If you need to buy or rent your operating centre, you must have the requisite planning permission, spaces for your authorised vehicles and an agreement with the site owner.
An operating centre is the base or centre at which a vehicle is normally kept, that is the place where the vehicle normally stands when it is not being used; and that use should not be confused with use for business operations. Occasional use of another place (other than the operating centre) to park a vehicle overnight, even on a regular basis, does not make that place the vehicle's operating centre.
You must not use a place in any Traffic Area as an operating centre for authorised vehicles unless that place is specified on the operator's license in that Traffic Area.
You will need advice on this but Council owned car and lorry parks, privately owned car and lorry parks, hotel car parks can in certain circumstances be a suitable operating centre and can be used by more than one operator. The key to it all is that you must be the owner or authorised user of the land, it must be of a suitable size with suitable access and compliant with any environmental provisions.
For advice on operating centres and operator licensing, contact Jonathan Ripman or Howard Catherall.
For advice on commercial property purchasers or leases please link to Martin Whitworth, Catherine Abbott or Oliver Ray.
