Paul Jenks

Take a look at volume 6 of the NJUG document. We, as an industry, are now lumped in with utilities and as such have to abide by the rules. the TMA and NRSWA give strict guidelines on what must be done when working adjacent to or on the highway. Someone on site must also hold relevant qualifications for traffic management. Any obstruction to the highway, this includes parked vehicles involved in works, is considered a hazard and has to be managed in accordance with current streetworks legislation. Some companies/businesses get away without doing any of this stuff all the time. Consider your workforce. If the correct control measures are not in place and managed in accordance with legislation, and someone is injured, you are in the dock. One of your guys sustaining an injury is bad enough to live with. Knowing it could have been prevented and having HSE take you to court for that privilege is a bonus I'm not sure I'd want.

I'm with Stephen as far as not over-charging for call outs. However, I do also feel £100 to be a tad cheap. It sounds like 50 minutes each way driving. Bit of thinking time. Bit of action time. All told about 3 hours. Take into account that this is at the end of a days work and in tricky conditions. Take into account the impact from tiredness on the next days work and the minimum would be half a day at whatever over-time rate you currently use. Another way of looking at it is how much you're truly comfortable with? How much do you value your time/life? £300 or so sounds reasonable.

Assuming you're using the truck for arb work, you should be able to get your regular inspections down to 12 week checks. You have to have a written agreement with a recognised provider. This actually makes sense to do as it's almost as good as a regular service, especially if you have a good working relationship with the garage. A truck only has to break down once and it can cost more than the price of regular check-ups. As we understand it, CPC only applies to professional drivers. We're not professional drivers. Driving is part of what we do to get to site. Eventually I dare say VOSA will close that particular loophole to maximise their revenue. Any extra costs associated with running a larger vehicle are cancelled out with the advantages of capacity. I.E. not having to leave site so often to tip and less likely hood of being caught overloaded. Go for one of the Isuzu/Mitsubishi/Nissan derivations as the chassis is much lighter and your payload will be commensurately bigger. Our 6.2t Isuzu can carry 700kg more than our Iveco 7.0t

It's good to start a business without too much money. A person tends to learn valuable lessons early on and for less outlay. Have an idea of how you want the business to shape up in the future. That is, the shape of the business without getting hung up on how much you'd like to be earning. Develop a business that runs efficiently and the money will come in. Focussing on the money as an outcome doesn't normally lead to a successful and harmonious operation. If you have a purpose for the business and how you want it to be and be seen in the years to come, it really doesn't matter for the first year or so if you turn up to sites in a crappy van with a clapped out chipper. People buy people. Deliver a good, dependable service and folk will use you. Talk to your clients and, in the future, your fellow workers about your purpose for the business and you'll get there. Business plans mean little or nothing. Banks like them as it's something they can berate you with either to say they are not going to lend money or to demand repayment. Have a purpose, (not always as simple to define as it sounds), and work towards it. It makes knocking on doors and phoning potential clients a lot easier.

There is a bit more to the original posting on this thread. The MEWP that was used was not big enough for the tree. The climber, who was the only person on the site with AR, was roped to the tree and the MEWP. When the limb to which he was attached failed, (above the one he was cutting), it took the whole shebang down. Luckily, his prussic literally burnt through on the decent. As this was the rope system attached to the MEWP, the MEWP stayed upright. The guy did get a bit of a battering on the way down though. Team leaders responsibility aside, the contractor had failed to provide anything like a safe system of work and this was shown to be the culture of the business through investigation by the HSE and other organisations. This was coupled with the contractors intransigence during the investigation process. I'll say no more on the subject other than I know the investigating officer.

Does depend on when your year end is and depreciation/taxable deductions or whatever the correct term is can be brought into the current year and possibly carried back to offset historic profits. Though, if I was really interested, I'd have to ask my accountant. Thought I might run some ideas about the proposed changes to the WAH Regs past him and see what he thinks.

A gray area. You'd have to make sure that it is clearly written into your contract of employment or at least mentioned and then listed as a staff benefit in your company handbook. You may also have to get a corporate membership, though this may be going too far. I feel it should fly, depends on whether your accountant is comfortable with it. It's reasonable to expect that keeping fit is a core responsibility of directors to ensure the health and vitality of the leadership team.

For sleep, try chamomile tea before bed. 1, 2 or three cups. Doesn't work for everyone, though works for me. It helps calm the brain activity so even if you wake up your still in alpha state. Health Benefits of Chamomile Tea For vigour, try juicing. Juice Master - Jason Vale: Juice Diet, Juicing, Fusion Juicer, Juice Recipes, Rebounders

http://www.skins.net/uk/?gclid=CPHOjdLd2cICFSrjwgod0SQAIQ If you want to graft, these are the best compression tops I've found. They cost about £55. You'll earn that back in a day or so with the extra work you can do. Helly Hansen Men's Merino Wool Blend Warm Base Layers - Baselayer And these are my favourite warm base layer. Need to get some more as the last lot only lasted 5 years in tree work.

