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Portsmouth Today are reporting: Sole trader forced to shut up shop
Quote:
A CHIROPODIST whose lifelong ambition was to set up her own clinic has been forced to close – because of a planning blunder.
Wendy Heath, 42, leased an empty shop in Elm Grove, Hayling Island, and set up her business Sole to Soul offering customers a wide range of foot therapies.
She spent her life savings fitting up the clinic and it opened last month.
But after three weeks Havant Borough Council told her she did not have the right planning permission to run a foot clinic at the premises.
However, Mrs Heath claims she sought advice from Havant Borough Council before leasing the building.
She said: 'I have worked really hard to get where I am and I have been kicked in the teeth. I have lost all my customers.
'When you build a business from nothing, it takes time to grow.
'Now I am left with nothing except a total mess.'
The council said Sole to Soul was 'trading illegally' because Mrs Heath had not applied for planning permission for a change of use on the unit, from 'retail' to 'other' – which neither the owner of the property, or Mrs Heath, knew anything about.
Mrs Heath said more should be done to inform landlords and people starting new businesses about local planning guidance to avoid the same happening again.
'All shopkeepers or owners of retail units in the area should know how strict the planning rules are,' she said.
'At the moment I don't think they do and I think similar shops may be breaching planning laws without knowing it.'
Havant council told her she could carry on trading while she put in an application for a change of use, which costs £265.
But Mrs Heath said she could not afford an application for a change of use and an application was unlikely to be successful.
Council spokeswoman Jo Humphreys said: 'The person using the premises is responsible for checking the planning use. It definitely is not Havant Borough Council's mistake. We were following planning guidance.'
This highlights the necessity to do one's homework thoroughly and to have a sound business plan, allowing for unseen contingencies, prior to setting up in practice.
Wendy, have you thought about retailling a few items(Creams, bracing, etc) and still provide your services? This way you could get around the 'change of use'.
Obviously your business rate will be higher, but as you will not be selling over £60,000 worth of creams (if you do let me know!) you would be vat exempt.
You would also keep business ticking over until you find a more suitable premises, keep your clients etc, and when you have found and moved in you could tell 'Portsmouth Today' about the happy ending - and get some free advertising etc.
Obviously there has been a communication breakdown somewhere along the way between Havant Borough Council, Landlord and business owner.
I can't stress how important it is to take up any free advice there is available from the council planning officers, fire service, building regulators before you even contemplate starting work converting premises for business use. Many localities within the UK have business advice centres and it is all free.
Building inspectors, fire safety officers all come and visit premises and offer free advice....well, I say free; this is what we pay for when we pay our rates.
Forums such as this offer a wealth of support and advice.
I do wonder if Wendy's professional body offered any advice about setting up a business from scratch.
There are so many people out there willing to offer advice to "new to business" that all it takes is good research, lots of questions asked, lots of brains picked and this sorry tale would so easily have been avoided.
I have little sympathy with anyone in business who does not do their homework.
In this case a few hundred pounds would have secured the services of a solicitor who would have known the (elementary I would have thought) fact that you need change of use planning permission anywhere in England if Premises are to be used for a different type of trade.
Forced to 'shut up shop'
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