How my business complies with rules and regulations

Natalie Richmond, founder of The Kitchen, explains how her business complies with key rules and regulations.

“I knew Thierry, my business partner and our chef, through working together in the food industry, so we’ve had plenty of experience of regulations. I used to supply his restaurant with produce.

“The concept behind The Kitchen is we want to get people eating properly again, using good, healthy ingredients. People spend an hour and a half here, in a social, fun environment, preparing meals they need for the week ahead.

“Because we were building new premises, we had to get planning permission from the local authority. We were clear about what we intended to do, because there are different building regulations to comply with depending on whether you are going to cook onsite or not. It’s pretty straightforward for us – we’re not cooking on site, so there are no naked flames to consider.

Council meeting

“For compliance with building regulations, you can get advice from either the local authority building control department or an independent approved inspector. We have to make sure fire exits are clear and easily identifiable, that fire extinguishers are in the right places and that our light fittings are safe.

“I contacted the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prior to setting up, while building work was ongoing, to ask for recommendations. Thierry and I also consulted friends and former colleagues who have their own businesses, to ask about complying with health and safety rules. 

“We entered into a lot of dialogue with the authorities, because nobody could quite categorise us. The HSE has different rules for shops, cafés, restaurants and cookery schools, but we’re a mixture of all those things, so they just offered us basic health and safety advice on compliance. This included displaying a health and safety poster, consulting with employees on our health and safety policy and learning how to report work-related accidents. We also had to take out employer’s liability and public liability insurance.

“The HSE gave us a handy checklist. We’re a self-funded business – we haven’t got any major backing – so we couldn’t leave anything to chance. Our customers also need to know they can trust us – and part of that comes from knowing we comply with health and safety rules. People might mistakenly believe the authorities walk around with a big baton to bash you down, but they’re actually a great source of information and advice.

Recipe for success

“We did an initial risk assessment and had to record our findings, because we have more than five employees. You can download those documents from the HSE website. Speaking to other businesses that have carried out risk assessments can also be worthwhile. Whenever we introduce anything new to the business, we revisit the guidelines.

“There are food hygiene rules and compliance is crucial for a business such as ours. We have to keep an eye on our stock rotation and waste disposal, for example. We clean the place thoroughly throughout the day and products are stored correctly. You need to be mindful of others things, too, for example, you can’t use bleach anywhere near areas where food is prepared.

“We don’t need to give our customers much health and safety training, but we make sure we show them how to handle sharp knives. We’ve got five full-time employees and two part-timers, so they all had to be informed about obeying health and safety regulations.

“We’ve never had any problems with health and safety, because we talked to the relevant organisations before we started the business. We listened to their advice and we go to great lengths to ensure we fully live up to our legal responsibilities.”

Natalie’s key lessons

• Get in touch with the Health and Safety Executive and your local authority to ask about compliance – don’t wait for them to come to you.
• Make sure you act on their advice. And, if you’re ever in any doubt, seek additional guidance.
• Re-assess your health and safety provisions regularly and stay up to date with all legal changes.