Trade bodies

Sectors we serve

Trade Bodies in the leisure sector

Here you can read about how our alcohol licensing and gambling solicitors work with the various trade bodies involved within the hospitality sector

As you might expect from the preeminent firm of alcohol and gambling licensing solicitors in the UK, we work with a number of large trade organisations in several different ways.

For instance, our team of gambling solicitors are retained by the Bingo Association providing advice on policy, procedure and regulatory requirements for its members. And they have given legal advice to BACTA, the trade body which represents the interests of Britain’s amusements and high street gaming manufacturers and operators.

And partner and head of gambling, Nick Arron, writes a regular column in the Institute of Licensing newsletter.

Our alcohol licensing and regulatory teams have advised UKHospitality – the single authoritative voice representing the broad hospitality sector – on several legal matters.

This includes advising UKHospitality with their objections to the introduction of a Late Night Levy by Brighton & Hove City Council. And, in a regulatory matter, partner Graeme Cushion advised UKHospitality on a challenge to a 130% increase in PPL (the British music copyright collective) licence fees for the trade.

And further building on our relationship with UKHospitality, their CEO, Kate Nicholls OBE, regularly speaks at our annual licensing event which takes place in London.

We have excellent relationships with The British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA), an organisation which champions issues that matter to the beer and pub industry. Its members are responsible for 90% of the beer brewed in Britain and it represents around 20,000 of the country’s pubs.

The British Institute of Innkeeping (BII) is another major voice, existing to support, inspire, celebrate and promote the diversity of talented individuals working in the licensed trade. We speak at several of their events, including their annual Tied Trade Forum.

Whilst we do not represent the Institute of Licensing, our legal experts sit on several of their regional committees, for instance partner Jonathan Smith sits upon the Institute of Licensing’s Management & Development Committee. And licensing solicitor Natasha Beck is an Institute of Licensing committee member for the East Midlands region.

Jonathan Smith is a board member of the Proof of Age Standards Scheme – a UK wide scheme providing young people with a valid and accepted form of proof of age identification. It is supported by the Home Office, the Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI) and the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC).

Several solicitors are members of the Leisure Property Forum.

In 2016 partner James Anderson was chosen to be the Chairman of PICA Service, which is the Pubs Independent Conciliation Arbitration Service. And in 2022, he was appointed Chairmen of the PGB, the Pubs Governing Body which promotes Landlord and Tenant relationships in the industry.

So as you can see, we are more than just solicitors to the licensed trade. We are part of it.