Lewes District Council

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Community & Enterprise
Lewes District Council
Southover House
Southover Road
Lewes
East Sussex
BN7 1AB

Tel: 01273 484401
business@lewes.gov.uk
Minicom 01273 484488

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Setting Up An Accommodation Business

PillowOwning a tourism business can be very enjoyable but there are many things to be considered before starting. Our resources pack gives a guiding hand.

This information is produced for businesses in the Lewes district. If you are located in the neighbouring districts, of Mid Sussex and Wealden we suggest that you contact your local tourism office for their advice.

Select Subject:

 Good Starting Point | Quality Assurance | Welcome Schemes | Planning & Building Control Regulations | Signage | Fire Risk Assessments  
Environmental Health & Food Safety |  Business Rates | Insurance | Visitors with Disabilities | Enjoy Sussex
Business Link & Training | Sussex Breakfast | Sustainable Tourism | Parking in Lewes 
Tourist Information | PRS for Music Licence | Glossary of Tourism Contacts

Starting Point

There are many things to consider when running an accommodation establishment from complying with the relevant legislation to ensuring that you know what your rights are when guests don’t pay or cancel their booking and what records you need to keep for overseas visitors.

If you have never operated such a business before we suggest that you subscribe to Accommodation Know-How. This provides detailed information on all practical and legislative concerns applicable to running an accommodation establishment. It is an invaluable online resource that is updated regularly. An annual subscription starts from £29.95. Establishments assessed by Visit Britain or Quality In Tourism will receive a subscription as part of their annual assessment fee.

Visit Britain publishes a business series with tailored advice on best practice and compliance for small enterprises.  These three titles are How to Run a Quality Bed and Breakfast, How to Run Quality Self–Catering Accommodation and How to Market your Business Effectively. Proces start at £9.99. For further information Tel: 01903 828503

Tourism South East also has a range of useful information online and they also publish a Business Support Handbook priced at £35.00. For further information Tel: 023 8062 5498/99

Quality Assurance

Visit Britain is leading the national policy to ensure that high quality accommodation is available to visitors – especially in the lead up to London 2012. Regional tourist boards and most local authorities in the UK operate an assessed only policy. This means they only promote establishments with a 1 – 5 star rating awarded by either Visit Britain, via Quality in Tourism, or the AA as part of the National Quality Assessment Scheme.

Across Sussex, all but one of the local authority areas promote only star-rated accommodation to ensure that visitors can be assured of a minimum standard of quality accommodation rated independently against a trustworthy criteria.

All accommodation promoted by the Enjoy Sussex Visitor Guide and Website must carry a valid assessment awarded by Quality in Tourism or the AA.

The AA have launched its own Self Catering scheme which will operate throughout the UK which will include an individual report and classificiation for each property (if more than one unit exists).  Details can be found at  http://www.aa.com/ Tel: 01256 844455

Even if you decide to operate your business without a star rating we recommend that you request a copy of an assessment pack to gain an understanding of the standards and expectations of the industry. There is an annual fee for this service, which varies depending on accommodation type and room numbers. There is also a one-off registration fee.

For further information: Quality In Tourism  Tel: 0845 300 6996 Email: qualityintourism@gslglobal.com  The AA Tel: 01256 844455

Welcome Schemes

Consider applying for a Welcome Schemes administered by Visit Britain. These highlight any specialist services/ facilities your establishment may offer for certain markets. Current Welcome Schemes include Walkers Welcome, Cyclists Welcome, Welcome Pets! and Families Welcome.

Planning & Building Control Regulations

We always advise that you contact your local Planning and Building Control Office before you start any work or open your business. This will ensure you have the necessary permissions and you are not breaching any conditions on your property.

For planning, as a general rule if the number of rooms to be let does not exceed 50% of the total rooms, planning permission is not usually required. Self catering conversions will always require planning permission.

We consider planning permission is not generally required for the use of one or two bedrooms of a private dwelling for bed and breakfast purposes, provided the number of bedrooms used does not exceed 50% of the dwelling's total.

For Building Regulations, these will need to be considered when carrying out any alterations to your premises and will depend on the number of people that will be sleeping on site (including guests, staff and owners).

If you are in a conservation area, occupy a listed building, carrying out any structural alterations, or installing new bathrooms or fire detection systems, you will need to contact the Planning and Building Control Office. It is always best to double check before starting any work to avoid future problems.

Signage

The display of all outdoor signage is governed by the provisions of the Town and Country Planning (Control of Advertisements) Regulations 1992.  These regulations concern lighting, height and fixing and can be very complicated. 

