ReubenHayes

My understanding is that in order to show you are self employed you would need to demonstrate that you are not working for one company. I think they give a percentage figure but would have to check on the HMRC site. I think they would take the view that if he is a sole trader working for you 5 days a week (or 100% of his working hours), then really he should be an employee.

There is a place in Burntwood, Walsall. Called the Sand Pits, its very rough and ready but they will take woodchip and logs.

Wix are easy to use, but you will end up with their logo on your page (the company works by them advertising on your page). Most hosting sites now offer a site building add on, most will be using a system called wordpress. These are very easy to use and again will have a list of templates and you just select the one you want and then add the content. Its more difficult to get around the jargon that most companies use. The plus side of doing the site yourself is the cost, expect to pay around £500 for a basic site but don't be surprised if companies offer £1,000 + to do a site. The site you produce will be as good as your ability to write decent content, taking photos etc. If you have blurred photos or miss sized ones then that is how they will look on your site. If you have difficulty writing content that jumps out to clients or find it hard to get your point across, then again you will have to think about how to work that. Going with a company that will build a site can be useful as you will usually get a more glossy site, they should have someone who can write good content and will have stock photos. Although you will pay for the service they are useful and will take the hassle out of producing the site. Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is what gets your site to the top of the organic list. This works off the content that it set within the website and also links, tags etc. Again a good company will write content for the searches (there are site on line that show what people are searching for and the words they use). Do web sites bring in work? depends, people will google local tree surgeons and see what is out there. But a good client base will always win. Having a web site gives you that shop front all businesses need. For example, you probably know of good local companies near you that you use or a friend has recommended. What do you do? most will google the company and see what they offer and what they are like. Google ads also offer a premium service where you can pay per click, the more you pay the higher you get. Its good to get your name at the top, but a lot of marketing people now say that around 80% of searches will result in people looking at organic names in the first page or two. This is ideally where you want to be. My site is home built, although not perfect its useful. I am looking this year at costs to produce a proper site. Apex Environmental Ltd | Contact Us on: 0121 249 1235; 07968 442929 or [email protected]

Cheers, yes I'll give you a call

Cheers for that, there is an Orange plant near us so will take a look.

Cheers for all the help and advice guys, very much appraised. Its good to see people having a wide choice of machines that they use. I have seen the Carltons on the net, wasn't sure about them so will take a look, and also the Bandit.

We are looking at purchasing a new stump grinder and could really do with finding out how people get on with them. No sure what grinder to go for, have used Rayco's in the past, but what have others used? Will need to fit through garden gates etc so will need to be pedestrian. Any help on the subject would be great.

If you are looking for a good grounding of surveying then large baseline surveys will be your best bet! It will soon teach you if you still enjoying looking at trees when you are inspecting 100+ a day. There is good money if you get it all right and keep to your system. Have you seen that AEGM are looking for tree inspectors (I think down south, so if are willing to travel and stay somewhere it would be a good start). Otherwise have a look at who does the tree work for the LA in your area. Give them a call and see if you can do the inspections for them.

Most Councils will run a tern contract (Borough, London, City councils). This will be to carryout all the tree works for a set term. In order to win these contracts you will need to have finances over 3-5 years and show a turnover of a set amount (I know that the bigger the contracts the bigger the turnover). This means that many of the contracts will require a turnover of £1m for 3-5 previous years. Where some Councils go is through a preferred contractor, this is where local tree surgeons submit a schedule of rates and the Council will then cherry pick the costs and give different works to different contractors. This usually means you will only win the cheaper works (i.e. don't put down £200.00 to fell a large tree on the hope that you will also get a crown lifting op at £400.00! just an example!) The preferred bidder is easier to get into and will help you grow in to the contract world. It is also noting that most Councils/Schools/Construction will also require AA contractor approval. This is something you should also look at getting.

