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You’ll need a premises licence if you want to sell alcohol or offer entertainment from a particular venue
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Contact your council to apply for a premises licence if you want to carry out ‘licensable activities’ from a particular venue.
Licensable activities include:
You still need a licence even if the activities are for charity – but you may not have to pay for it.
You must be 18 or over to apply for a premises licence.
You must either be, or have appointed, a designated premises supervisor (DPS) before you can apply for a licence. A DPS holds a ‘personal licence’ to sell alcohol.
You might have to register to pay machine game duty on any gaming machines you have on your premises.
There may be other conditions added to your licence, such as having an age-checking policy.
Most Premises licences have an unlimited duration but you will have to pay an annual fee.
To apply for a premises licence, contact the council where the premises is based.
Your application must include:
You will also need to include your ‘operating plan’:
You will be charged a fee based on the rateable value of the premises.
If you wish to serve alcohol outside of your licensed hours, eg for a wedding, you must apply to extend the hours of your licence.
You must display your ‘licence summary’ at the premises where it can be easily seen.
The other pages of the licence should be kept safely at the premises. Police or council officers can ask to see them at any time.
If you carry out any licensable activities at your premises without a premises licence, you can be fined £20,000, sent to prison for up to 6 months, or both.
You can be fined up to £1,000 for failing to produce your licence on request.
Don’t include personal or financial information like your National Insurance number or credit card details.
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