We would therefore advise you to seek the advice of our Planning Office before commissioning signs for your premises to clarify what permissions you may require. If your property is a listed building, you may need consent for any sign to be put up on your building.

It's always best to double check before commissioning any signage to avoid future problems.

Brown & White Signage

Only certain businesses meet the criteria to qualify for brown and white signage on the roads. In the Lewes district there are two agencies that deal with applications for brown and white signs.

These are the Highways Agency (motorways and other main roads) and East Sussex County Council (all other roads).  All brown and white signs require an application to the appropriate authority and a fee will be charged – dependant on size, location etc.

Fire Risk Assessments

Since October 2006, new Fire Safety Laws came into force making businesses directly responsible for the safety of all premises users. As a result, fire certificates have been abolished and new risk assessments have to be completed by a designated ‘responsible person’. 

The new laws apply to all tourism businesses including self-catering and smaller establishments who were previously exempt from fire certificates. The law states that operators must take responsibility for fire safety themselves. All accommodation businesses will have to carry out a fire safety risk assessment. In smaller premises the operator can probably do their own assessment but in large, complex premises a trained professional is more likely to be needed.  Preventative or protective measures required following the risk assessment must be installed and maintained.

Fire officers will carry out spot checks and whoever performed the risk assessment is liable for anything found to be incorrect or if anything goes wrong. Magistrates will be able to impose fines of £5,000 for each offence, while a Crown Court can impose unlimited fines and up to two years in jail. Quality in Tourism assessors can also ask to see your risk assessment as part of your assessment.

Business Link offer free Fire Risk advice for businesses and you may find the booklet 'Do you have paying guests?' useful. A pdf of this booklet can be viewed at the bottom of this page.

Environmental Health & Food Safety

The local Environmental Health Department will be able to advise on all matters relating to Food Hygiene and Health & Safety and will be able to provide information on Food Hygiene courses and free leaflets available.

As the person with control over the premises, you have responsibility for the physical safety of every person who comes onto those premises.  You will have a ‘duty of care’ to guests and must make sure that your premises are reasonably safe for the purpose for which guests are invited to use them. 

You will also be responsible for the health and safety of your employees, whether you have one or one hundred.  You must ensure that they are supplied with adequate equipment and working conditions.

Under Food Hygiene legislation, all serviced accommodation must register with the local Environmental Health and undergo a free inspection. You can also make contact with Environmental Health to benefit from their advice on all food safety related issues.

Business Rates

A domestic property may be used for Bed & Breakfast and generally won’t be subject to Business Rates if:

If your establishment has more than 6 bed spaces then you will be liable for business rates. Self catering units are not classed as domestic properties and are therefore liable for business rates.

Insurance

You must ensure that you have adequate insurance cover.  Most household policies will not cover the use of your premises for business purposes, your liability to employees and guests, or any damage caused by guests.

Some insurance companies offer special packages for accommodation providers including Public Liability Insurance, Employers Liability Insurance and Property and Contents Insurance.

To find out what cover you will need and costs, contact your insurance company.

Visitors with Disabilities

The Disability Discrimination Act applies to all businesses providing a service to the public regardless of size. The legislation ensures that all businesses provide reasonable access to visitors with disabilities - and it is important to think of disabilities in the widest context and not just around wheelchair access.

To comply with the Act you may have to:

Visit Britain has a free publication Easy Does It. This has helpful tips and simple, low cost changes that could benefit your business and your visitors.

Tourism South East produces a booklet entitled Creating Accessible Tourism which includes helpful advice and information along with a self completion audit so you can see how your establishment fairs.

There is currently a shortage of fully accessible accommodation within the Lewes district and consideration given to setting up suitable facilities could offer you a key business opportunity. You may also wish to consider obtaining accreditation for your facilities as part of the National Accessible Scheme.

Enjoy Sussex & Tourist Information Centres

Lewes District Council works in partnership with Horsham, Mid Sussex and Wealden District Councils to promote their combined areas as a visitor destination under the Enjoy Sussex brand. Opportunities are available for quality assessed (star rated) businesses to advertise on an annual basis.

The Enjoy Sussex Visitor Guide is produced annually and is supported by the Enjoy Sussex website. Over 60,000 Vistor Guides are distributed to local and national Tourist Information Centres and as part of a national marketing campaign to attract visitors to the area. Enjoy Sussex is supported by the Lewes, Seaford, Horsham and Burgess Hill Tourist Information Centres.

The Enjoy Sussex website offers all advertisers a detailed listing with links to their own website. It also offers the opportunity for businesses to maximise their booking potential by updating room/ unit availability and accepting online bookings or reservations (commission free). If you have missed the opportunity to advertise in the current visitor Guide, you can take an interim website advert which would enable you to receive the benefits of working with Enjoy Sussex.

