cafe boat

[adam kent]

hi all

i am thinking of setting up a cafe boat near doncaster and would welcome any information or knowledge and experience in this matter as i am only at the planning stage at the moment.if anyone knows of any obsticles and if they have tried to do something along these lines all information would be greatly appreciated

many thanks adam kent

adamkent.6@hotmail.co.uk

[mrsmelly]

hi all

i am thinking of setting up a cafe boat near doncaster and would welcome any information or knowledge and experience in this matter as i am only at the planning stage at the moment.if anyone knows of any obsticles and if they have tried to do something along these lines all information would be greatly appreciated

many thanks adam kent

adamkent.6@hotmail.co.uk

 

Hi Adam

 

Location Location Location and do you have any catering experience ?

I can give you loads of tips and advise re the many drawbacks and pitfalls but not on the forum there is too much to talk about. You need to do some more posts to enable use of Personal messenger thingy then if you are interested get in touch.

 

Regards

 

Tim

[the grinch]

hi Adam and welcome to the madhouse!!

 

first thing i would recommend is talk to BW about a traders licence, find out wether they will allow you to permanently occupy a site. i know there are several such businesses in the Brindley place complex in Birmingham, maybe worth a visit to have a chat with them.

[magpie patrick]

Hi Adam

 

Location Location Location and do you have any catering experience ?

I can give you loads of tips and advise re the many drawbacks and pitfalls but not on the forum there is too much to talk about. You need to do some more posts to enable use of Personal messenger thingy then if you are interested get in touch.

 

Regards

 

Tim

 

Agree, your primary trade will be passing, so you need to be where footfall is already high

[AlanH]

There is one in Slaithwaite on the HNC - the Moonraker. You are far enough away to not be a competitor so they may give you some advice. 01484 846370

[Caprifool]

May I hijack the thread with a maybe relevant question? How long would it be normal to wait for BW to answer a email question about traders licenses?

[GSer]

May I hijack the thread with a maybe relevant question? How long would it be normal to wait for BW to answer a email question about traders licenses?

 

 

At the moment just getting a reply from BW is an achievement! Very poor service from them at the moment i'm afraid.

[Caprifool]

Ah, thank you GSer. I'll give them a couple of weeks before I start naging them again then

 

Interesting topic. I'll be following it closely.

[adam kent]

Hi Adam

 

Location Location Location and do you have any catering experience ?

I can give you loads of tips and advise re the many drawbacks and pitfalls but not on the forum there is too much to talk about. You need to do some more posts to enable use of Personal messenger thingy then if you are interested get in touch.

 

Regards

 

Tim

 

right at the moment i have been in touch with doncaster council and waterways it would be on the moorings outside doncaster college but they are visitor moorings so i have been told that i would have to leave but thats fine because there is lots of other companies up the waterside but as i say im still in the planning stage at the moment.

thanks for the reply

[Daftmare]

Hopefully "Canalchef" will come along soon and be able to help, as he runs a similar business. Or perhaps you could send him a PM ?

 

Jo.

[Liam]

Richard Delves who is the Boating Trade Manager for the North is quite helpfull.

You can call him on 0113 2816874 or email him at... richard dot delves at british waterways dot co dot uk

 

Liam

[sueb]

Hopefully "Canalchef" will come along soon and be able to help, as he runs a similar business. Or perhaps you could send him a PM ?

 

Jo.

no he doesn't

Sue

[bargemast]

no he doesn't

Sue

 

 

I think that his boat is only moored in front of his land-based restaurant.

 

Peter.

[Daftmare]

no he doesn't

Sue

 

 

my mistake - sorry, had it in my head that the boat

was the restaurant! Happy to be put right.

[c c]

Hopefully "Canalchef" will come along soon and be able to help, as he runs a similar business. Or perhaps you could send him a PM ?

 

Jo.

Er ......... Badseys CafeBistro is in a building beside the canal, not in Badsey the boat. There has been a boat based cafe at Braunston for many years and they seem happy enough. (very hot in the galley in summer).

[Daftmare]

Er ......... Badseys CafeBistro is in a building beside the canal, not in Badsey the boat. There has been a boat based cafe at Braunston for many years and they seem happy enough. (very hot in the galley in summer).

