Forum

Retained Firefighters needed

Slight tangent I know however.... you may not be aware that in many regions of the UK there is a desperate need for part time retained Firefighters.Most small local Fire stations are run by paid retained Firefighters who get to the station within 5 m

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Gardening in the Winter

At this time of year does anyone else feel our customers employ us as a bit of a favour? Are our services really necessary this time of year? I guess it depends on how much the customer values what we do but I always have this feeling they can take u

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2017 is record year for small businesses

What a year !

“Small businesses contributed £1.9 trillion to the UK economy this year, according to new Government figures.

The latest business population statistics, released by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, show that

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Winter work

Hi guys.Hope your all doing ok?Just wandering what everyone’s plans are through winter? Anybody have any different ideas on how to keep the money coming in. When your running a business the bills still go out dispite if we are earning or not. What do

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Cyber Security for Small Businesses

The National Cyber Security Centre (@NCSC) have created 5 x videos showing their guidance on how small businesses can improve their cyber security.

For more information, see their dedicated page here https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/smallbusiness.

Do you o

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Client information sheet

I'm looking to create client information sheets, with contact details, price charged, hours worked etc.  something like a database.  I'm fairly pc savvy just wondering what program's or templates people use.

TIA  

Ian 

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Turning up to job to find gate bolted

Morning allSo I've turned up to a job this morning - where we had organised that the gate would be unbolted so I could access the garden - to find that the gate has in fact not been unbolted!As I sit here in a van full of plants that I've just picked

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Anyone had one of those weeks?

It actually started over two weeks ago now so is getting hilarious now!Monday morning, all ready to go when a text message comes in, school closed!, marvellous.Never mind, it'll only be a day, I'll catch up.Tuesday it re opens so all is good, wednesd

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Starting my new business........advice regarding capital equipment etc!

Hi,

I've just joined up after reading a lot of great advice on the forums.  I'm planning on starting my own business so have many questions that will no doubt receive great advice!

I've 20 years experience working in heritage organisations (and recentl

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Managing Sick Leave and Pay for employers

An HMRC and ACAS Webinar is available online on Thursday 23 November between 1pm and 2pm,  giving you a brief summary of statutory sick pay entitlement.

Also, how to manage sick leave and the impact it has on employment relations in their workplace.

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Managing Expectations

I am wondering how others approach this sometimes thorny issue. I can find that some clients have unrealistic expectations about how much time a job is going to take, or how much you're going to achieve in one gardening session, and therefore how muc

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Commercial Quotes

I've been approached to have a look and quote for maintenance of a small hotel on an airport complex - no grass cutting as the airport look after it.

Work is shrub maintenance, flowers, replanting as required. Had a quick look at photo's of the comple

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Tenders

Been a country age since I've been on here, but got a question to ask you all.Where's the best place to find tenders?? I've looked on some sites even the local government sites but they all seem to want extortionate amounts just to look at them.

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What do I need to know about providing a guarantee when supplying matierials?

Hello, I'm after some help in understanding guarantees on materials.

I want to offer a consistent guarantee on workmanship and materials but I'm not sure what I can or cannot legally do. My main concerns are if I buy materials that are guaranteed for

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Costs of going from sole trader to Ltd

I'm thinking of going Ltd in the next few years, not to save tax or anything, but just to 'officialize' (probably not a word) my business in my mind and also in others thoughts. I will hopefully be trying to get a few more commercial contracts also,

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VAT threshold to be lowered ?

I've long believed that the VAT threshold should be lowered or abolished to provide every business a level playing field, to reduce cash-no-vat transactions, encourage growth and generate additional tax revenue. It's a subject much discussed on LJN i

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Mcafee Livesafe- No internet access.

My desktop kindly downloaded a new version of Mcafee Livesafe for me. The result was an unusable computer as all my internet access was blocked, even the Mcafee could not access the internet itself.

After an hour of fiddling I realised the old version

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Anyone use F Books groups.

Hi all,

Before you say, I'm not trying to put anyone off using this platform its one of the best I've come across on the internet.....However. I do use other platforms for knowledge

Is anyone a member of the Facebook group Landscaper, lawn & Arb Profes

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Pruning espallier pear.

Hi guys.I've just been asked to prune a espalier pear which is growing against the gable of an old two story Victorian house. Its growing up past the chimney. It hasn't been done in at least 4 years, maybe longer. I will use a ladder and hand tools.

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Who ‘owns’ the qualification - Employer or Employee ?

Interested on views about this situation:

Interviewed a guy yesterday for a team lead position. Looks a good fit for us, but we got into talking about qualifications. Important for us he’s PA6 qualified but doesn’t have access to the Certificate.

Fur

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