Benefits of Advertising with Enjoy Sussex include:

We cannot guarantee that our Enjoy Sussex activities & Tourist Information Centres with associated websites will be your main source of business although we will endeavour to provide the best possible service. We recommend you use additional sources for bookings to ensure an even spread of business throughout the year (e.g. Local community networks - shops, churches, other tourism organisations and publications and e-commerce activities.) If you do not wish to operate with a National Quality Assessment Scheme rating then we regret that we are unable to feature your establishment in any of the Lewes District tourism promotional activities.

For further information about advertising with Enjoy Sussex contact the Tourism & Economic Development team or Tel: 01273 484403

Business Link & Training

Business Link is a key organisation for small businesses offering free advice and information on many issues that will help your business to grow. They can also help to signpost you to training courses that will help your personal and business development.

Business Link also provide Free Business Reviews, where an experienced tourism sector professional will visit your business, assess your needs and then help you to develop new opportunities.

Tourism South East: Tourism Training offers a range of training opportunities throughout the year on everything from customer service to social media.

Sussex Breakfast

An accredited Sussex Breakfast is made from at least 60% of local, seasonal ingredients – and must include free range eggs and sausages or bacon from free range or low intensive barn reared pork. These must be sourced direct from an approved producer or farm shop that are supplied by local farmers and craft processors.

Businesses that can demonstrate a commitment to sourcing local produce against a monitored criteria are eligible to display the Sussex Breakfast marque in their advertising activities.

For details of Sussex food producers and suppliers visit the Sussex Food Finder.

Sustainable Tourism

Businesses that can demonstrate a commitment to green and sustainable practices might be interested in subscribing to the Green Tourism Business Scheme to achieve a bronze, silver or gold accreditation.

Sustainable Tourism for Dummies is a new book in the Dummies series of easy to use guidance by Wiley publishers designed to help tourism businesses of all sizes to be more sustainable.

We have produced guidance to help small businesses to recycle. ‘Recycling for Small Businesses – A Rough Guide’ provides useful information about recycling paper, card and glass from commercial premises and what to do with phones, computers and printer cartridges when they are upgraded.

Parking in Lewes town

Lewes town centre operates a controlled parking scheme which is separated into five zones. Parking controls operate Monday to Friday 8am – 6pm and in some areas also on Saturday 8am – 6pm.

Hotels and guesthouses within the controlled parking zone are able to purchase stocks of day permits which can be used by their guests.

For further information about Hotel & Guesthouse permits contact Lewes Parking Shop,  29 High Street, Lewes, BN7 2LU. Tel 01273 477105
Opening hours: Monday – Thursday: 8am – 5pm. Friday: 8am – 4pm. Saturday: 9am – 1pm

PRS for Music

Hotels and Guesthouses that play the radio, pre recorded CDs or other music for ambience may need to consider purchasing a PRS for Music licence which provides clearance for the use of copyright music. 

Prices vary depending on the size of your venue and frequency of use. If you don't obtain the necessary clearances for your use of copyright music, you could face legal action for copyright infringement and may become liable to pay damages and costs.

Tourism Organisations

Visit Britain

Visit Britain is the national tourism agency which is responsible for marketing Britain worldwide and for developing England’s visitor economy.

Visit England

Visit England is the leadership and stakeholder body for England's tourism industry. It has an executive team within Visit Britain and works in partnership with regional tourism agencies. It has responsibility for delivering a tourism strategy for England.

Tourism South East

Tourism South East is the regional tourism agency, working with local businesses and key UK organisations to support the industry and promote the economy of the south east region.

Lewes District Council

As the local authority we work with local businesses to promote the Lewes district as a visitor destination. We have responsibility for legislative regulation such as planning and environmental heath. We also fund and manage the Lewes & Seaford Tourist Information Centres.

Tourist Information Centres

Tourist Information Centres are usually funded and managed by the local authority. Tourist Information Centres are part of a national network that offer marketing and booking channels for attractions and accommodation and promote the local area to visitors. The Lewes District Tourist Information Centres are in Lewes and Seaford.

Sussex Tourism Partnership

Sussex Tourism Partnership is a sub regional partnership across East and West Sussex made up of representatives from the private sector, local authorities and Tourism South East.

The partnerships aim is to support a prosperous, sustainable visitor economy which spreads across the whole of Sussex. One of the Partnership's activities is the management of the Visit Sussex website which provides a portal information site for Sussex.

Documents

Information booklet on complying with fire safety law for people who provide sleeping accommodation.
PDF Do you have paying guests?  (0.83mb)