Running Your Shop

We have been using WasteTech to collect all the shop waste on a fortnightly basis. Since signing the contract with them last year the cost of their service had doubled and now they have introduced a separate collection service for paper and cardboard which is going to cost us and extra £240 +VAT per year.

How do other shops dispose of their waste and who collects it?. I've tried to contact our local authority refuse collection service but no one answers the phone and my calls are never returned.

Our current EPOS system is now seven years old and causing problems. We are beginning to look to replace.We use Sage for the accounts. Has anyone advice to share?  

Following a recent inspection from Environmental Health, (which gave us a clean bill of health on all the usual stuff) we have been tasked to produce some documentation within 3 months (from mid September).  They are asking for:

help!

We need to obtain an upright freezer for use in our shop, it goes without saying that  money is an issue

Any ideas please?

Workplace pension reforms take place next year that will require all employers to provide and employers workplace pension for all employees aged over 22 earning more than £7475 per annum.  The National Employment Savings Trust will be overeseeing this process for employees and employers. Has anyone taken any other pension advise so far or are you waiting to see what NESt will provide. Is this something that membership of the community shop network may provide help with?

We are bidding for local food lottery money to build a new shop. We want to make the case that in our new premises we will easily exceed current turnover. I am interested in  establishing the relationship between sales area in square metres, turnover and footfall. If you can supply those figures I would be grateful. Please let me know if I can then publish them in the form of a table.

Martin Yarnit

Whitbourne Village Shop

We have been going for a couple of years.  Our landlord insures the structure and we do the contents, public liability etc.  Come review  time we would be interested in who you have found to be good. 

We (the Green Valley Grocer) have just been interviewed by the BBC!

It seems the Government is due to launch the Localism Bill on Friday, and so they are putting together a piece that they plan to run on BBC Breakfast on Friday morning.

Apparently the announcement has already been delayed four times, so there is every chance that it might be further delayed, but you might want to keep an eye out on Friday morning nonetheless.