Alcohol licence and how to get one

To sell alcohol in England Wales or Scotland you require two types of licence

• Personal Licence
• Premises Licence

A personal licence will allow an individual to sell alcohol by retail or authorise others to sell alcohol under their supervision. A personal licence will also allow the individual licence holder to become the designated premises supervisor or DPS. This is the person named on the licence as the person in day to day control of a premise.

A premises licence will allow the premises to carry on licensing activities, theses activities are;

• The sale of alcohol by retail
• Provision of regulated entertainment
• Late night refreshment (the sale of hot food & drink between the hours of 23.00 until 05.00 hours)
• The supply of alcohol from a members club

Any of the above activities requires a premise licence. When alcohol is sold a personal licence holder is also required. A licensed premise selling alcohol must have a personal licence holder acting as DPS on the licence, in Scotland this person is known as the premises manager.

To obtain a premises licence an application must be made to the licensing authority or in Scotland the licensing board. A copy of the application must be sent to all responsible authorities with in the council area where the premises is situated and an notice of the intended application must be displayed at the premises to be licensed for 28 consecutive days.
A news paper advert must also be placed in a local news paper under the public notices section within ten day of submitting the premises application the the licensing authority.

Once the 28 day consultation period has ended the licence will be granted, however if there have been any objections then hearing is required before a licensing committee to consider the application.

To obtain a personal licence an individual is required to sit a licening qualification in England & Wales this is known as a APLH Award for Personal Licence Holders qualification or in Scotland a SCPLH Scottish Certificate for Personal Licence Holders.

Personal Licence Training Ltd offer over 120 APLH and SCPLH courses every month in various locations nationwide. please vist our website for course details http://www.personallicencetraining.co.uk

Our licensing department also prepare and submit hundreds of premises licence applications on behalf of clients every year and our success rate is currently 98% on first time applications