Just make sure the money you collect for Messrs HMRC sits in a separate account so when the time comes around each quarter, it's there to be paid out. Put it in a high earning account and make a bit. Start using VAT as your working capital and you're likely to run into cashflow issues. VAT collection is just another business process. When you start up it's less so it's less of a burden. As you grow it gets to be a bigger beast. Of course the Government wants to be able to tax any form of business, online or high street. If we want the country to keep running, (and here I refuse to get into the in and outs of national spending projections/statistics/bloated bureaucracy), getting a higher tax take combined with cutting the structural deficit is inevitable.

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London boroughs It says so at the bottom of the paper.

So does Viagra, apparently. I get really cold hands too. Sometimes get a touch of white finger in one of my little fingers. Have to run my hands under warm water. Hurts like hell and makes me sick with the pain as sensation returns. I find warming up prior to getting into the tree sometimes helps. Do a bit of grounding to get the circulation going.

Or, in extremis, this; https://www.gov.uk/statutory-demands/overview

https://www.lovetts.co.uk/knowledge/Claiming-Late-Payment-Interest-and-Compensation.aspx

Welcome to Russell Whitlock Accountancy Speak to Russell. I've known him for a number of years and would readily use him for my business, though I have been with my current accountant since I started up and have no plans to change him.

It all depends on the procurement process. Ask the companies, schools or Local Authorities you're interested in working for what their process is and go from there. Sometimes it's simple, sometimes it's a ball ache, sometimes it's not worth the effort. That's business. You'll learn.

BS 3998 doesn't apply to the removal of trees. It only applies to pruning. Has McAlpine given you the specification to work from? I was asked recently by the main contractor if the works were compliant with BS3998. As we'd received a works spec from them, I pointed out that where their specification gave works that complied with BS3998 we complied, otherwise, no, the works didn't comply.

The brakes on Ifors are pretty good. If we need to do this I just unhitch and use the truck to pull it on. Do it with big logs too. It can be a bit Heath Robinson though it's very simple. We don't have ramps, we have the large tailgate version so no need for the third ramp and if you're careful one person can do it by themselves.

As the planning folk and the tree folk often don't talk or even get on, there is a lot of opportunity for stuff to get through that doesn't reach even a rudimentary standard. If approval is given without a belt and braces 5837 document in place the developer will usually be able to run rough shod over the trees. Just because the trees are TPO'd, if the plans show an approved building outline, the building generally takes precedence even if it's yet to be built. The documents for tree protection should be very clear as they have to be interpreted by anyone on the site. It should be beyond doubt which trees are to be removed and those that are to be retained. A topographical plan with clearly identified trees, numbered with tags and a schedule with size, species and works. If you don't have this, be very wary what you cut. Developers have skin like rhinos and a conscience to match. You'll be the one getting stick from the LA.

As said above, can of worms, nest of vipers, [insert metaphor here]. Directors can be on a normal salary just like everyone else. They may have changed their payment system purely for this exercise then switched back to minimum wage and dividends afterwards. Anyone who regularly fills in PQQ, OTT and general tender documentation will know that a reasonable proportion is smoke and mirrors and/or lies. The bigger the operation the cleverer the wording. I investigated buying a company a few years ago and TUPE was one of the fundamental negatives. That and I didn't trust the owner.

If their branches overhang your airspace, it's trespass, for which one is very unlikely to be prosecuted. If you prune beyond the boundary, without consent, it's criminal damage, and can get quite awkward. Write a letter to the owner and explain that the trees are to be trimmed back to the boundary and ask whether they wish to have the branch arisings back. Tell them that if they do not reply within, say, 14 days, (a reasonable time period). you will take it that they do not wish to keep the arisings and you will dispose of them for no charge in an environmentally sustainable way. Ask if a height reduction, giving specifics, would be agreeable to them and ask for a written response. If they do not come back to you, carry on with the cutting back to boundary. You may, however, not be able to climb the trees without permission, so bear this in mind. Cut back limbs to almost the boundary and remove the arisings. If you get written consent, happy days.

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If you're reasonably fit, and have good aerobic capacity, the main issues with starting climbing at a later age are going to be strength, flexibility and muscle recovery. Learning stuff may come easy or hard, depends on your mindset. I climb less now, predominantly as I have to go out and survey. Some weeks I can do 3-4 days and I feel great, if a little tired. Other times I can go for a couple of weeks without lifting a saw. If a person is going to start climbing, tickets and chainsaw competency aside, I would suggest going to the gym and building up core strength alongside the usual bicep, tricep stuff. Many of the strain injuries are caused by a lack of core strength or under training of antagonistic muscle groups.

Harnesses are made of man made fibres and metal. They're designed to be beaten about by trees and tree climbers in all weathers. I hardly think a stretch in a washing machine or a bath tub is going to worry it. Use soap flakes, gaffer tape some thick old socks around the metal bits and chuck it into the machine.