Hi Island, All depends on what type of surveying you are looking at? baseline tree surveys, BS5837, mortgage report, safety inspections? baseline and big scale inspections (i.e. those for street trees, schools etc) will mainly be done by the larger companies, or those who have tendered for the LA tree maintenance. Speak to the big companies in your area. The others are more catered by the smaller independent consultancy firms, so speak with them and see if any are hiring or looking for a freelance tree surveyor. You will need to be either Sole trader or Ltd, that's really your own decision on how good you are at finances and running your books. Sole trader is the easiest but there are draw backs as it'll be your name and property that the courts would go for. Ltd is a bit safer in that they can only go for the company, but then its more expensive to set up and run (accounts fees are about double). Its really just a personal thing, maybe start off as sole trader and see what happens. Starting out just use a pen and paper, if they ask you to do big surveys then ask what kit they have, or buy it/lease it or borrow it. Usually you can borrow or lease a tablet for large scale tree inspections. If you use your own it'll only last a year at the most, they don't like the cold, wet, sunny etc weather and the battery on them just runs down. AutoCAD is good but very expensive, go on the web and search for free versions. There are several about and although they are not as good, they are useful. There are also people out there who will do the hard stuff for you (Constraints plans, Tree Protection Plans etc), if you look on my linkedin profile you'll find most of them. Home working is great, if you can get an office even better. Kitchen table or sofa will do for most reports while you are setting up. With insurance you will need indemnity as a basic. They will offer £500K or £1m, look at the costs of both as there is only a small step up between the two and £1m will get more work with other consultants. If you work freelance you will need to protect yourself, the companies that you work for will only protect them and their workers. Websites are useful as they will pull in customers for yourself. Speak to your current employer and see if they want to use you. Speak to others and try and get your name out there as much as possible. What are you looking at doing? pushing it to go to consultancy or just staying at the surveying level? Thanks Reuben

Also look at getting on Construction Line. It'll be more ground work prior to development but a useful place to start for contracts. Local Authorities are now using them more for their work on large schemes and this could help in getting more contracts. Becoming AA approved is also very useful, again most large companies/LA will require this. Look out for Management Agents (companies that look after company buildings/flats etc), they will push for a low price but can be useful as they will be in the local area.

No problem, Just look at the statements and work around them. At the end of the day, the arb industry is in the middle (ie we produce CO2, but we can also recycle a lot and help the natural environment with habitat piles etc.).

Have you looked at the link below? How To Prepare an Environmental Policy Most policies I have seen are only about 3/4 to a page with standard points. Look at current UK laws such as wildlife, chemicals etc. All you need to show is that you are aware of the environment and how you will mitigate your footprint. This can be re-use of wood chips, changing your fuel types (Bio fuels), have the latest Euro engines etc.

Just been reading the thread, so you are saying that the tree is causing damage? has this been demonstrated to be the result of the tree? if it is damage then the LPA would not be able to refuse consent for the felling. It maybe that they are looking to plant a new tree (however, if damage has already occurred, how will you be able to plant a new tree in the same location?) and you should be able to challenge this at a later date. If the LPA are not aware of the damage then I would certainly point it out to them. That would be my first line to go down. It maybe that the LPA is being pushed to protect the tree, however you can not protect every tree in every location.

Paul is correct, the AIA should be clear (ideally you should be able to give it to someone who doesn't know anything about trees!). It could be that there is a computer error or that the consultant has just rushed something in without first checking. There are a couple of things you can do (without the developer knowing). 1) The report you have will be signed by the author. Find out who it is (should be on the 1st page), give them a call and say you have the report but you are not sure about it and go over it with them. 2) Go to the planning portal (or the LA planning website), type in the address. If there is an approved application for development it will be there, again it will have all the approved plans and related documents (one of those will be the AIA). 3) Unlike what others say, Local Tree Officers are not that bad. If an approval has already been given then they will talk through it with you. If not, as you say the trees are already protected so there will be no further protections. I would never take the word of the developer alone. I always check with the LA or clearly show it in the report that no checks have taken place. Developers just want the houses built and on to the next project. If they drop you in it, don't expect them to come to your rescue!!

