How to Start & Run a B&B BandBED2eBook-1 | Page 49

The Scottish Government Minister for Community Safety Fergus Ewing said: "The
Scottish Government has listened at length to business owners' concerns and proposed
a solution that reduces red tape and reduces cost while ensuring their paying guests are
safe from the ever-present risk of fire."
An independent analysis compares the average cost of compliance under the new
guidance at £1,090 per B&B, compared with £15,376 under the previous guidance - a
saving of over £14,000 in the compliance burden per B&B, according to the figures
published by the Scottish Government.
For more detail, see: www.infoscotland.com/firelaw
then click on ‘Sector Specific Guidance’ and look for B&Bs.
Food Safety
This is yet another area where it is not just common sense you need to follow, but a
swathe of regulation, overseen by bureaucracy.
And again, as with fire regulations, the whole regime changed in 2006 when the UK
implemented the EU Food Hygiene Regulations. This covers all “food business
operators”, which include all B&Bs as they serve breakfast.
The key requirements are:
1) Registration: you need to register with the “competent authority” – in the case of
B&Bs this means your local Environmental Health Officer (EHO). For the vast majority
of B&Bs, this will be entirely new; the process of applying for a licence involves a
submission to the local EHO, but unlicensed B&Bs (the vast majority, of course) will not
have had any contact with their EHO unless they have had an inspection visit.
The regulations go further in the case of food businesses dealing with “produce of
animal origin”: such businesses are required to be “approved” before they start trading.
Although the regulations state that they are not permitted to trade after 1 January
without official approval, the transitional arrangements indicate that either conditional
or full approval will be granted at the next scheduled visit from your EHO. In the
meantime the business owner need take no action as the initiative lies with the EHO.
At the time of writing it is not clear whether B&Bs will fall into this category of
business – a literal reading of the regulations would suggest they would, by virtue of
serving, say, bacon and sausages (not to mention dairy products); against this it is not
obvious why a B&B should be treated in the same category as an abattoir or a meat
packing plant.
2) Food safety: the food you serve must be safe. There is not much we can add here!
3) Traceability: you must know where your foods have come from. For a B&B, this
requirement should be met by keeping receipts, which you will be doing anyway in
order to claim food costs in your accounts.
4) Risk assessment: you must have carried out a risk assessment to ensure that you are
complying with microbiological criteria, temperature requirements and general hygiene
good practice – but here the regulations make allowances for some small businesses.