Can I Take Over As A Private Business?

[anju]

apparently the committee are prepared to consider me taking over which I would like to do, but is it possible? I would then rent the premises from the school. what about the equipment and resources, if I buy them who gets the money?

 

Can't find previous similar posts but sure someone will be better than me !

[Cait]

Apparently if you are using the Preschool Alliance's constitution, the equipment, resources, furniture etc are the property of the Preschool and therefore must be given to the PSLA to dispose of. I suppose if you bought the stuff the money would then go to the PSLA. Someone there will be able to advise you. It's for this reason that nearly all the Preschool stuff belongs to me, only stuff bought with grant funding (four tables and 20 chairs) and specific fundraising (lockable cupboard) are really the property of the preschool.

[Buttercup]

I did exactly the same two years ago. the existing playgroup was dissolved and I opened up as a new private playgroup. regarding the equipment it was sold to me at a very very reasonable cost. I believe this can be done or if you did not want it other charity run playgroups can have it. Any assests left are then given to the playgroup ass as well but with a good account there probably wont be any with redundencies etc.

 

my advice would be go for it. It was the best thing for playgroup I have imployed most of the existing staff and it is great not having to account to a committee every time you want anything. Yes there is loads of paperwork but my husband does the acconts and the playgroup ass do my wages for a very good price. The school are happy they now get rent and our numbers have gone from 39 to 76 in two years.

 

Angela

[anju]

thanks cait and buttercup for the replies.

 

i will contact the pre-school learning alliance.

 

buttercup, how was a value put on the equipment? and did you have to have a solicitor to draw up legal documents? can I ask, how long did the whole thing take please?

 

thanks ever so much,

 

A

[Cait]

Yes there is loads of paperwork but my husband does the acconts and the playgroup ass do my wages for a very good price. The school are happy they now get rent and our numbers have gone from 39 to 76 in two years.

 

Angela

 

Are you still a registered charity? Did you make your own constitution?

[Buttercup]

thanks cait and buttercup for the replies.

 

i will contact the pre-school learning alliance.

 

buttercup, how was a value put on the equipment? and did you have to have a solicitor to draw up legal documents? can I ask, how long did the whole thing take please?

 

thanks ever so much,

 

A

 

it all went through really quickly. i think it all started at about May half term and was up and ready in september. I do have a contract with the school that was drawn up by someone in the LEA. regarding eqipment one of the committee worked out the cost of selling each item then a figure was given to me. To be honest they new the hassle it would have been to sell it so the price I got it for was really just to keep things legal and above board.

 

buttercup

[anju]

thanks very much, I will definitely look into it further,

 

A

[Mouseketeer]

will be interesting to see how this goes......we also looked into the committee making it over to me, but PLA was an issue, we dont even have a PLA rep in our area so giving all equipment and funds to them seems unfair, we already pay £90 membership a year for nothing ! (keep telling committee to sort insurance elsewhere and drop PLA) could buy equipment off pre-school for not a lot but what happens to money ?

[anju]

hi debc,

 

the headteacher spoke to me today (she is on the committee and seems keen to at least look into the possibilities of me taking over) and is going to see if there is any way round the PLA thing - we have a rep but I haven't set eyes on them for nearly 2 years and if I have to pay for equipment I would like to give it to the school (deprived area so the school could do with any extra money going). I would like to find out our obligations without committing anyone to anything if you know what I mean!

 

does the committee have to fall apart completely to proceed, or can they just decide they would rather not continue as they have better things to do with time they are not paid for (the latter is the case in our group).

 

A

[lynned55]

Although we are a charity run group and are members of the PSLA we have our own constitution. If our pre-school were to disolve tis is what would happen to any monies left

12. DISSOLUTION

If members decide to terminate the existence of the Pre-School any funds or equipment remaining after all the debts have been paid, shall be handed to the Pre-School Learning Alliance or any similar charity concerned with the education of pre-school children in the area of the Pre-School.

I read it as we could then give any money left to another group. Dont forget that any staff would qualify for redundancy even if you intended to re emply them and any money yo paid for equipment could be put towards these payments

Debc

you dont have to belong to PSLA if you dont want to, also it wouldn't have been them stopping you taking over. By law a registered charity cannot just become a privately owned business.There are ceertain procedures to be followed.

Edited July 1, 2009 by lynned55

[anju]

in our case it is only me that qualifies for redundancy I think as no-one else has been there for over 2 years. so would I be able to claim redundancy and offset this against paying for equipment?

[Cait]

well that would be up to the committee perhaps and your local psla team. all depends on the value of the equipment

[Inge]

in our case it is only me that qualifies for redundancy I think as no-one else has been there for over 2 years. so would I be able to claim redundancy and offset this against paying for equipment?

