Licence Applications- Commercial Premises

Introduction to Premises Licence Applications

Our dedicated team of solicitors will assist you in obtaining a Premises Licence for your business if you intend to carry out the retail sale of alcohol for consumption on or off your premises or provide regulated entertainment and/or late night refreshments as you will require a premises licence to do this as these are classed as ‘licensable activities’

Licensable activities will include the following:

• Retail sale of alcohol
• Indoor sporting events
• Film exhibition
• Boxing or wrestling entertainment
• Live music
• Playing of recorded music
• Performance of a play
• Entertainment that is of a similar description to live music, the playing of recorded music and dancing
• The provision of late night refreshment to include hot food / drinks served between 11pm and 5am
  
  

What will we do for you?

• We will complete the application forms and submit these on your behalf to the council.
• We will liaise with and forward a copy the application to the Police and the other 8 responsible authorities.
• We will produce an advertisement that will be displayed in the local press.
• We will produce and send the relevant notice which will need to be displayed in a prominent position on the exterior of your premises.
• We will negotiate with the relevant authorities if any objections or relevant representations are received.

Our Fees:

Our fixed fee for dealing with a straightforward Licence application for Premises Licence is £1500 (plus VAT excluding disbursements) This fee is made up of:

• Legal fees £1500
• VAT on legal fees of £300

However please note that should the matter become more complex then we reserve the right to charge you for any additional work carried out based on our hourly rate of £150 plus VAT, however we will inform you of the revised costs before you incur any additional costs.

Disbursements:

Disbursements are costs related to your matter that are payable to third parties, such as the application fee. We will pay the disbursements on your behalf to ensure a smoother process.

• Application fee (payable to licensing authority) £100.00-£1905.00*
• Advertising fee
• Enquiry agent fees to display public notices
• Special delivery fee to serve the application
• Printing additional copies of plans if necessary

These fees vary depending on the individual premises and where it is located. The fees can on occasion be higher than the ranges given above. We will give you an accurate figure for each item as soon as we are able to do so.

Our Fee includes:

• Taking your instructions and advising you as to how you can promote the licensing objectives within your application
• Advising you as the type of plans you are required to submit with your application.
• Completing the application form for a new premises licence (including the operating schedule) in accordance with your instructions and submitting this to the local licensing authority alongside suitable plans. You must provide suitable plans.
• Special delivery fee to serve the application
• Printing additional copies of plans if necessary
• Application fee (payable to licensing authority) £100.00-£1905.00*
• Advertising fee
• Enquiry agent fees to display public notices
• Special delivery fee to serve the application
• Printing additional copies of plans if necessary

The fee does not include:

• obtaining suitable plans
• attending pre-consultation meetings with the Licensing Authority or Responsible Authorities, nor their fee for this meeting.
• dealing with or advising you in relation to queries or representations received from either the responsible authorities or other interested parties
• advising on varying the licence
• attendance and representation at a licensing sub-committee hearing of the responsible authority. If representations are received and attendance and representation at a licensing sub-committee is required then we will provide a separate fee estimate for this work which will be charged at an hourly rate.

How long will my application take?

Matters usually take 8 - 16 weeks from receipt of full instructions from you. This is on the basis of the application being relatively straightforward and you being able to provide all the necessary documents promptly. If your matter is more complex, for example, if there is substantial opposition from interested parties, or if there is a delay in receiving the documents we need, it may take longer.