Hello everybody,

I'm hoping a few of you can help me out as I want to set up an at-home bakery but I don't know where to start.

I already have my website up and I've applied to Enviromental Health. They haven't been out to visit me yet. I asked them what the next step is and they said 'Once we receive the form, there is nothing more you need to do. The officers will contact you when and if they need to.'

But I'm sure there are a lot more steps I need to take in terms of my business being legal.

I'm really confused in terms of all the registration, companies house, tax etc. I've been researching a lot but I end up more confused everyday and I go to bed with a massive headache

I'm scared I might get into trouble since my site is up, but I have not done any type of registration.

I haven't really found the answers I need on the forum. Could somebody pleeeeeeeaaaaaaasssssee help me or point me in the right direction in case I overlooked a discussion.

Thank you.

Hi there

The regulations for home baking in the UK vary from council to council. For Redbridge (my council) I submitted the form, they emailed me some questions which I answered via email and they said I was good to go and would contact me as and when a site visit would be required.

Some resources that I have found useful include:

Business Link - http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/bdotg/action/home

If you are in the London area, the British Library has a great Business Centre with courses and advice which is great.

Kathy Moore is also updating her great book for 2011 - http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1905113234/?tag=cakecentral-20 (her previous edition was my bible when starting out)

Hope all goes well for you.

Most councils require you to notify them 28 days before you sell a cake, and they may or may not visit you to inspect your kitchen. They like to see at least one and a half bowl sink and a thermometer in the fridge and if you don't have a separate utility room you cannot do washing at the same time as cakes. Also contact the Food Standards agency as they have a file called Safer Food Better Business which is very helpful. You will need to contact HMRC to tell them you are starting a business, but you don't need to be registered for VAT until you are turning over 68k (I think that's the current figure) It's always advisable to get public and product liability insurance (Try the British Sugarcraft Guild if you are only doing low volume as their rates are excellent www.bsguk.org) You will need to notify your car insurance if you plan on delivering your cakes too. You only need to register with Companies House if you plan on going Ltd. This means that if your business fails, most debts are written off to the company not you personally. As you will probably not be setting up too many high credit accounts it's probably not worth the hassle and extra accounting and admin expenses at the moment. Although if you decide to make illegal cakes (licensed and copywrite images) the image owners could possible take you to court and although your insurance would not cover the fine any personal money/property etc could not be used to pay it. HTH!

hi, didnt know if you knew but there has been a thread running for ages for UK bakers: http://cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=622656&postdays=0&postorder=asc&&start=0
hope the link works (it took me ages to read it all), good luck, im hoping that i can start my own business this or next year too. xx

oops, just realised you do know about that thread, sorry