Highland Forestry

How does this work Stevie??? do you mean clain the VAT in one quarter to offset your bill and then pay the invoice the next quarter?

Big companies can be a real pain in the arse... you know it's bad when you know the contract managers mobile number off b heart because you've been trying to get hold of him for weeks to get paid. I did a job in march for a management company that we don't usually work for.... this was the second contract we had done for them and the first one was only a day job. This was a 7k job and took us a few weeks to complete, then when I was finished and sent in the invoices and all the paperwork I was told that they'd get paid when their clients paid their invoice..... nothing mentioned about this in the contract so I explained that it was in their interests to pay promptly if they wanted any future work done. One of our regular clients pays immediatley on reciept of invoice, but I have to pay a 0.5% charge for this on all invoices.....

I looked into factoring my invoices last year and discovered that yes you can get paid straight away less the percentage charged by the bank or the factoring company, but if your customer fails to pay on time then the factoring company take the money back off you!

Rob - that is a difficult question mate... Theres alot of unknowns with ''a days work'' and every job is different. Speaking from a forestry cutting POV - depending on the job, I'm £90 a day per chainsaw operative based on two operatives minimum, For climbing - £100 a day for remedial/small jobs. For all other jobs arb wise, it depends on what needs doing and who's doing it, but £120 a day for me to climb. For other forestry ops such as spraying, fence maintenance, surveying and data collections etc, we're £80 a day per person.. However, when we get the chance to do piece rate work, we can earn approximatley £100 a day, which is nice all round.

I can relate to that.... at the end of May I was owed a record 26k in outstanding invoices.. Cashflow is a nightmare.... even though I know I owe the VAT man because i've taken it in, whilst waiting for other invoices to be paid you have to use that money to keep the business afloat... I could put the VAT away as I was paid it, but it would remove vital funds which the business needs to keep the boys paid every week.

Ok, following on from reading about this in another thread... Who thinks they pay too much tax, or indeed not enough tax?? I know that if you're not paying any tax then you're not earning any money.... My tax is taken care of as I have a nasty habit of spending all my money on new kit, vehicles, and some machinery soon I hope.... What kills me is the VAT and cashflow... Just got my bill in today for my Feb-April vat return - £7200!!!!!!!!!! To say I spat my coffee out reading the summary from the accountants is an understatement!

sweet bracing! .... very posh!

Worth nothing if your no good.... but priceless if you're amazing. (£70 a day labouring, £100 climbing)

I bet it had long legs too..

lubetube or youporn?

just downloaded it, seems good! cheers mate.

Actually..... I dont.... Its one I really want to do, and was talking to Ron Clowse (do you know him??) the other day about it...... basically i'm going in for it and have all the assessor guidance, info and boomf on it but I now need to find a hardwood tree big enough to fell and do a crown break down.. So.....if you find any big big trees needing felled - let me know! Actually I have t find two as the assessment would be for a minimum of two people.

sugoi 420mm for me!!

I'll be making sure i'm at the APF next year then..

Erm - I was unable to attend, but from all the reports and pictures i've seen..... I thought it looked like quite a small show... How does it measure up to the APF?!...

Aye that's glazza alright..... party on dude's!!!!!!!

Already on the case there with the CS40/41 - going to go straight for the assessment.

Monster Munch, Shepard Penguin!!

I have to say.... I agree with that entirley. BUT....... the course if not flexible enough to cater for a de-veg squad that know more about the chipper and how to operate it than the guy teaching or assessing the course.

ahem...... John, I'd like to call on a previous post on your chipper assessment photos thread... ''We had 6 people through today and we were finished nice and early. I dont know how they could make it last two days. Its not rocket science'' I rest my case, your honour.

Mixed Hardwood available for Firewood. Species include Beech, Birch etc. Located in Morayshire, available in quantities minimum one lorry load. Please email [email protected] for a delivered price. Larch, Sitka Spruce and Scots Pine Logs also availbale, again minimum order one load. Many sizes available, please email for more info and quotation.

Ouch! Are you an NPTC assessor John?? if so, what are you ticketed up for?

That sounds a bit better..... is that £125 for the day for four people or £500 for the day for the lot? Either way, we were told we had to get NPTC chipper tickets so that we can use them on te rail infrastructure.

I think if you've got it you've got it sort of thing.... if you take to it naturally then you can amass alot of experience and knowledge in a reasonably short time period, like a year or two years but the basic ticket for me was just the stepping stone alowing me to get more experience and go to town on my felling cuts etc..... the courses that really opened my eyes were the CS32 medium trees and the windblow course... because I understood what I was being taught and had experienced it all previousley. Having said all of that, I have CS 30, 31, 32, 34, 35, 38, 39, PA1, PA6, ATV, First Aid, Chipper, PTS, LKT and will shortly have rabbit gassing, CS 40, CS 41 and NPTC Thorough Examination - none of it makes me any good, it's the experience that makes or brakes you. But I find I still never stop learning or challenging myself, and at the end of the day you can never have too much experience.. thats what I love so much about the work we do.... no two trees are the same and every day is slightly different.

I found that too.... spent about £200 on google adwords and never really worked out if it was any good or not... Quite hard to target management companies, land agents and commercial companies in the same way you target normal customers, for example, advert in the local paper would be a waste of time for me..