A friend is considering setting up a retail type business ( cartridges for printers , stationary etc ) in some spare space that has become available in an industrial unit on an industrial estate. The surrounding units are factories and offices. The rent would be much less than in a town centre location. The landlord would be happy to get the rent in these difficult times, and my friend happy to pay it. The question is ; is there a planning permission law which would forbid him from doing so ....or if he set up could somebody object and then close him down / force him to relocate to a proper location ?
Check the planning permission for the unit. Does it permit retail? If yes, no problem. If no, check if planning permission would be needed to operate a retail unit. If yes, then, unless he gets planning permission, the friend takes a big risk on being shut down.
Thanks for that. I will tell him to check with the local govt planning office ( I guess this is the best place to check ) to see if it permits "retail". I thought it may be something of a grey area, as it could be argued that type of business is "business to business" ( as it would be business buyers buying their cartridges or stationary some of the time ). I wondered if planning depts in county councils turned a blind eye on the whole thing sometimes.