Anyone who wishes to carry out any licensable activity at any premises will need to hold either a Premises Licence / Club Premises Certificate or Temporary Event Notice. Such premises will include:
- Pubs and night clubs
- Indoor sporting events
- Off-licences
- Restaurants that serve alcohol
- Hotels and guesthouses or other places that sell alcohol
- Private members’ clubs and social clubs
- Theatres and amateur dramatic groups
- Cinemas
- Other premises used for occasional events such as church halls
- Temporary structures such as a marquee
- Land
- Businesses serving hot food or hot drinks to the public between 11pm and 5am such as shops, restaurants and takeaways
Licensable activities are:
- Sale or supply of alcohol
- Provision of regulated entertainment or entertainment facilities
- Supply of hot food or hot drinks to the public after 11pm
Regulated entertainment is entertainment provided for the public or for club members and their guests or for profit and which takes place in the presence of an audience. It includes:
- The performance of a play
- The exhibition of a film
- An indoor sporting event
- Boxing or wrestling
- A performance of live music
- Any playing of recorded music
- A performance of dance
- Entertainment of a similar description
Regulated entertainment also includes the provision of entertainment facilities, such as facilities for persons to take part in entertainment and includes facilities for:
- Making music (karaoke machine for example)
- Dancing (a dance floor)
- Any entertainment of a similar description
To apply for a Premises Licence or Club Premises Certificate you will need to contact the council responsible for the area where the building, temporary structure or land is situated. There will be fee payable with the application based on the non domestic rateable value of the premises. The licence will usually last for the lifetime of the business or club but there is an annual fee payable to the council.
In addition, if one of the licensable activities is the sale or supply of alcohol from premises with a Premises Licence, you will need at least one person to hold a Personal Licence. This person will be the Designated Premises Supervisor. That person will need to contact and apply to the council responsible for the area where he or she lives to make an application. A Personal Licence will last for 10 years from the date of issue.
If however you only want to carry out a one-off activity or event, you may be able to use a Temporary Event Notice (TEN). This is not a licence but a notice to the council and the police in advance of an event that you intend to hold a one-off event. There are limits on the number of TENs you can have, how long the event can last and the number of people attending the event.