Rick2517

Sorry Paul, I didn't Put my point across very well. Its not that I had to pay the accommodation as the achievements gained and standard of training was top notch and Richard has a great set up and I highly respect him for achieving it. My point was that if there was a training centre in my part of the world then I would have chosen to go there, that way I would save on the accommodation, been able to bag some down time with the mrs, and probably get less stick for sounding like a farmer:biggrin:

Ex para?

Maybe, but I did some training with him and had to pay a fortune for accommodation, there's nothing in the south west and the market is plenty big enough for all of us!! Who knowes what will happen but if you see any posts from ex army guys looking for work then please direct them my way and I will do what I've always done and go with the flow. Cheers guys Rich

Trainng and recrutement Sounds like the sensible solution and would definately satisfy my want to help out service leavers but I wouldn't know where to start!! It's obviously where the money is but I can't get my head around how to start without making huge investments!

Great advise Andy, thanks for that

I'm not suggesting that everyone who has been in the military is now in some moral way better then those that have not, but what I have found is that the army attracts a certen sort of person and that's somebody who is willing to go to the worst hell hole on earth and put his life on the line and get paid peanuts for doing it! In my opinion and from my experience these people are not usually driven by money but by pride! Non of the blokes I employ today have spent time in the army and I wouldn't think any less of them then people that have, they have and still do prove to me every day that they are fully committed at doing what it takes to get the job done and keep the company going strong. I may be pissing in to the wind but as being an ex squodie it wouldn't be the first time I've had a face full of piss and to be honest if I didn't give it a go then I would always regret it......

Hi Paul, I did my first bits of training with Richard Olly (this is the guy you mean right?) he has done very well for himself and is a great example of the sort of thing I am aiming to achieve, I do not wish to become anybodies worst enemy/competitor so discussions with people like him would I'm sure be very beneficial to both of us!!! Good thinking Paul

Thanks for the great comments guys and hi Paul I remember you to, please send me your number as I may have some bits and bobs for you! As I said This is in the very early stages and by no means have I gave it seriouse thought and this is the first step I have made to share my ideal so feedback both negative and positive is very welcome indeed. What I would say is this, most people can and will be tempted by the prospect to earn more money sooner or later and how I get around this and make it secure will come in time, however if you have served in the military and carried out operational tours you will understand that there is allot more to life then money and there are Serton things that are done out of pride and honor. Anybody who I choose to work with will understand these morels and there only tie to me will come down to there own morel understanding of what I am trying to achieve. If I was to set up a team of blokes in an area that I do not know and finance/support it to then find the guy has seen his opportunity to go it alone and leave me in the dog house then the only person I will be disappointed with is myself for picking the wrong man for the job!! Keep the advice coming guys and to Danny, The site is working progress and although orange has sort of became our brand colour I do understand where you're coming from and mite well have a play with it when I next meet with my web site tech. Thanks again Rich

Hi Guys, I have a small arb firm in Bristol, I started the company 5 years ago after ending my time in the Royal Engineers. I have found that by applying the skills, discipline, and motivation that has been imbedded into me by the army I have managed to build and expand my company at a rapid rate and plan to continue to do so for as long as it takes to achieve my goals, Which in short is this: I wish to have a multi branch UK wide set up of small-mediom sized arb teams dotted all over, mainly maned by guys and girls who have served there time in the forces, providing extremely high standards of work to clients and giving future careers to people who deserve it more then any other "in my opinion". I am by no means at this stage but I am confident that I will eventually get there if I can find the right people to help me on my way. what I am after is to talk to some people who share the same goals as me and understand why!!. Please do not mistake this for a formal job offer as I am not in a possession to take on staff right at this moment in time but I am very keen to talk to folks that may have something to offer and maybe get the ball in motion in the very near future!! If this interests you then have a look at my website see what we are all about, and get in contact. Tree Arborist and Tree Surgeon Bristol: Commercial and Residential Tree Surgery, Stump Removal,Tree Removal,Hedge Trimming in Bristol, Bath and surrounding areas Thanks guys :thumbup: Rich

Thanks Dave, the reality is as you say it will be lifted and sell for silly money. Wouldn't it be great tho if we found a great loophole to bag some bargain properties just for doing the job we love? I spoke to the farmer/owners son today, he was very pleasant and very up-front with his intentions. He is unwilling to accept that this condition will stick and even if it does he wants the market value (with no condition) or he just won't sell! I left him with my card and said good luck to him!!!! who knows!!

My plan is not to avoid doing things by the book and if I was to use the yard for firewood production and sales the I will first get the b2 and b8 conditions cleared with the councill. Then I can enjoy throwing the little profit I make back into the hands of the government and make it even less worthwhile working hard to expand my business and give otherwise unemployed benefit claimers a job!! Although it actually makes sense to take the chance and see if you get caught!! I've been to the estate agent today who blatantly admitted to me that the seller has overpriced the property to avoid attracting offers and hopefully lifting the restriction! I'm just gonna sit back and see what happens, if he doesn't get the restriction lifted then I may find myself in an interesting situation to make an offer!!

