Don't employ a cowboy! The single most important thing you can do is to make sure you get the right people to put your school in! If you have any doubts whatsoever...walk away, or better still, run. Do not let anyone build you a dangerous & unusable school! So, how do you tell the cowboys from the indians?
Companies House
Have a look here. What are you looking for? That the company you're thinking of using does actually exist. You can also tell how long they've been trading and when they last filed accounts. Make sure you check the exact name on their headed paper. Mistake no 1 - I didn't do this. Although it wouldn't have made much difference if I had, as the company I used was on Companies House at the time.
Google
Google their company address & see if there are any other companies associated with their address. If there are...check them on Companies House too. Why? Because if it is set up as a limited company, then any liability rests with the company and not with the person running it. So the people who installed my arena still exist and are running two or three companies from the same address... but because the limited company which installed arenas has been shut down, legally they're off the hook. And could theoretically have set up another arena company and ran that for a few years until they started getting complaints, then closed that and started another one... Mistake no 2 - I didn't do this.
Internet forums
Try starting a thread on a forum like Horse & Hound Online & ask for people's experiences of using whatever company you're thinking of employing. You might uncover the truth behind the glossy adverts! Mistake no 3 - I did actually do this, and a lady who lives nearby warned me that she'd had some trouble with her school - a corner had collapsed. The company refused to respond to her, until she cornered them at a trade stand. They promised in front of witnesses to come and inspect the school...then just sent her a quotation for a top-up! I asked them about this, they didn't reply...AND I STILL USED THEM BECAUSE I WANTED A CHEAP SCHOOL!
Companies House
Have a look here. What are you looking for? That the company you're thinking of using does actually exist. You can also tell how long they've been trading and when they last filed accounts. Make sure you check the exact name on their headed paper. Mistake no 1 - I didn't do this. Although it wouldn't have made much difference if I had, as the company I used was on Companies House at the time.
Google their company address & see if there are any other companies associated with their address. If there are...check them on Companies House too. Why? Because if it is set up as a limited company, then any liability rests with the company and not with the person running it. So the people who installed my arena still exist and are running two or three companies from the same address... but because the limited company which installed arenas has been shut down, legally they're off the hook. And could theoretically have set up another arena company and ran that for a few years until they started getting complaints, then closed that and started another one... Mistake no 2 - I didn't do this.
Internet forums
Try starting a thread on a forum like Horse & Hound Online & ask for people's experiences of using whatever company you're thinking of employing. You might uncover the truth behind the glossy adverts! Mistake no 3 - I did actually do this, and a lady who lives nearby warned me that she'd had some trouble with her school - a corner had collapsed. The company refused to respond to her, until she cornered them at a trade stand. They promised in front of witnesses to come and inspect the school...then just sent her a quotation for a top-up! I asked them about this, they didn't reply...AND I STILL USED THEM BECAUSE I WANTED A CHEAP SCHOOL!