TUPE is a very difficult process to get to the bottom of, especially when its between private companies. However, from you said above, there are a points to raise, how long was this 'job'? Under TUPE you have to demonstrate that the service they offer is over a certain percentage of their time. Judging by the wage bills, that would be either a 4 man team, or 2 2 men teams (a question again to be asked about the amount of work available, or are they just trying to shaft any winning bid). It sounds very fishy and probably best you didn't get close to winning the contract. I know (as its starting to be raised where I work), that its nearly the end of a contracted service we manage. Over the last year there has been several changes in work staff (people who don't know what they are doing, unable to perform or older staff). Under the law they need to be there for a set time before they can be offered, so we are delaying the re-tendering the contract for as long as possible otherwise we could lumbered with them (at least until post retirement for some of them). Large companies are cleaver and will try every trick. In your case, as part of the TUPE they would have had to show wages bills for all the workers, at which point you would have needed a legal team to sort through it all (costing time and expense) to get to the bottom of it, again probably a way of any other winning contractor being lumbered with a massive wage bill at the start in the hope it collapsed and thus revert back to the previous contractor. They probably were very over inflated and possibly also included a senior job role (possibly the owner of the other company, again a nightmare to run or manage). Always useful to read exactly what the contract will be and drive by the contractors to see what they are up to before submitting a tender! Will be interested to hear from others as well on their experience of contracts and TUPE.

Paul, How do you find the KeyTree LT? I saw a demo on it but it didn't show much about ease of use etc. I and someone else are also looking at systems and would be interested to see what CAS offer in the training. I was thinking of going on a level 2 CAD course at a local college as it looked good value. Thanks

There are several people out there that will create tree plans for you if you need them quickly, they normally charge £100+ for the two plans (TCP and TPP). There are some free AutoCAD packages you can get online. They area basic and clunky to use but good to try before you fork out on a new package. Ebay is also useful to look at, there are several older packages out there for sale. Chris Skellerns Arborcad is good, and Pear technology also do a package. Home - Pear Technology

Not really, just choose your own path and run with it! My sites are no way good enough yet. Its the next task for me! so I know all about it. Trust me everyone has the same issues. All I can say is think about where you want to go with your business (its no point having tree care in the title, if you decide flower arranging is where you want to go). Then choose a name that isn't that long, again you don't want to burden your clients with a long email address (that's the mistake I have made). Apart from that just sound it out before you buy with other people, then buy it. Most web companies now have a set of free templates or ones you can buy. Use them till its established then get someone in to do it properly.

Its a very good looking website. I like how you have asked people, always good to a few extra views per day to rank the site!!! As its been said before, it'll be for a number of reasons. Also who did the site? was it a local team or a national team? it maybe on their site and thus getting more clicks. Also when you go to a search engine and type in a company name it'll bring them up all over the world. This could be the case here, or its just got a very good SEO (thought about franchising the company in the USA???)

Search Engine Optimisations (SEO's), like Google will work off two areas. The first will be through the meta tags which are attached to each page. The second is the relevance to the search and this can use the website title. To be honest you will get pulled this way and that way over website titles. Some marketing will say its important to have a clean title which states what you do. Others say as long as you have a good meta tag and background information, then the search engines will still find you. Just think does Tesco site say cheap supermarket in the web title? (for an example). In both cases, it takes a long time to get your web site pushed up to the first page. Personally, I would say find a title that is catchy to you and your company. Find a good website where you can attach meta tags (if you are doing it yourself). Go to Google, Bing etc and type in webmaster. They will then guide you through the process of verifying your site with them. They will then crawl through the site and pick out relevant information that they will use for the searches. If you give the site to someone else to do, check the other pages they have done and how good they are. Google their work field and see where these companies come. Remember cheap may not get your business noticed and it'll just be dead money if it doesn't bring in new customers. A good website and design team will pay off in the end, although it is still only one part of the marketing strategy!

