Floating Florist

[JWF]

Hi there!

 

I'm not sure what board to post this to, but I just have a general question that I've been having trouble finding an answer to.

 

My husband and I own a floral boutique in Canada and are planning on selling in two years time to start a floating florist in the Regent's canal. I've looked into business licencing in London and I don't see any immediate issues there, but are there any immediate issues from the CRT? Other than licensing, are there other reasons why this might not be the coolest thing in the world?

 

We have a plan for layout and set-up- we just don't really know all that much about boats. Would a standard, widebeam Dutch barge offer a space on top that would be suitable for multiple people to stand on at once? If not, is it possible to reinforce? We will very likely be having the boat custom-made.

 

Also, this stand would be seasonal so weather isn't really a concern.

 

Thanks in advance!

[Alan de Enfield]

Welcome to the mad, mad world.

 

It is quite a challenge to find anywhere to moor in inner London and would not be easy to run your proposed business, I would suggest that you speak with C&RTs business development people who will need to approve your plans and issue you with a trading licence, so get in with them, and use their suggestions to build your business plan (which you will need to submit to them)

 

If you are planning on having the 'public' on your boat the insurance, & BSS are different to if they stand on the side and you hand the flowers over.

Having the public climbing ladders to get onto the roof would be a nightmnare in H&S legislation alone - you have to have the ladder checked and certified every year etc etc.

 

It is the dream of many to live on a boat (and CC) in London - there are currently some 1,000 / 2,000 /3,000 liveaboard boats in London (depending on how you define 'London'.)

Apparently there are some 300-500 additional boats per annum, heading for London

 

In central London there are something like 7 water points and only 3 Toilet emptying stations between 1000/2000 boats. It will be important for you to undertake some research on how you will live.

 

If that is your dream - go for it but be sure you can actually live the dream

[ditchcrawler]

Maybe this would be the way to go http://www.narrowboatworld.com/index.php/leatest/7481-trade-moorings-for-london

[JWF]

That is SO EXCITING. Thank you so much!

[ditchcrawler]

To give you an idea what you are up against

https://www.change.org/p/canal-river-trust-save-london-s-only-floating-bookshop-by-giving-them-a-permanent-mooring-at-paddington-station

[b0atman]

There are other cities but boat width can be a problem unless you went for a butty as the flower shop.

[JWF]

Well, the boat will probably be a home first and a florist second I suppose. Lovely bookshop though! I would so love to have a flower shop that is similar but it's so complicated in London. Any ideas of a relatively big city where this would all be more possible?

[Bettie Boo]

Hi and welcome to the forum

 

Have you looked into any other locations other than London? There are other good sized cities scattered about the inland water ways that might be a little easier to get a permanent trading mooring for. Bath / Newbury / Warwick / Milton Keynes / Oxford / Abingdon / Windsor just to name a few

 

As far as a roof top deck on a Wide beam or Dutch Barge style boat, others are doing it, so it can be done. Have a look at the web site for Wessex Rose Hotel Boat for one, if you are having your boat designed you could incorporate a set of steps rather than a ladder to get to the roof deck from your stern area if you have a cruiser stern design. The steps could be designed to collapse so as to not hinder when your actually moving the boat. Obviously there will be some pretty tight H&S concerns you will need to satisfy as far as your roof top deck goes, but doable IMO.

 

Something that will need a considerable amount of research, I would think, is refrigeration for your flowers; & your plans to for supplying power for that refrigeration. Or will you be relying solely on shore power?

 

btw - where abouts in Canada are you from? I'm a Maritimer from Saint John, N.B.

 

please don't let the above lead you in the wrong direction - I'm very much a novice to this boating life style and still on a steep learning curve myself, we've only been on our WB for 9 months

Edited November 16, 2014 by Bettie Boo

[b0atman]

Birmingham

[Bettie Boo]

Birmingham

 

hmmm pretty difficult to get either a barge or WB to Birmingham though...don't think all the folks with narrow boats would appreciate us wide ones trying to get through the skinny locks

[Alan de Enfield]

 

hmmm pretty difficult to get either a barge or WB to Birmingham though...don't think all the folks with narrow boats would appreciate us wide ones trying to get through the skinny locks

 

Not if you have it built in the North (there is life above Oxford & MIlton Keynes these days, & we don't make bangles out of the Telegraph wires any longer)

 

Nottingham

York (Very touristy)

[Bettie Boo]

 

Not if you have it built in the North (there is life above Oxford & MIlton Keynes these days, & we don't make bangles out of the Telegraph wires any longer)

 

Nottingham

York (Very touristy)

 

LOL

 

Yes Alan - I'm sure there are loads of lovely cities to the Northern part of the country as well, and I'm sure those who are familiar with them will be along shortly to recommend them - I was only recommending what I'm sightly familiar with and areas where both WB and Dutch Barge style boats (as per described as the boat style of choice in the OP)

 

with that in mind the above was in response to bOatmans suggestion of Birmingham

 

But then thinking about it, anything is possible these days.

 

The OP may be able to have the boat built and have it road hauled into Birmingham and craned into the canal there, however they may find it rather difficult to get it to a boat yard to have the blacking done 2 years down the line. Are there many facilities they could navigate to for water / waste in Birmingham without having to go through a lock? That's a legit question btw - having a WB we've never been there by boat.

