A retaining wall serves an invaluable purpose. It offers protection and eliminates the risk of soil erosion for properties on an embankment or near a body of water. But if you are planning to build a retaining wall – whether it’s for a major road project or your industrial or commercial property – it pays to know as much as you can about it so you can consider the most essential requirements and make the proper choice. Here, then, is your best guide to building the right retaining walls for your property.

The essential aspects

A retaining wall is a vertical structure created to ‘retain’ certain materials behind it or to one side of it. Thus, it can effectively prevent slipping or collapsing, and it prevents erosion. With a proper retaining wall, you can add support to a particular terrain in which the soil’s angle puts it at risk of collapse in its natural state. The most crucial characteristic you would have to think about when it comes to your retaining wall is its ability to withstand pressure from the material that has been retained, which is often soil.

Some retaining walls have a parapet, which stands high over the material retained, and parapets are often installed for enhanced safety.

The uses

The primary purpose of a retaining wall is to prevent soil erosion, but it is also utilised to develop usable, flat ground out of steep or sharp terrain. Another purpose of a retaining wall is to provide a property with a functional yet decorative landscaping element. Retaining walls can be part of an entire building construction project or an independently-placed structure separate from the building.

Planning permission requirements

If your retaining wall is more than one metre in height, you would need planning permission for it. The same is true if you will have it built beside a pathway or road. If you plan to build a freestanding or independent retaining wall, you may not need approval for building regulations. Still, you must make sure you have a structurally-sound wall that is also effectively maintained.

If you plan to build your retaining wall near a property boundary, you would have to check if it falls under the Party Wall Act; if it does, you may need to get a right of support.

Types of wall

In the broadest terms, retaining walls are separated into two major types: cut retaining walls where you cut the wall into the current slope, or fill retaining walls, where you build the wall in front of the sloping area and then fill the space or gap behind it.

But there are sub-categories as well, including gravity walls, sheet piling walls, reinforced walls, and MSE or mechanically stabilised earth walls. Gravity walls are commonly used, and you can opt for materials like brick, stone, or precast concrete, such as a king post wall. A gravity wall is often ideal for heights of as much as two to three metres.

Top considerations

It is important to remember that water may accumulate behind the wall, and this buildup of water can increase pressure on the wall. When water accumulates, it can also reduce the soil’s stability and affect the soil’s friction with the base of the wall. To prevent any pressure from the water, you should include a drainage facility (such as weep holes).

Image attributed to JPConcrete.co.uk

https://www.jpconcrete.co.uk/vertical-cantilever-retaining-wall/

You’ve probably had it up to your neck with your financial records and worries. Running a business isn’t easy, even in the best of times, but if you also have to deal with financial accuracy and documents and need to ensure that you don’t make a mistake on your payroll, taxes, and more, it may be time to leave it to the experts. An accountant can make sense of your financials, and they can give you highly-useful and relevant advice on how you are faring and where your business is going. Your accountant can serve as your lighthouse as you traverse the raging and roaring seas of business entrepreneurship. But whilst you may already know this, your next step would be to choose the most suitable one. So how can you select the most appropriate accounting service or accountant for your needs? Here’s what you should know.

Check their qualifications and experience

It may already go without saying, but one thing to remember is that an accountant is different from a bookkeeper. Anybody with some training and skill can become a bookkeeper, but not everyone can be an accountant unless they have the right qualifications and degree of study. Accountants in the UK should be recognised by an authority, such as ACCA, ICAS, or ICAEW. When they are a member of such authorities, they will have gone through extensive training and passed tests, and members of these bodies are also regularly assessed for their knowledge and skills.

Look for someone specialising in your type of business or industry

Even though you can opt for any accountant as long as they have the qualifications and skill, it may be better for you in the long run if you look for someone specialising in your type of business or who has done work for companies in the same industry in the past (or at present). For example, if you are a freelancer or contractor, it would be more feasible to go with an accounting service or accountant that has experience working with freelancers or contractors, especially since they need to be aware of laws on taxes like IR35. If you are operating a small business, it also makes sense to choose an accountant or accounting service that has worked with small businesses before, as suggested by GSM accountants in central London.

Consider the rates and fees

Of course, rates are another prominent aspect to consider. Once you have found some potential accountant candidates, ask them about their fees – will they be charging annually or monthly? Will they require entry fees or exit fees? How much will they charge for it if they have to do additional work that falls outside the tasks specified in their terms?

Ask about service inclusions

It’s also crucial to ask what is included in their service. Keep in mind that most accountants will perform a few core tasks and duties, from payroll setup and management to annual accounts reporting to VAT accounting and handling HMRC. But will the firm or accountant also handle self-assessment tax returns? This is included for sole traders, but it may be an extra fee if you are a business director.

Lastly, the accountant or firm you choose should have clear communication lines, and they should answer whatever queries you have promptly and timely.

In every successful organization, there is a plan, and a business marketing plan is no exception. A solid marketing plan is often the cornerstone of an effective marketing plan, because without a clearly defined set of goals, a business can easily become distracted. For this reason, all business owners need to devote serious time to developing a comprehensive marketing plan, and make sure that their goals are attainable, realistic, and doable in the business setting.

When developing a business marketing plan, business owners need to consider many important factors. These include the competition, existing market shares, the needs of the target audience, target financial resources, customer service programs, and other unique factors in their particular industry. The plan should also take into consideration how to best reach out to the target audience. While a strong marketing plan generally includes a laundry list of action items, without a clearly defined strategic framework, it’s of little value to any business.

In order for a business-marketing plan to have staying power, the plan must be specific enough to explain what the company is doing to achieve its goals, as well as why it thinks it has a better chance of achieving those goals than competitors. However, it must be flexible enough to allow for changes to occur based on changing market conditions. This flexibility gives the company a tremendous advantage over its competitors who must frequently adjust their plans to meet the changing interests of their target audience and economy. For example, if a company sees that its products or services are beginning to rival those of its competitors, but it has only a small percentage of the market share, it has the opportunity to introduce new products, change pricing and marketing strategies, and even cut back on some of its operations in order to achieve the larger goal of increasing its market share.

The plan should also have a defined set of realistic “what if” scenarios that provide a clear indicator of what might occur if it does not meet its goals. A business needs to think carefully about these “what if” scenarios in order to identify them, address them, and prepare for them. Beyond this, however, it’s necessary to come up with “what ifs.” These are contingency plans that help guide you through possible events in which your marketing strategy may fail. Beyond the plan, a smart budgeting process will allow you to determine what will happen if your marketing goals are not met.

One key aspect of coming up with a business marketing plan guide is identifying key customer groups. Smart companies make every attempt to know who they are, where they are, and what they want to do next. To accomplish this task, many firms focus on conducting an in-depth swot analysis, which compares the profile of key business members to identify similarities, and where there are gaps where special attention must be given. The swot analysis may involve asking employees for input on a range of topics, conduct surveys, or use other traditional tools.

Another important feature of a well-crafted marketing plan is drawing up a set of specific goals or objectives that are aligned with the company’s core values. A marketing function can be more successful if it focuses on satisfying specific objectives. In fact, some companies find it more efficient and productive to have a single purpose for which all of their marketing activities are directed. Some, for example, focus on providing customers with a comprehensive range of services and products and use their marketing dollars to expand their customer base, while others focus on increasing brand recognition and customer loyalty. Each of these objectives has a particular focus, which is determined by determining what specific goals or objectives the company’s marketing efforts are meant to achieve.