A Premises Licence is an authorisation issued by a local licensing authority that allows certain licensable activities to take place at a particular premises.
In England and Wales, Premises Licences are issued under the Licensing Act 2003. Unlike a Personal Licence, which belongs to an individual, a Premises Licence relates to a specific location.
Your licence will state exactly which licensable activities can take place at the premises and the hours during which they are permitted.
A Premises Licence can authorise alcohol to be sold for consumption:
A pub may therefore be licensed primarily for on-sales, while an off-licence or online alcohol retailer will require permission for off-sales.
Depending on the circumstances, licensing requirements can also apply to activities such as:
There are exemptions and exceptions, so not every entertainment activity automatically requires a Premises Licence. Running a one-off event? Read about the Temporary Event Notice.
The provision of hot food or hot drinks between 11pm and 5am can also be a licensable activity.
This can affect businesses including takeaways and late-night restaurants.
Your licence sets out the permitted hours for each activity.
Premises Licences are commonly held by businesses such as:
A Premises Licence can also apply to less obvious locations including warehouses, outdoor spaces and other locations where licensable activities take place.
The application is made to the licensing authority responsible for the area where the premises is located.
This is different from a Personal Licence application, which is made to the licensing authority where the individual lives.
For example, if you live in Liverpool but open a restaurant in Manchester, your Personal Licence may be dealt with by your home licensing authority, while the Premises Licence would be dealt with by the authority covering the Manchester premises.
Depending on the circumstances, a Premises Licence can be held by an individual, company, partnership, organisation or certain other bodies entitled to apply.
For many hospitality and retail businesses, the licence holder is the limited company operating the premises.
The Premises Licence holder has responsibility for ensuring the premises operates within the permissions and conditions attached to the licence.
Where a Premises Licence authorises the sale of alcohol, it will specify a Designated Premises Supervisor, commonly known as the DPS. The DPS:
There can only be one named DPS on a Premises Licence at any one time. Read: what is a DPS?
The simplest way to remember the difference is:
A Personal Licence allows an individual to sell or authorise the sale of alcohol.
A Premises Licence authorises licensable activities at a particular location.
Businesses selling alcohol will need both.
Personal vs premises licenceIt is important that a business operates in accordance with the licence.
A new application requires:
The application then goes through a public consultation period.
Read our step-by-step application guideA new Premises Licence application includes a 28-day consultation period. If no relevant representations are received, the application can be granted after the consultation period.
Where relevant objections are received and cannot be resolved, the application may need to be determined at a licensing hearing.
How long does a premises licence take?Yes. Different procedures exist depending upon the change required:
A Premises Licence will not normally expire simply because a particular number of years has passed, although annual fees and other obligations can apply.
Licences can also be surrendered, suspended, revoked or cease to have effect in certain circumstances.
Does a premises licence expire?A transfer and a change of DPS are separate processes.
Licensing Solutions provides a fully managed Premises Licence application service throughout England and Wales.
Want us to handle it? Premises licence application service · from £750 + VAT
Questions about a licence or application? Send us a message, or call free on 0800 433 7913.
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