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About to Buy a Sited Mobile Catering Trailer Business

by debra
(hull)

I am about to buy a catering trailer sited on an industrial est i worked with the lovely lady seller for a full wk and met the landlady the rent is £130 per month inclusive of electrics and water.

I am satisfied there is a good income to get from this trailer and am very excited to start on working with the seller i had lots of questions to ask her these are but a few : do i need hygiene certificates, she said no.

Does she have electric and gas certificates ,she said no and that you dont need them, i dont think she is telling me porky's but after looking at this site i am a bit concerned.

She has traded here for 6yrs and her customers love her to bits and she is retiring,can you advise me on this one please I am not a big computer user its took me 20 mins to enter this but your site has been really helpful.

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Sep 02, 2010
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starstarstarstarstar 		thank you for your reply, it was very helpful.
by: debra

Dear David thankyou so much for your reply i did not think i sent my question properly so i did not think you recieved it as mentioned my computer skills not so good , anyway i shall ring the local council and environmental dept as you advise and i ll let you know how i get on thanks once again . Debra
Aug 28, 2010
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starstarstarstarstar 		Buying a Mobile Catering Business
by: David

Hi Debra,

I am very happy for you and it sounds like a great opportunity although there seems to be a few issues that you should get resolved.

With regards to the gas/electric certificates it well may be the case that when she started on the pitch 6 years ago it was not a requirement by the landowner to have a gas/electric certificate for whatever reason. You should read through the terms and conditions of the contract if any exists to confirm this.

However it should not stop you from having a gas /electric test done yourself for you own piece of mind and to safeguard yourself against any future problems.

I know a lot of people don?t want to a have a gas/electric test done because of the extra cost, but it?s necessary to make sure you are working in a safe environment.

I have met people with some pretty bad hand scars and burns due to an appliance not having a gas safety valve working properly.

A Food and Hygiene certificate is a must and should be displayed on your catering trailer/van for all to see. This part of your message causes me a bit of concern because is she saying that YOU don?t need a food and hygiene certificate or she does not have one?

If her business is registered with the local council as it should be - she would definitely have a food and hygiene certificate and be known to the council. A simple phone call by you to the council can clear this up right away and give you a little piece of mind.

Just speak to someone in environmental health and tell them that you are taking over an existing catering business give them the address and name. From here they should be able to tell you if it?s registered with them and if there has been any problem which may cause concern.

I have done this in the past and it saved me £5000 because the person selling the pitch was being thrown off and had no right to trade or sell the pitch to anyone, so just it pays to do a few checks yourself.

Apart from these few issues Debra, it sounds like you have a great opportunity in front of you.

I wish you the very best of luck with your new found catering business.And hope this information has been some help to you.Well done for persisting on the computer with you questions.

Regards
David
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