Payments

How do we work out rates?

We have a duty to provide the best service we can for a reasonable price.

We need to charge rates that allow us to pay our staff a living wage, ensure we have good tools in working order. We also need to ensure that we have a good profit margin so we can reinvest in our company to improve our services. We also need to allocate money towards insurance, software, training etc.

We essentially need to charge a reasonable price to make sure our customers receive a reliable, high quality service.

On an initial visit one of our team will let you know the hourly rate for your garden and this will be followed by a welcome email detailing specific costs and details about our services.

The pie chart below shows how the rates we charge gets divided up.

Why are other companies cheaper?

Having spoken to new customers who have had cheaper gardeners these are some of the reason for this,

They pay staff badly
They don't pay staff holiday pay
They don't pay income tax or avoid vat registration
They don't pay for insurance
They don't pay for software to manage jobs or invoice accurately
They don't provide appropriate PPE and uniform
They simply charge too little meaning they take on too much work and can't fulfil their obligations
They hide charges in materials or overcharge for time
They don't train their staff
They fly tip
They avoid paying staff pensions
They sack staff at the end of a season to save money over the winter period. This means they have high turnover of staff so no consistency

What do you charge?

Every 6 months we calculate how much it costs us to deliver 1 man hour of work. We use a profit and loss statement generated from our accounting software for accuracy.

In order to make a reasonable profit our rates start from £35 + vat per man hour for larger gardens with reduced daily travel times.

We charge £40 + vat per man hour for small gardens with a visit time of 30 minutes with 2 men.

For waste disposal we charge £15 + vat per bulk bag of green waste and £4 + vat per small bulk bag/ black bag.

For smaller amounts of materials we charge a 20% mark-up. For example weedkiller, fertiliser and compost etc.

For large materials orders we encourage our customers to purchase directly from suppliers.

How do you keep track of billable hours?

Every member of our team fills in a timesheet app that is linked to our accounting system. For each visit they log what they did in the garden, start and finish time, materials used and any waste removed.

Is there a minimum charge per visit?

Yes, the minimum charge is one man hour.

How can I pay?

We ask that invoices are paid within 2 days. We find that 99% of customers pay by direct bank transfer, a few pay by direct debit and the others pay by cheque or cash.

How often do you send out invoices?

We send out invoices by email after each visit.

What happens if I think my invoice is incorrect?

We are not perfect and small mistakes do happen very occasionally. We itemise the invoices so that if a mistake happens we can pick this up quickly and sort it out.