My daughter is thinking about going into business and buying a cattery & dog boarding business. Is there anyone who can give her some advice on this matter please.

Hi, this is something I very much wanted to do a couple of years ago.  We were either going to buy an existing kennels or buy somewhere to build a kennels.  Unfortunately neither option worked for us.  If buying an existing kennels, be aware that it may be valued on a 'bricks and mortar' basis, and therefore you will need a large deposit.  The kennels we wanted was for sale at £450k, but was valued at £300k which was just the land and buildings.  The mortgage company told us that as we were buying a service it was nigh on impossible to value, despite having very healthy books.  We then looked at our other option but that would have proved very costly indeed - the new kennel regulations are very strict.

A good website to get started at is www.kenneldesigns.com.  It does mainly cater for people wanting to build new kennels, but has links to other websites, including kennels for sale sites.

Another good idea is to speak to the local council.  They will let you have their criteria for kennel registration.

Good luck to your daughter!

Louise

I have just got my plans ready to submit to the council for planning approval for a boarding kennels and cattery.We are lucky in that we are buying the property of my inlaws and havnt had to pay for it yet so if we dont get the planning he is going to sell it to somebody else and we will have to think about buying a established kennels and cattery but like you say it is the good will a lot of the time that you are paying for.We have had the planning officers up twice to have a look at the buildings and the area and they said put the plans in as we stand a good chance.If we get the planning that will be one step up the ladder the next will be to get the licence.Wish me luck i think i will need it.