10299 Hello everyone

Hello, Geraint and Adriana and welcome. Best wishes regarding your future plans. Have you chosen the area where you would like to live? Difficult choice! Italy is so beautiful!

Welcome Geraint.
We have a house in Northern Tuscany but unfortunately only use it for holidays at the moment.
A odych chi yn siarad cymraeg

Hi Gala & Patsy,

We're hoping for Liguria. Adriana comes from Bari and that's where her family lives, but it's just too hot there. I was there during July dealing with some legal stuff and it was already 43 degrees C! We're hoping to start up in business running a coffee/sandwich bar but I'm running into an information black hole so I've posted some pleas for info on the employment section.

Yes Patsy I speak Welsh OK, but unfortunately never learned to write it, - which is why I'm working in Scotland, - no jobs in Wales for me!

Thanks for the replies.

Cheers,

Geraint.

Bore da! I can't remember how to write shudichi though! Liguria is very, very full of people - mainly milanese - so you may do well if you find the right spot and learn to make good coffee. I trust you have spent time on the Italian Riviera, so know the kind of pitfalls you will face. As far as the rest of the advice I can offer, find yourself a good - no, an excellent accountant (commercialista here). You will need one on your side, so chose carefully. You may well find that many rather look on their client as the "enemy", so be very wary.

Good luck!

Ciao Nardini,

Thanks.

Yes, we've spent quite a few holidays in Liguria, - Spotorno, Sanremo, Imperia and Diano Marina amongst other places, - as well as Genova, - though we've mostly been to Bari , where Adriana's family live and Rome. It seems that the biggest pitfall for someone who wants an all year round income from their business is the fact that very many places on the Riviera seem to go into cold storage in the winter. We once went to Genova in February and took a trip to Portofino. We got off the train at Santa Margherita Ligure to get the bus for Portofino and thought we'd wandered onto a wild west film set. All it needed was the tumblweed blowing down the street. So we're basically looking for a place which has a large permanent population and some (a lot of) tourist trade. Maybe somewhere like Imperia, Sanremo or Savona (though I saw few tourists here). Or maybe Rapallo or Livorno. Genova and La Spezia are a bit to big for my taste.

Cheers,

Geraint.

Hi again Nardini,

Forgot to mention our commercialista. Don't know about her competence as yet. She seems to have a lot of clients. And she's very friendly, - doesn't treat us as 'the enemy'. The only problem I have with her is that she seems to have [B][I]too many[/I][/B] clients. One of the main reasons I went for a 'one man band' was I thought we'd get the kind of personal attention that we were unlikely to get from a multi partner studio. Problem is that she's always late answering us as she's busy with another client's tax return, VAT problem or whatever.

I may, very reluctantly, have to sign up with a multi partner practice if it goes on.

Cheers,

Geraint.

Geraint, another suggestion... are you sure you want to go to Liguria. Nothing wrong with the region, it is beautiful and I know it quite well; however, as Adriana has family in Bari and Puglia, perhaps it is better for you to try to start a business there. Yes, I read your comments about the 43º.... but.... practically the whole of Italy is pretty hot in summer and I think that you would be better off buying a good air conditioning unit for your business.... which would attract customers, than starting on your own in a place where you do not have family. You know how strong family links are in Italy and I am pretty certain that if you decide to go to Puglia you will have the family spreading the word and bringing in clients, which is what you need, particularly at the start.
Some of the Ligurian places you mention can be pretty lonely in the middle winter and it is a very long season. Also, the costs of renting a place, etc. will be higher in Liguria than in Puglia.
I advise you to look at both places in the middle of winter and assess the situation.

Hi Gala,

Thanks. Yes, I have considered Bari, or maybe one of the nearby towns like Trani, Barletta etc. To be honest, the heat doesn't bother me all that much and, as you say a decent AC unit would go a long way to make things easier. I also quite like the city. Adriana's not quite so keen, although she'd probably come round.

There's only one question mark as far as I'm concerned. My brother-in-law seems to think that, given the kind of business we'd be running, we'd probably be bothered by organised crime. You know the sort of thing, - "Buy our insurance and we'll make sure your bar doesn't burn to the ground this weekend". Now, - I don't really know how much of a probelm this is in reality, - as it's not the sort of thing you bring up in conversation, and it's not the kind of thing you go into the police station to ask about either. We asked our commercialista in Imperia and she said it's not a problem there.

If I could get some definitive answers telling me that there's no problem in Bari I'd be happy to consider starting up there.

Cheers,

Geraint

Geraint, it may be an idea for you to also join the "Puglia" group. It is an "invitation only" I think, but you may contact one of the members, preferably the one who started the group and has more control over it, and ask whether you could join them. Then, you could start networking and getting some direct information.
Get the opinion from more members of Adriana's family as well. I don't know whether organised crime is too prevalent in Puglia, but you could investigate.

I'm intrigued by Nardini's comment regarding a commercialista treating a client like the "enemy". Perhaps you could tell me exactly what you mean by this. Surely an paid advisor is there to protect your interests. It's the role of the Revenue to treat us taxpayers as the "enemy". Look forward to your clarification.

Ciao,

Santiago