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Landscape businesses going bust

I'm a regular visitor the the London Gazette website. I keep an eye on landscaping businesses gong bust or being petitioned for winding up.

The site gives me an idea of the underlying picture of the state of the UK landscaping industry.

See the latest winding up info here.

What information does The Gazette contain?

The Gazette publishes information in the form of notices.

Many of the notices that are placed in The Gazette are required by law (statutory), but some are published because it is deemed to be in the public’s interest that the information is in the public domain. The Gazette is often cited in legislation and considered by the courts and other legal organisations to be the most effective portal to achieve this.

The seven categories include

  • state notices, such as bills receiving royal assent
  • other public sector notices, such as marriage acts
  • public notices, such as road traffic acts
  • other notices, such as dissolution of partnerships
  • insolvency notices, such as bankruptcy orders and winding-up orders
  • personal legal, such as deceased estates notices
  • company notices and profiles,such as the incorporation of a company (coming in 2016)

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  • Hi Phil.

    It's a know fact that 40% of new startup businesses will go bust within the first year, another 40% will go bust within 5 years, and another 19% will disappear within 10 years. leaving just a 1% survival rate. And out of that 1% that are left, only 1/4 of them will do well.

    However, the garden maintenance and landscaping businesses have a much worse record than the above  because it is a business with a very easy entry level (not much capital required to buy a lawn mower) and so the mortality rate is much greater than the figures above.

    • PRO

      What I have seen Adrian is a stream of well established, long-term landscaping and maintenance businesses going bust. These were prominent businesses within the landscape industry.

  • PRO Supplier

    How does 10 pages worth of liquidations, etc on the Gazette compare with past months Phil? more, less...? 

    • PRO

      The London Gazette is as busy as I've seen it. That includes the months directly after the so-called crash of 2008.

      I expect insolvency activity to increase into the summer as businesses (and individuals) already cash-strapped through the winter, unable to trade due to lack of liquidity as the busier spring/summer calls on more cash to trade.

  • PRO

    It's sad to see businesses in our industry (including some well known names) still going under and it's warning to us all.

    Following dreams and / or bad business advice can turn any company downwards.

    The Gazette, Companies House & various online commercial risk management companies contain a wealth of information that can be queried, collected and used to help your business.

    Working for maninly commercial clients, if we get awarded or win a new contract, I always try to do some basic checks such as ownership, credit & trading history, Director's history, CCJ's etc.You can back track quite a way although you need to untangle various aspects

    It costs a few £'s but does provide a level of comfort and I would highly recommend it if any contract requires considerable upfront expenditure.

  • I think one of the problems with landscaping companies ( at least the ones I know of my way) is that they are always after the big jobs and not interested in the little jobs. A friend of mine, who's a builder, ran a business employing several staff to restore old buildings etc. He ignored the smaller jobs as these were regarded as hassle and not much money in it. Unfortunately he went bust due to cash flow problems. He now does 'odd jobs' within the building trade like putting up shelves, hanging doors, patios etc. He tells me that he never been happier as there is little outlay and he get paid daily plus he has no hassle with staff nor does he struggles to pay for his staff. To me I think the smaller jobs will see you through and if the UK votes out of the EU next month, then the big jobs will be on hold .....
    • PRO

      Good example and a reminder to us all. Over-trading is an easy option to get into and will crash a business.

    • Yes, I cannot find a builder, fence fitters, electrician or roofer. They all want the big jobs, not interested in the little stuff.

      In my neighborhood some small jobs were done by eastern block workers. They (8 guys) came in the morning and when I got home in the late afternoon they finished the whole job and it looks good. I still have to ask them where they found these guys and how much they charged. 

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