Starting a New Business
Before you start trading the main items you will need to have in place are:
All Businesses
(Health & Safety in workplaces)
- Risk Assessment
As an employer, or a self-employed person, you are responsible for health and safety and required to manage the risks in your business.
A good place to start is the Health and Safety Executive's website - `Health and Safety made simple` - here you will find basic information on how to comply with the law.
The leaflet five steps to risk assessment takes you through writing a risk assessment. A number of example risk assessments have been produced to show how small and medium-sized businesses can approach risk assessment. These maybe useful when writing your own.
We offer several health & safety training courses. For details of courses follow this link: Training Courses
Food Businesses
(Food Hygiene requirements)
Food businesses are required to register with their local authority. For information on how to register follow this link: Food Premises Registration
We suggest staff who prepare open foods and/or have a supervisory role attend the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH) Level 2 Award in Food Safety in Catering within 3 months of starting work. This should be refreshed every 3 years. For details of courses follow this link: Training Courses
- Food Safety Management System
This is a document showing how the food you make is safe to eat. The Food Standards Agency have produced the 'Safer Food Better Business' (SFBB) pack to help small food businesses comply with this requirement.
You can download either;
- Caterers pack
- Chinese cuisine pack
- Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Sri Lankan cuisine pack
- Retailers pack
- Childminders pack
- Care homes supplement (to be used in conjunction with the caterers pack)
Alternately to order an SFBB pack call Food Standards Agency Publications on 0845 606 0667 or email foodstandards@ecgroup.co.uk . An online training course is also available in 16 different languages to help food businesses implement SFBB Training
SFBB is not suitable for all types of food businesses. In these cases a more detailed food safety management system based on HACCP principles is required. An information pack is available, which can be downloaded here: 
HACCP Information Pack [354kb]. A short guide to completing a HACCP plan can be found here: Guide to HACCP Plan [550kb].
- Structural Requirements
Layout, Design, Construction and size;
Make sure the premises permit good hygiene practice and permit easy cleaning, and protect against risk of contamination.
Floors, Walls, Ceilings and Work surfaces
Suitable materials for walls include; Washable painted plaster, Epoxy resin and similar coatings; Ceramic tiles; Stainless Steel sheeting, PVC and other proprietary sheeting. Wall surfaces must be smooth.
Suitable materials for floors include; Flooring tiles (quarry, ceramic or vinyl), Washable safety flooring; Vinyl safety flooring; cast in situ resin.
Suitable materials for work surfaces include; Melamine; Stainless steel, Ceramic, Granite, Food grade plastics.
Suitable ceilings include; smooth washable painted plaster, direct fixed ceiling systems and suspended ceilings.
Hand washing facilities and toilets;
Hand wash basin preferably at the entrance to the kitchen and separate from the food/equipment sink, supplied hot and cold, hand drying facilities (preferably paper towels) and soap (preferably dispensed anti bacterial soap).
Toilets must not lead directly into the kitchen.
Sinks
Two sinks are preferable to allow washing and rinsing.
Separate sinks for food and equipment must be provided if the volume of preparation in the kitchen demands it.
Ventilation
This will depend upon the type of cooking/ food preparation you are doing in your business. In a large catering business we would expect a ventilation system capable of 30 air changes per hour.
