I got asked a question today by my old man and i didnt really know the answer, he,s about had enough of the job now at 67 so has decided its time to call it a day, however theres still money to be made as the job he does everyday is a long standing affair going back almost 20yrs, my brother is an employed driver at the moment so could he buy my old mans business , truck , good will, O license etc or is that just not allowed as a sole trader?
As I understand it, no, a sole trader cannot sell his O licence.
So if he got him to change to a ltd co before he retires that would be ok re the O license ?
chaversdad:
So if he got him to change to a ltd co before he retires that would be ok re the O license ?
I stand to be corrected (as always) but he would need to reapply for a new O licence as thou it is a new adventure. IIRC newspaper advert onwards but as said i stand to be corrected…
The old man could stay on as transport manager to top up his pension.
Whichever way will require new o licemce
The new ltd co whuch will then be sold to your brother
Or your brother as a soletrader
Your father can sell his business just the olicence non transferable
From a soletrader
May be a smoother change over for your dad to get new o licence
Ion a change of entity
I thought that may be the case, seems a lot of aggrevation though, its just a shame to let it all go when his name has been known for so long in the type of work he does
You can still keep name
If he trade now as joe bloggs haulage
You set up joe bloggs haulage ltd
Or if that name gone you can set up
Abc124 ltd t/a joe bloggs haulage
No reason to loose name
Just have to change o licence
But if. He does it now as a chamge of entity from soletrader to limited
Its easier than a complete new one
Then when he retires and sells out
New directors changed at vosa as ltd company holds o licence
Not an individual
Probably the easiest way would be for your brother to set up a limited company in the same name as your Dad’s trading name (but with Ltd on the end) and then just take over the entire operation when Dad retires, although he would need to apply for an O licence in the name of the limited company. The only other way would be for your brother to take over the everyday running of the business, but as an employee, and with your Dad remaining the owner and TM.
You would have to be careful doing that though, not to cross the line to the point where VOSA would consider it a “hired-out licence”, but it could be done.
Can a shedule 4 be used in this situation!
so if my old fella changed to a ltd co now with appropiate licenses and then added my brother as a director as well as himself then next year he could simply retire into the background leaving my brother to run the job? Hence the reason for the next question,
I dont know if i,ve imagined this or not but did someone not post a link ages ago to some hardly used Vosa quirk where if all your changing is your trading status and everything else is remaining the same ie op centre/maintainence agreement etc then theres a simpler way of changing from sole trader to Ltd that doesnt involve all the advertising and spending of big bucks?
Not that I know of, don’t see the problem myself, all your brother need do is apply for an o licence and take over, if your father wants to go ltd he will have to place an advert and jump through all the hoops
also your brother has no need to go ltd, everyone seems to bang on about going ltd, yes it has some merits so does sole trader/partnership, our family have been involved in haulage since the 1950’s with me being the third generation still using the same trading name, we have never been ltd and have no intention of changing.
I do remember a while ago Repton one of the mods on here used to bang on about being ltd and the image portrayed to customers, I never had the same view myself!
I think he,s decided to just employ my brother as a driver but stay on as TM as he holds the CPC, keeps the job flowing smoothly with no interuptions and gives the same contact to the customer,
I,ve asked him to ring Leeds on monday though and get it from the horses mouth wether schedule 4 could be used to change a trading status, it would save a lot of hassle and would finally give a definate answer to a question i,ve seen posted a few times on here over the years
sounds a good idea to me, your brother could do the cpc at some point and apply for an o licence in the future
Dont mean this to sound bad or wish it on your dad
But in general with family business like this
Scenario
What happens if the olicence holder passes away
Is some grave goven for say the son to apply or is it ■■■■ up shop straight away
One thibg with a ltd holding the o licence it still holds it
And not going into all the tax side of things
Ltd v soletrader
Just on ops licence side of things
Bloody ipad excuse spelling
Should say is any grace given or is it shut up shop straight away
gettin-on:
Dont mean this to sound bad or wish it on your dadBut in general with family business like this
ScenarioWhat happens if the olicence holder passes away
VOSA do make an allowance for this.
12.6 Changes in Professional Personnel.
If the professionally competent person specified on a standard O licence leaves or can no longer carry out his duties due to physical disability or mental disorder, then the Traffic Commissioner must be informed, via the CLO using form GV80A. The Traffic Commissioner need not revoke the licence and may allow a reasonable period of time for the operator to find a replacement person who is professionally competent. The maximum time which may be allowed by the Traffic Commissioner is 18 months.
i see what your saying and i,m not sure how you would stand really, as above though the plan is for him to get his own in the near future, doing it this way just gets him into the role of sort of being the boss while he gets setup on his own,
anyway all sorted lads, thanks for the advice, i,ll post up next week with what vosa say about this schedule 4 scenario
What is schudule 4