It all depends on how much you expecting them to do. If its just answering the phone, taking messages, advertising, wages etc then I would expect just above minimum wage (depending on how busy it is). The main question is how much of your time is currently taken up with these tasks? sit down and go through how many calls you get a day, how much time you spend on paper work. There's no point paying someone full time to sit around waiting for the phone to ring, or go through all the tasks in one morning! If you do go for a full time admin role, think about what else they can do for you. You may have to pay more for their time, but you may get a better person and better returns. Could you use them to promote your business? marketing letters, phone calls, even going out meeting local businesses. Can they do all of your book keeping, ordering of new equipment (maybe have the time to speak with suppliers to get better deals etc). You could look at getting a part time office staff, to come in for 3 hours a day. This would give you time to get out of the office in the morning or afternoon and get on with your tasks. Remote workers are also handy and I really would look at costs etc. They will be limited to what they can provide for you, but they are cheaper as they can work for several companies at the same time. The points to check would be origin of the staff, and the internet connection of that area. Basically you divert your phone to an internet number so that they can pick it up. If its a bad or slow internet area, then it will be faint, crackly, slow responses etc. This can be off putting for some people, just think of the call centres that you phone (most of these run on the same system), sometimes you can hardly hear them or the line goes quiet when you speak. Apart from that, a secretary can be a great asset as you can get on developing the company.

Hi Treefolk, Looks like its a bit of a sticky subject. As others have said, land will be owned by one person, organisation or body/trust. That means that permission from the land owner must be obtained before any works are carried out. Not sure where the track leads from or to but if it is outside of the customers land ownership then you would need to speak to the land owner. Un-adopted land could be for 3 reasons: 1) The County Council have owned/managed the land before 1970's (I think). 2) The Local Authority have owned the land/managed the before 1970's. 3) The land was owned by a person/company which have now ceased activity and the land has been automatically transferred to 'The Crown estate'. If the track leads somewhere (i.e. from one street/road, Public Right of Way to another), then it is likely to come under the LA or County Council. If it just leads to some garages or waste ground then it is likely to be private. t could be that the residents own a proportion of the land if it leads to a garage or something. With regards to you requesting that the owner gives you something in writing, I would certainly get a detailed response from a legal representative. I think the law would say, do you normally request this from your clients? Probably not. Therefore why did you ask for it this time? Because you thought it wasn't the Clients land? Well in which case why did you carryout the works! This is the same case as for working on trees with a TPO/CA, do you just take the clients word that the trees are not protected? If that's the case, you as the tree surgeon can not use that as your defence in court. I would say Blackwood is correct, walk away from the job not worth getting into hot water for a simple job. (otherwise, early Saturday morning. In a hired van, with no identification, and cash in hand)

You really are making me miss London and working in Camden! Shame I wasn't able to or had the photographic flare to take any shots of tree or tree pruning works in London. I do remember the presentation you gave at an LTOA meeting at HH on pruning cuts, think I have some photos but wont post them! Have you got any photos of the views from Primrose Hill as well?

The info below is taken from the new guidance: You haven't stated if you notified the LA through the 211 notification, or if the tree was dangerous. Therefore I have included both parts. What the LPA can do 9.7 The LPA can deal with a section 211 notice in one of three ways. They may: (1) make a TPO if justified in the interests of amenity. (2) decide not to make a TPO and allow the six week period to expire, (3) decide not to make a TPO and inform the applicant that the work can go ahead. The LPA cannot refuse consent. Nor can they grant consent subject to conditions (such as a condition requiring the planting of a replacement tree). This is because a section 211 notice is not, and should not be treated as, an application for consent under a TPO. Replacement Of Trees: Enforcement 9.14 If a tree in a conservation area is removed, uprooted or destroyed in contravention of section 211 the landowner is placed under a duty to plant another tree of an appropriate size and species at the same place as soon as he or she reasonably can.116 The same duty applies if a tree is removed because it is dead, dying or dangerous or because it is causing a nuisance.117 The duty attaches to subsequent owners of the land, although the LPA have powers to dispense with the duty.118 The LPA may enforce the duty by serving a tree replacement notice under section 207 of the Act (see Chapter 11 of this Guide). This is of course assuming the tree(s) are not protected by a Tree Preservation Order as well.