 

 

Rather than complicate things and use words like offset, I would just take the redundancy money and use it towards the resources etc... it is the same but offset sometimes makes people think you are trying to get something for a reduced price.. which may cause issues...

all down to how its worded

 

 

Inge

[Guest]

Hi Anju

The pre-school i now own and run was committee run and it was hard to retain committtee members and arrange meetings,etc.. we were told by the PLA that we wasnt running to the constitution as we only had 2 members on the committee. The manager and I (deputy) decided to buy it out, the remainng committee members priced the equipment up and we paid a cheque to the PLA as second hand furniture as they cant cost it as new. That was in July 2006 and by the time we had opened in Septemeber it was all up and running, you will have to notify Ofsted as it changes to sole trader and you will be issued with new certificate with your name on and not committee and may bring on an inspection for suitability and checks on building and everything else they look for. OK as someone else mentioned the buck stops with you and the work load is heavier, it does take over your home life and time but at end of day it is yours. We are on a school site and they love having us on site as we feed their nursery and in turn the parents come to us with siblings, we only pay £45 rent a week which includes all bills, telephone, gas, electricity, pat testing for electrical equipment, fire extinguisher checks, removal of disposable nappies through PHS, cleaning each evening and big clean through school holidays, so we have a fantastic deal with the school, one food for thought is i went into partnership and it didnt work, bought her out and now coming to end of first year on own, it has been challenging, a lot to do with existing staff as they dont always agree with changes i put in place and still harp on about how it was before. It is rewarding beyond belief when you open up each morning and know you can make decisions that dont have to put before an uninterested committe. My father once told me and its stuck with me for years, dont regret the things you do, regret the things you dont do. Good luck and let us know how you get on.

Alchross.x

[bugbabe]

Hi

 

We took over our pre-school and this is our 5th year. I didnt do it on my own, two of us existing employees took it over as partners. We work well together and compliment each other. It must be hard work on your own. I work most nights and week ends and Im sure my partner does the same. We both work in the nursery the same as any other employee though. If you have the resources to be purely a manager that would be ideal.

 

We were both made redundant by the dissolving committee. The committee had our equipment valued by our local auctioneers, it was worth next to nothing as they said it wasnt very saleable, we had documented evidence of how much it was all worth and everyone was happy that it was all official and above board and that the committee wouldnt be accountable for how much we bought the equipment for. We used our redundancy money to buy the equipment.

 

We were lucky and had help from our PLA lady, in the days when they used to come out every month to see you. She wasnt officially supposed to give us advice, but she did.

 

Good luck and it will all be worth it.

[anju]

thanks so much for the replies - especially heartening tp read about those of you who have done it.

 

may sound silly but if the committee want to dissolve, do they/we need permission from the PLA? or can we just inform them?

[Inge]

PLA are there to advise and help so should not need a say on committee dissolving...

 

I know in past they often tried to persuade them not to , don't know if this till happens..

 

I would just inform them of changes...

 

Inge

[lynned55]

As Inge says, PSLA are just therre to advise and support- it is not heir place to give permission or not for settings to do anything, The decision to disolve or not is entirely your committee's decision.

[anju]

thanks Inge and Lynne I will carry on pursuing this.

[anju]

http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/bdotg/actio...nesslink.gov.uk [/url]

 

I have found this great online guide/task manager to starting up your own business - thought it might be useful for others who are thinking about this as it goes through step by step all the things you need to do and gives links and advice on each one, it also monitors your progress towards starting your business.

 

 

but I don't know how to insert a link so not sure if this will work! let's give it a go...

[Shiny]

We too have looked into this over the last year. We were told as we are a registered charity the charities commission would have to value all resources and the use of business name etc. All monies would go to the charity commission who would then forward it to PSLA to distribute to all other registered charity preschools in the local area.

[anju]

one of the issues I have with the current arrangements is that we are NOT a registered charity even though I am sure we should be as our income from funding is way over £5000. I keep asking the committee to look into it (they do nothing else!!) but to no avail and I dont have time.

 

anyway, as we are not a registered charity I wonder if this might help as we wont have to follow their regulations if the change of ownership takes place (which is by no means definite as the Chair seems unsure).

 

are you still thinking of going ahead, Shiny? would it be just you taking on the business?

[sunnyday]

We too have looked into this over the last year. We were told as we are a registered charity the charities commission would have to value all resources and the use of business name etc. All monies would go to the charity commission who would then forward it to PSLA to distribute to all other registered charity preschools in the local area.

I wonder if any forum members have ever received anything like this...........