 

 

Yep sorry Ian, I have already been pulled up on my mistake! Jo.

[bottle]

There has been a boat based cafe at Braunston for many years

 

True, called 'Gongoozlers Rest' it has changed hands recently (last year ?) had a re-fit and the service/food is just as good.

[Charles]

There's a café / sandwich business (boat-based) for sale in, I think, York. Look in ApolloDuck in

the businesses for sale section.

[adam kent]

Agree, your primary trade will be passing, so you need to be where footfall is already high

 

i got in touch with the man in charge of trade for british waterways and the local council and they seem to be behind me.

next to the moorings is the college and its close to the town center and there isnt one like it around so i would think the tourist board would back it too

 

thanks for all the suggestions and tips im most grateful and please keep them coming.

i did get in touch with mr delves and he sent me some info to look through.as i said i am in the planning stage so i am doing as much research as i can so it all goes as smoothly as possible

thanks again to everyone adam

[Mat B]

There's a café / sandwich business (boat-based) for sale in, I think, York. Look in ApolloDuck in

the businesses for sale section.

 

Here he is at the end of the day with his tables on the roof!

 

 

 

Apollo Duck Link

 

m@

[TimD]

The;re also the raft cafe near bath raft cafe

 

But please read this article written by a guy who owned a cafe and quickly realised that you either have a nice friendly cafe that loosess money, or run a slick business that maximises client throughput

My coffehouse nightmare

I'm not saying don't do it, but do make sure that the type of cafe you want to run will at least break even and pay your wages.

[c c]

But please read this article written by a guy who owned a cafe and quickly realised that you either have a nice friendly cafe that loosess money, or run a slick business that maximises client throughput

My coffehouse nightmare

I'm not saying don't do it, but do make sure that the type of cafe you want to run will at least break even and pay your wages.

 

So of course I had to read it.

The writers only redeeming feature is that he actually used the word "restaurateur" instead of the current media fixation with such a phrase as "He/She's a top restauranteur" (including the dreaded "n" can only mean someone who sells restaurants rather than restauratives) Sorry for that but its a pet hate of mine.

Hope the following is a bit of a help and not sounding presumptious.

Do your research and then (assuming you or your loved-one can cook) only go into it if you are still in love with the idea. If you have limited experience in a small kitchen, invite 20 people for a free full english breakfast (only before you start for real) and see if you enjoy it. Ask the local Environmental Health people for advice now.

If you have half an idea that you can employ others to do the work - stop now. We have been blessed with some top young part-timers who have stayed with us for many years but basically my wife and I do the main tasks.

Don't spend a fortune on advertising but concentrate on letting the food (and good coffee/tea) do the attracting. Start with a menu that is well within your skill level (and in the case of a boat - limited storage space for ingredients), and build it up over time.

In choosing a location, make sure there are good reliable food suppliers or a great market nearby - nothing worse than having to travel miles for more ingredients when you have a rush on.

Don't get disheartened when nobody comes in - just put double the effort into the next meal when they do.

If you are thinking big enough to go over the VAT limit, remember that will be 20% on the customers bill when most of your raw ingredients are Zero rated. And actually, if you do find a way of earning more than the VAT limit in a canalboat-sized cafe without it killing you, then please let us know how you did it.

And very very good luck. If you want to give us a call, the number is at www.badseys.co.uk

[yorkshireboats]

The York cafe is not for sale anymore or atleast i don't think it is.

 

I was there only a month gone and there is a young couple on it now, guys called Jamie IIRC. The advert on apolloduck is from Febuary

[Max Sinclair]

hi all

i am thinking of setting up a cafe boat near doncaster and would welcome any information or knowledge and experience in this matter as i am only at the planning stage at the moment.if anyone knows of any obsticles and if they have tried to do something along these lines all information would be greatly appreciated

many thanks adam kent

adamkent.6@hotmail.co.uk

There is an excellent, busy one, in Diglis Basin Worcester.

[sueb]

There is an excellent, busy one, in Diglis Basin Worcester.

Run by a former wergie

Sue