I sort of share the gut feeling you have. I have seen the property and know that for now with the size of the business it will be big enough however to cover the cost of the property and business rates that it sounds like I will be shafted with I will need to dramatically expand the business and the services/products that we supply and this will take up more space and eventually out grow the land attached. There is scope to rent/buy land from the neighbouring farm but that is not a definite and it will be silly to presume this as an option. I suppose what I'm really doing is weighing up my options and to hear from people like yourself that have been there and done it is priceless information so thanks for sharing. Are the business rates that you pay practical for the amount of profit made from selling the logs, and how did you find the process off getting the b2 and b8 licence?

I'm pretty confidant that this is the sellers thoughts as the property is without doubt overpriced (compared to other bigger and more modern properties on the market) so if I was to make an offer of what I think was a sensible amount then this would surely make the owners fight to lift the restriction allot harder as the councill will know that interest has been shown and a sensible offer made but refused!! However I think if this was to happen then I will have a very un happy farmer on my hands and probably the locals who will do everything he can to make sure I don't get to purchase and use the land for what I intend! I know that in the big picture the odds are against my intentions but I'm not one for giving up without first exploring all of my options. It just makes no sense that if the councill is to go to the hastle of enforcing thees restrictions and then make it so hard for us to take up the opportunity to abide by it and use the place and the land for an expanding business?

I know what your mean about the noise, we will have to tread very carefully with the locals, the bonus is that all local residents are burning wood so could be paid off with a few bags of logs!!! attached is a pic of the property, proposed yard space(access track will need to be put in on east side of house) that working farm next door, and the farmer log pile (mostly stocked by us) he is out at least once a week processing so can't see there will be much of a problem with him!

its definitely the way if you have the big work to keep it busy and cover the running costs. 7.5 tonne is next on my list I'm just a bit counted by all the extra rules/regs. How do you find the implications of using a bigger truck ref tacho, o licence checks and so on???

all good advice. I think I'm definitely in the stronger position to make pushy demands to the seller/estate agent as I would imagine they will be struggling to find a buyer that can fit the bill! I think I will contact the agent and be up front with them, tell them what my intentions for use are and let them to the donkey work, if they can come up with the relevant information to prove that I can use the site for commercial use then we will then talk further!!

Funny thing is I spoke to the farmer before I found the yard we now rent about renting a spot from him, he had no objections but just didn't have the room, also the house is on the market for £500,000!!! I am by no means made of money and any chance I have of getting together this sort of cash would mean pulling in big favours from lots of people, and if I do pull it off it will only work if it means that I can make a return from the house by operating and expanding the business to share the cost of the huge mortgage!! does anybody know the conditions that would need to apply for me to insure that I will be ok to run the arb business from there (inc producing/selling firewood, Christmas trees and any other money making schemes I can scrape up)???

"Greenmech"

haha well spotted, we had a nightmare getting the code from timberwolf and had to tell them that we where re-spreying the chipper as for some reason they didn't want to hand it over!! I was talking to the greenback guys at the show this year, he asked me why I used timberwolf and my reply was "cus there orange":biggrin:

This is the transit, great truck if you don't mind replacing the clutch every 12 months!!! can't knock it though as we have put it through hell and she keeps going on...

next attempt:

Not sure if this attachment will work!! It's our new defender which we have been using for a few months now, it has been a fantastic bit of kit and has allowed us to win allot of work as we can get it and the chipper in places the transit would cry over!! The graphics are going on tomorrow so should also become great advertisement as well as already it's a head turner. I love it

This is the thing that worries me the most, I know the area well as we have done work in most of the properties in the area, it is next to a working farm and looks to me that at some stage was part of the farm and has been separated and left with a really long but narrow rear garden, all surrounding fields are farmed and we have even been supplying the farm owner with woodchip and firewood for the last few years at no charge!! So my strong feelings are that there will be no issues with running the business from the property but I will need more then a good feeling. if I was to make such a big investment and then be told that we can't run the business from there it would defeat the hole point of buying the place and probably bankrupt me and send the business under!!! "A very scary thought indeed"

Dont Know how i missed this bit of info in the property description: "The original planning consent restricts the occupancy of the dwelling to persons employed, or recently employed (retired) in Agriculture, Horticulture or Arboriculture. Any persons interested in the property should make themselves fully aware of the implications prior to the viewing of Hillview." Interesting phone calls to be made next week I think!!

you beat me to my next question :big grin: I am contacting my mortgage adviser next week to start to look into it however he manly deals with your bog standard sales so was thinking of contacting the NFU for help!! who did you use? I take it that it didntnt end up well for you then?