New Business?

[mattwilcox2004]

Hi All

I was wondering if I could get some advice off some people on here as from what I have read everyone seems helpful and knowledgable.

I work for a company that currently has a 2 year contract with a local council which runs up in April this year. Having worked for this company for 4 years I would like to start my own business doing exactly this type of work. For anyone interested the work is the monitoring and inspection of water systems [FONT=Arial, sans-serif]to ensure the quality of water is being maintained to avoid risk of bacterial contamination (Legionella), risk assessments, clean+disinfects of water storage tanks etc.

Anyway, as I mentioned the contract is up this April and from just speaking to a few people I have been informed that to have any chance of getting a council contract you have to be a registered business for at least 2 years, does anyone know if this is true?

Does anyone have any experience in this work area? Or started your own business in this field? Or just any advice in general!

Any and all help will be greatly appreciated and thanks in advance.
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[Humphrey]

To tender for most local authority and government contracts you will be asked to fill in a pre qualification questionnaire (PQQ). This normally asks for three years of accounts or two years business bank statements (if you have not been trading for three years). Some organisations will allow you to leave this section of the PQQ blank but most will automatically reject you if you do not give the required information.

You could approach the purchasing department and ask to be put on the low value contract register. The amount of work they can order on you without going out to tender varies normally from about £1,000 to £10,000 depending on their own internal rules.

Such restrictive practices by local authorities and government departments are being objected to by small business pressure bodies, but I doubt if much will change in the near future.