[ditchcrawler]

 

LOL

 

Yes Alan - I'm sure there are loads of lovely cities to the Northern part of the country as well, and I'm sure those who are familiar with them will be along shortly to recommend them - I was only recommending what I'm sightly familiar with and areas where both WB and Dutch Barge style boats (as per described as the boat style of choice in the OP)

 

with that in mind the above was in response to bOatmans suggestion of Birmingham

 

But then thinking about it, anything is possible these days.

 

The OP may be able to have the boat built and have it road hauled into Birmingham and craned into the canal there, however they may find it rather difficult to get it to a boat yard to have the blacking done 2 years down the line. Are there many facilities they could navigate to for water / waste in Birmingham without having to go through a lock? That's a legit question btw - having a WB we've never been there by boat.

CaRT contractors have a widebeam on the Birmingham and Fazeley, It comes in two halves and bolts together so it can pass through narrow locks.

[Alan de Enfield]

Bettie Boo, on 16 Nov 2014 - 11:16 PM, said:

 

Are there many facilities they could navigate to for water / waste in Birmingham without having to go through a lock? That's a legit question btw - having a WB we've never been there by boat.

 

Nottingham, York, Manchester all available to 'fatties'

Birmingham "would be difficult"

Here is a map posted by David Mack yesterday (in a similar thread)

 

[pearley]

Surely it is not just where you can get a wide boat but the amount of footfall on the towpath. That would rule out many of the locations suggested.

 

Bath would be OK but only on the at presently closed moorings below the weir. Newbury no good as no facilities for boaters. Milton Keynes and Oxford too far from the town centre. York floods and poor facilities although you could copy the cafe boat and have a permanent mooring down river and come up to the city centre each weekend.

 

Salthouse Dock in Liverpool maybe OK. Possibly on the 'trade moorings' on the Albert Dock side. Manchester if you can get permission from Peel. Nottingham outside the courts maybe OK apart from the scroats and the need to move some distance for facilities. There is also Lincoln.

 

Birmingham OK but I doubt CRT would allow a wide beam

[the barnacle]

was there a narrowboat for sale recently with drop side onto the towpath that was selling craft things?

[Machpoint005]

I'm greatly in favour of 'working boats' on the network however it is achieved,, but I can't help feeling that the basic problem here is location, location, location. Living on a boat would put the boat in the wrong place for the business. Running the business on a boat would mean it was impractical to live on it.

 

I'd have thought a better business model would be to live on a boat and have shore-based business premises (anywhere but London, probably). That way you would keep your living costs down and still be able to have a reasonable stab at a cash flow projection that wouldn't be too frightening.

[Tim Lewis]

Surely it is not just where you can get a wide boat but the amount of footfall on the towpath. That would rule out many of the locations suggested.

 

Bath would be OK but only on the at presently closed moorings below the weir. Newbury no good as no facilities for boaters. Milton Keynes and Oxford too far from the town centre. York floods and poor facilities although you could copy the cafe boat and have a permanent mooring down river and come up to the city centre each weekend.

 

Salthouse Dock in Liverpool maybe OK. Possibly on the 'trade moorings' on the Albert Dock side. Manchester if you can get permission from Peel. Nottingham outside the courts maybe OK apart from the scroats and the need to move some distance for facilities. There is also Lincoln.

 

Birmingham OK but I doubt CRT would allow a wide beam

 

With reference to London I would note that although it being the caital the canal does not really go through what might be classified as busy/tourist hotspots.

 

The only places where you get any significant footfall are at Camden Market and on the Paddington Basin arm outside Paddington Station.

 

The Paddington site has recently gone out to auction for the two available permanent trading boat spots and I can't can't see the operators being too happy if another trading boat rocks up next to them. and at Camden there is little or no space to trade from from on the towpath even if you could get permission.

 

Tim

[magnetman]

Anyone know how much the commercial moorings went for and how big they are length x beam?

and allowed airdraft if you wanted a 2 story houseboat for lettings does it have to fit under the bridges.

[ditchcrawler]

I am sorry the only trading boats I support are those that travel. If its on a permanent mooring it may as well be on the bank and leave the water clear for boaters who want to boat.

[magnetman]

I agree with that to an extent, but if CRT can raise good money from floating coffee shops in London I think they should as they do need money apparently

[Phoenix_V]

Toronto is nice plenty of space at the marinas on the lake

[Gordias]

Here's a combination of a "shop boat" and a "live aboard" for a single price. Oldish boats, but assuming the hulls are ok they seem very nice (tough maybe not ideal for a florist - as set up there's no "walk-in" capablity).

 

http://narrowboats.apolloduck.co.uk/feature.phtml?id=301228

Edited November 18, 2014 by Gordias

[magnetman]

Flowers in summer

Coal in winter

 

 

Fit a tail lift and you can move coal and heavy preplanted summer flowerpots straight onto the roof of passing boats with no manual lifting

[JWF]

Thanks for all your lovely input and suggestions! I'm new to the whole thing so all of this information has been incredibly helpful. We are slowly and sadly realizing that maybe London is a bit out of reach- we would be happy to sacrifice tons of comfort just to live in London (we are young and stupid!), but if it's completely impossible then we have to be realistic. How does one CC around London? Do you cruise until you find a spot to moor? Do you have to call ahead? Can you reserve spots? Can you moor anywhere? I used to live next to the canal in Camden and I remember there always being tons of room in the canal, but I don't know anything about where people are allowed to moor and I'm sure there must have been reason as to why it wasn't always completely full. I just have such vague questions that it's very difficult to google the answers, input from this forum has been invaluable and I so appreciate it!