Noisy neighbours

TELLIT01

scrummy-mummy said:

TELLIT01 said:

There are certain streets in the town I live in where there are far more barbers than can possibly make a living from cutting hair.  Some of them certainly are used for 'social purposes' in the broadest sense of term.  Some of the proprietors are now living in rent free accommodation following interest from the local police.

I wonder if we live near each other, or that this is a common phenomenon...sympathies OP.

I can't say whether it is a common phenomenon or not.  I live in the West of England.

casper_gutman

I certainly get the impression that some barbers in the city where I live have more staff than the number of customers can possibly justify. One in particular gives decent service (never a queue!) and charges low prices, but always seems to have twice as many staff as paying customers. Lots of bored staff seems to lead to them playing music loudly to entertain themselves.

It has occurred to me that the owners are either losing money hand over fist or using the business to launder money from other business interests (in which case I suppose they need enough staff on the payroll to make the number of customers shown in the books credible). 

GDB2222

casper_gutman said:

I certainly get the impression that some barbers in the city where I live have more staff than the number of customers can possibly justify. One in particular gives decent service (never a queue!) and charges low prices, but always seems to have twice as many staff as paying customers. Lots of bored staff seems to lead to them playing music loudly to entertain themselves.

It has occurred to me that the owners are either losing money hand over fist or using the business to launder money from other business interests (in which case I suppose they need enough staff on the payroll to make the number of customers shown in the books credible). 

The staff may be self employed, each renting their bit of space in the shop. 

Andthen07

scrummy-mummy said:

TELLIT01 said:

There are certain streets in the town I live in where there are far more barbers than can possibly make a living from cutting hair.  Some of them certainly are used for 'social purposes' in the broadest sense of term.  Some of the proprietors are now living in rent free accommodation following interest from the local police.

I wonder if we live near each other, or that this is a common phenomenon...sympathies OP.

The OP did take the risk of buying next door to commercial premises, closed or not during the purchasing period. They were there first and by their admission not deafening music.

I saw a brilliant house near me last year, immaculate, good schools , facilities and Ascot race course in spitting distance without suffering any race day traffic, only problem was a barbers next door. I ran from the rightmove listing and it remained listed for many months when the average timeline for a property on that road is a week to 10 days.

Rosa_Damascena

GDB2222 said:

casper_gutman said:

I certainly get the impression that some barbers in the city where I live have more staff than the number of customers can possibly justify. One in particular gives decent service (never a queue!) and charges low prices, but always seems to have twice as many staff as paying customers. Lots of bored staff seems to lead to them playing music loudly to entertain themselves.

It has occurred to me that the owners are either losing money hand over fist or using the business to launder money from other business interests (in which case I suppose they need enough staff on the payroll to make the number of customers shown in the books credible). 

The staff may be self employed, each renting their bit of space in the shop. 

Or like some small businesses, a front for laundering cash. Unlawful but not uncommon either.