Antony,
Following the comments in my email, regulatory laws are fairly self-explanatory so, below, I have focused on premises licensing and given a basic idea on fees. If you do want more information on our regulatory services, let me know and I will happily provide them.
I do not know how much you know about licensing laws, so apologise if I am “telling grandmother to suck eggs” in providing this overview. And, even though the below is basic, it is a little long. So, if you prefer, we could arrange a Zoom / Teams / Google Meet or a simple telephone call to explain how we can help you.
To be clear, there is zero cost or obligation for the call. But, in our experience, it makes things easier, because it helps us understand your needs so we can advise you on your best course of action. And you can ask, and have answered, anything you like.
If you would like to chat, simply email me and I’ll send dates and times to see if they are convenient to you or any of your team.
Some challenges we solve
Simply put, to sell alcohol on a premises in England and Wales, and to sell hot drinks and hot food between 11pm and 5am, you need a licence from the Local Authority.
There are some challenges you will face when trying to obtain these.
The first is that many authorities apply licensing laws in different ways. So, what is reasonable to expect at one site might be much trickier at another.
There is then the growth of cumulative impact zones. These are geographic areas where the local authority has decided that there are already enough licensed premises / restaurants in operation, so have policies against granting licences for new ones. These policies extend to existing premises too.
So, for example, if you find a site which already has a premises licence allowing for alcohol sales until say, 10pm, but you want to extend this until 11pm or later, you will need to apply for a licence variation. These can come under the same policy restrictions with a presumption to refuse the variation. We are expert in getting licences granted / varied in cumulative impact areas.
Last – and by no means least – are objections you might face from a range of people. This can include:
- The police
- Environmental health
- Other business
- Local residents and resident associations
Since the easing of Covid restrictions we have seen a rise in objections from members of the public, where concerns over noise, litter and disturbance are cited.
People and associations can be very convincing when at a hearing (contested applications need to be heard in front of a licensing committee for a decision) and can, if not addressed correctly, seriously limit hours of trade or, in the most serious cases, stop your plans altogether.
However, we have a strong track record in dealing with objections. This can be done before your application is submitted if we think it will reduce the chance of attracting objections, or we can ‘negotiate away’ objections if they arise after the application is submitted.
Our work often results in objections being withdrawn or not submitted at all, saving you the time, cost, and hassle of attending a hearing to decide your application.
All of the above are prominent across England and Wales. And you might not be surprised to learn are more common in London.
Fees
Fees depend on the location of your site and if any objections are submitted against your plans.
Let’s assume your location is low risk and there is no need for any pre-consultation with the authorities and / or local residents.
A premises licence application fee would be £2,500 + VAT and disbursements.
Additional costs would be incurred if you needed pre-application meetings or if objections were submitted.
You couldn’t be in safer hands
As the largest licensing law firm in the UK, we have helped operators obtain licences in every single area of England and Wales, often in the face of intense objections.
We have 100s of happy clients and testimonials saying how good we are, and here are a couple from independent research directory, The Legal 500.
“Poppleston Allen‘s input is worth its weight in gold in what it brings to the transaction.”
“They have a superb ability to look after the interests of clients. They are very efficient – all enquiries are dealt with really quickly and there is always good communication.
You can see more here if you are interested.
Next Steps
Hopefully, this has given you a simple overview of how we help operators.
As I said at the start, the easiest way for us to really clarify how we help and what the costs are is via a Zoom / Teams / Google Meet call or simple telephone call.
To arrange this simply email me and I will send dates and times to see if they are convenient to you or any of your team.
If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to contact me at your earliest convenience.
Kind regards
Carl Weston
07507 354 356