Topic: First Dinner Party Booking - 15 People

[George]

 A further thought is the hope that you arranged all of the following ahead of carrying out the work:

- registered your kitchen with the local authority
- registered the new business venture with HMRC
- took out an insurance policy against what could be sky-high claims if anyone at the party went down with food poisoning.

[976bar]

Well done Bob

You served up Mr Naga as a condiment? Bet that blew the heads off a few of the uninitiated!

Warnings were given in advance 

[976bar]

A further thought is the hope that you arranged all of the following ahead of carrying out the work:

- registered your kitchen with the local authority
- registered the new business venture with HMRC
- took out an insurance policy against what could be sky-high claims if anyone at the party went down with food poisoning.

George, I think we need to put this in perspective really.....

Firstly, a neighbour friend of mine asked if I would cook Indian food for his wife's 40th birthday party to which I agreed. This was a non profit making entity, whereby they covered the cost of the food and I got the cooking experience I need.

Questions were asked in advance about anyone with allergies or vegetarians etc etc to which the reply was no.

Secondly, yes the business is registered as a limited company with Companies House, not HMRC. Yes I do have my Level 2 award in food safety for catering, otherwise I would not be cooking for the Olympics.

Should I start operating commercially, then yes my kitchen will be registered with the relevant local authorities and a suitable Insurance policy will be purchased to cover indemnity.

Are you suggesting that anyone who holds a dinner party now needs an insurance policy in case they poison someone? If so then I think having people round for dinner in future would become extinct.... 

[976bar]

Fantastic accomplishment Bob. Get the Olympics out the way then you can get stuck into hiring yourself out   - anglo-asian caterer I meant :  I expect mates rates of course ;D

Yes at 53 I think I would make more money out of selling Onion Bhajis on street corners than my body!! 

[George]

Are you suggesting that anyone who holds a dinner party now needs an insurance policy in case they poison someone? If so then I think having people round for dinner in future would become extinct.... 

No; of course not. Cooking in your house for friends is different to being used as a catering contractor by someone else. The authorities would point to the scale of the cooking and the fact that the food was being carried out to be served up elsewhere.

Would I have done the same? Probably, but I'm in no doubt it would break local authority rules in terms of the environmental health rules.

If the money (reimbursement) went through your limited company, it points even more to the fact that it was a commercial contract. The transactions would also be included in the company accounts and would be notified to HMRC in that way, so that's OK.

I suggest you took a risk not having insurance - even for a one off contract. It would be like not having home insurance for a few months. There's a very low chance you'd have a burglary or the house would burn down during that time, but it's the risk you take.

[natterjak]

Hi Bob, did you cook the 4 x qty of each main dish in a single large pan or did you cook a normal quantity four times? If the former, how did you approach the thorny issue of how to scale spices and other ingredients? Just quadruple everything or some other ratio?

I can't imagine you'll be cooking individual portions when catering for an Olympic team, so guess you've managed to address the issue of how to cook at scale.

[976bar]

Hi Bob, did you cook the 4 x qty of each main dish in a single large pan or did you cook a normal quantity four times? If the former, how did you approach the thorny issue of how to scale spices and other ingredients? Just quadruple everything or some other ratio?

I can't imagine you'll be cooking individual portions when catering for an Olympic team, so guess you've managed to address the issue of how to cook at scale.

Hi Chris,

Normally when I make an individual dish I tend to make 2 portions anyway, so for 4 portions I just doubled up on the quantities.

However, if I were to make larger portions which I have done in the past, then I tend to cut back the spices to two thirds, then taste the dish and if it requires more, then I adjust the spice content and ensure it's cooked through prior to adding any meat or veggies

[976bar]

Are you suggesting that anyone who holds a dinner party now needs an insurance policy in case they poison someone? If so then I think having people round for dinner in future would become extinct.... 

No; of course not. Cooking in your house for friends is different to being used as a catering contractor by someone else. The authorities would point to the scale of the cooking and the fact that the food was being carried out to be served up elsewhere.

Would I have done the same? Probably, but I'm in no doubt it would break local authority rules in terms of the environmental health rules.

If the money (reimbursement) went through your limited company, it points even more to the fact that it was a commercial contract. The transactions would also be included in the company accounts and would be notified to HMRC in that way, so that's OK.

I suggest you took a risk not having insurance - even for a one off contract. It would be like not having home insurance for a few months. There's a very low chance you'd have a burglary or the house would burn down during that time, but it's the risk you take.

This was purely a cash in hand to pay for what I spent on materials so no need to go through the company as there was no profit made, so no taxes or VAT are due. In fact I probably lost out when I consider the gas and electric used, but as I said earlier this was purely for experience.

Cooking for anyone whether it be friends, family or customers is always a risk even when you have a certificate for food safety but it's a risk you have to take. I have had quotes for liability insurance which for my scale if I were to go commercial would be around

[George]

This was purely a cash in hand to pay for what I spent on materials so no need to go through the company as there was no profit made, so no taxes or VAT are due. In fact I probably lost out when I consider the gas and electric used, but as I said earlier this was purely for experience.

I won't continue harping on about this because the admin side of things is so boring compared to your great achievement in cooking all that food. Well done!  BUT you are wrong. Even if no tax or VAT is due, a deal like that still has to be reported to HMRC. If it didn't go through your company, they'd deem you as working as a 'sole trader' - even more hassle, unfortunately.

[Micky Tikka]

Nice spread Bob
Im sure you made everyone more than happy

One question when I do a curry for a few people and all the prep afterwards it takes me a good few day to look at a curry again 
 How many days does it take you  ;D