even much slower then a more modern vehicle. Although breakdown cover might be a wise investment. Check it is valid however as sometimes you have to have had cover for a certain length of time before it works. So you can't use it to pick up a non runner..

There is no set rule, this 75% of your time is nonsense. As a freelancer I wouldn't worry about it. Your employer has to be concerned as they are the ones who are in the "wrong," (even though you both might like the arrangement) and going to be stung by HMRC if they get checked. Put your details in this as see what it says. https://www.gov.uk/employment-status-indicator We have offered fixed term contracts to our guys who previously would have been kept on as freelancers. Means I pay them less as a daily rate but pay NI and Holiday pay etc..

I feel guilty sometimes when a mortgage company demand one when there is no valid reason. However like you say they are always needed asap, there is travel time, soil searches etc. Still need to pay professional imdemnity insurance and advertising costs etc.. 290 quid does sound alot.. for a simple site.. but if comments from other threads are true i am devaluing the industry:001_smile:

i don't print my reports often, cuts into the profit too much... just email them!

Not the original poster this thread has wondered way off.. simonm made the £4500 for 5 days work quote and is based in leeds from the look of his profile..

Thats what I say about the guys who under price me. The market round here won't pay £300 per man. No way you will win work with a 3 man team at £900.. Maybe a 2 man at £600, I would price 2 men including VAT around the £500-£550 mark but additional men are not worth (or cost) the same and can only charge £100 a head. There are benefits and disadvantages of being a slightly larger organisation, there are some savings with scale, running two teams doesn't cost twice as much as running one. My advertising, yard, insurance costs for example haven't doubled. Therefore per head my overheads are lower so I can charge less. I am not however cheap... Comes back to best value.. On a site clearance job two decent guys and some hard working but low skilled (cheap) labour are a better use of resources. You are not paying the highly trained (expensive) staff to do stuff that less qualified guys can do just as well. That's what I reckon anyway. There are different ways of doing it and I agree that for most domestic jobs the most efficient team is going to be an owner operator with one or two staff. The OP was in Leeds so similar area, different world to the SE..

I disagree.. A three man team with truck and chipper at £900 a day would be good going. I'd send 5 guys (or even 6) including 2 climbers, 2 tipper trucks, a 3.5 ton tipper trailer and a 10 inch chipper for £900 a day. All things being equal and assuming you have a 6 inch of 7 inch chipper, we would probably get the job done in 2 days therefore would have quoted £1800 + VAT so yes you are way out...

Maybe they think they could do it in three days. Maybe they have a mog with crane fed grab and will do it in 2. Site clearance using a little 6 inch chipper and 3.5 ton trucks can't compete with bigger kit. That's why folk buy bigger kit..

I am all for best value, but that isn't always the cheapest and definitely NOT the average..... If I can do a job cheaper because I have better kit am more skilled etc why should the council be wasting money on someone not as efficient.. We recently felled 13 big poplars for a council, we had a digger, tractors and trailers and did the job in about 5 days, did it safely and efficiently. Another contractor couldn't believe we managed it such a time and would therefore quoted loads more. At the other times we've not won works as we were more expensive and the contractors doing them did them to a a low standard. In this instance the best value for the council would have been to spend more. Unfortunately there is no easy solution..

Hes got 6 artic loads a year! Thats going to be about 100 to 150 tons a year... quite a lot of bags. Try stobart biomas. They will pay between 3 and 10 quid a ton for wet woodchip.

[quote=Andrew Evans;1256278... the wood is at the foot of cadair idris and in snowdonia national park! Cheers All! Best not sleep there then.... One of the nicest mountains in the UK. I love Cadair.. Spent a year leading field studies trips up it..

I did a 12 week at Plumpton, back in 2000. Merrist wood used to do the same and there was always a waiting list. I have no idea if they still do them but to me they were great. Most people doing it like me had done a bit of tree work and wanted to progress. You got your basic tickets which enabled you to climb and even back pack sprayer. Tree law was covered, tree ID, pruning, even street works and we were shown stump grinders and chippers.. It was full time 5 days a week, fairly intensive as I recall. As an employer I would be happy with this as some one coming from one of these would have their tickets. They are legal onsite and I can concentrate on training them to do the job. It's alot less risky for me as spending on training is expensive to an employer as you pay the employee and the training costs.. As an employee you haven't had to waste a whole year or even two being a student. I don't know if it's the same everywhere but I know the students at Derby only go in for two or three days a week and have long holidays. I have two climbers working for me who are now after two years finally becoming economic and I have been pushing them up trees at every opportunity. I have had to pay for their training and the time for them to learn the job. Some one who has spent two years at college climbing infrequently in a non commercial environment is still unlikely to be any good. I think one of the issues is funding as I believe it is biased to the younger 16-18 students, when arb is best suited for grown ups.. IMO

http://www.tpts.co.uk/tree-care.htm I think Tommy Plummer has one, he might travel to Nottingham.

We have a set fees for call outs that you can tell the client before you go to the job. First you shouldn't have been climbing on your own especially in that situation.. I don't think a client is going to be happy with £500 for 40 mins work for one man. Includes travelling: and chipper. 2 man team - normal hours £150 for first hour then £95 per hour Antisocial hours (after 5pm and sundays) £250 for first hour then £150 per hour. I would then give a price to clear up if there is any..

Your to young to be hanging up the harness.. Leave the survey's for us old fella's:001_smile:

Where were the groundies?

Perhaps being an AAAC ...

Our lads seem to be braking everything at the moment. No one seems to know it happens either... Sat nav, truck door, tail lights, panel on the chipper, rakes, winch cable, shovel, etc etc... All stupid little things but frustrating...

Hire in someone with the right kit to do it. If it is all stacked and ride side, shouldn't take them long.