Professional Association of Self Caterers

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Joanna
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Location: Chester, North West England & Sidmouth, East Devon
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Professional Association of Self Caterers

Post by Joanna »

Is anyone on here a member of PASCUK and how have they found them? I'm already a member of the Holiday Home Association (used to be EASCO).

PASC have been instrumental in setting the UK Covid-19 cleaning standards so they've been quite high profile lately. I'm wondering if it's worth the £125 joining fee.
Jo

Joint owner of Baker's Cottage in Chester & Chandler's Cottage in Sidmouth
leon
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Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2012 4:12 pm
Location: niort

Post by leon »

Aren't we the self-catering providers and the people who cater to themselves are the self-caterers?
Maybe my brain has been affected by a mysterious illness.
Joanna
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Location: Chester, North West England & Sidmouth, East Devon
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Post by Joanna »

Yes, I think you're right - self-caterers are our customers. PASC is definitely aimed at owners though.
Jo

Joint owner of Baker's Cottage in Chester & Chandler's Cottage in Sidmouth
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greenbarn
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Joined: Sat May 30, 2009 6:41 pm
Location: The Westmorland Dales, Cumbria

Post by greenbarn »

I joined on the basis that PASC have been the leading light in the last few months, their cleaning protocols for Covid adopted widely, and referenced as the guide on the gov website. I’ve been a member of HHA/EASCO for years and their input over the last few months has been very thin.
Currently all PASC's newsletters, information and help has been freely given, not just to members, so the only benefit of membership is a prioritised response to communication; presumably that will change, especially if and when the BI insurance fiasco is resolved.
I see their drive as the best opportunity for campaigning for a licensing system for holiday rentals to weed out the cowboys and chancers; this would fit neatly with the upcoming review of the backlash against holiday lets on business rates following the number of examples of the £10k grant being handed out to totally undeserving, and unprofessional, owners.
My 2p (or £125) worth.
newtimber
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Post by newtimber »

I would join them but they are very expensive for what they provide. For example, residential landlords have the NRLA which does a huge amount providing both lobbying and a trove of information and telephone advice for £75 per year regardless of the number of properties.
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Cymraes
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Location: North Wales

Post by Cymraes »

I joined them - they have given away so much free help and advice to the sector that I figured it was worth supporting them financially for this year at least
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greenbarn
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Joined: Sat May 30, 2009 6:41 pm
Location: The Westmorland Dales, Cumbria

Post by greenbarn »

I agree that £125 is a lot, although like Cymraes when I saw what they were doing for us in the current crisis it seemed cheap.
Assuming, as is quite likely, that £125 is enough to put a lot of owners off, I wonder what the “sweet spot” amount would be that would attract most owners to join - and therefore generate far more members and revenue for PASC than a handful at £125?
£100? £75? £65?...
newtimber
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Post by newtimber »

The amount of work involved in providing the service is identical for those with 1 property or 4 properties. Why should those with 4 properties pay more than those with 1 property?

Having a greater proportion of your fees coming from people with lots of properties is not a good idea as your efforts are likely to end up skewed towards where the majority of your income comes from.

I think a flat rate of £75 would mean a more diverse membership.
zebedee
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Post by zebedee »

I would agree that now is the time to join them. The Business Rates review will be difficult if we are all individuals trying to work our way through complex “consultation”. The government need to recoup their expenditure for COVID-19 so I would say there is a lot to gain from this group at the moment.

I do understand the point about the membership fee. It is £70 if you only have one property. I suppose the argument would be that those with more have more to gain / lose from the business rates issue.
I too was in NLA for almost 2 decades, and saw that organisation grow and evolve but the membership is likely much bigger for the NLA.
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