Licensing
Who is affected?
Licensing is everywhere whether its jumping into a taxi, eating from a street trader, buying a pint, getting a tattoo, placing a bet, going to a theatre or buying a pet, the world of licensing impacts on our everyday lives.
Business activities including the sale of some goods and other recreational activities may require a licence from your local authority. Other activities require permits or registrations.
Consultations with the public and responsible authorities are required as part of some licensing functions. Application, annual or other fees may also be payable. Activities which may require a licence include the following:
- Sale or supply of alcohol
- The provision of regulated entertainment including plays, films, indoor sporting activities, live and recorded music
- Provision of late night refreshments (ie hot food and drink between the hours of 23.00 and 05.00)
- Gambling establishments or premises housing gaming centres
- Market and mobile trading, street trading and street cafes
- Taxi and private hire driver, vehicle and operator licences
- Animal boarding (cats and dogs), animal breeding (dogs), pet shops and zoos
- Operating a horse riding establishment
- Keeping a dangerous wild animal
- Charitable street collections and house to house collections for charitable and other not-for-profit good causes
- Handing out leaflets or flyering in public places
- Special treatments and skin piercing (including acupuncture, electrolysis, body or ear piercing, tattooing)
- Hairdressing and barbering
- Sex shops, sexual entertainment venues and sex cinemas
- Scrap metal dealing including motor salvage
- Boat and boatmen licences
- Mobile home and caravan site licences
Top tips
- Check with your local authority if you need a licence, permit or registration to carry out the activity you wish to provide.
- Visit the .gov or local authority website to see if you can apply for your licence online.
- If you are applying to carry out any form of licensable activity at your premises, you may also need to apply to update your planning permissions.
- If you want to carry out occasional licensable activities, for example selling alcohol at a launch event, a temporary event notice is a cheaper and easier way to do one-off events.
- If applying for a licence to sell alcohol, late night refreshments or regulated entertainment, you must consult the government’s S182 Guidance and your local authority’s statement of licensing policy, which should be available on their website.
- Check whether your local authority provides a pre licensing service to help guide you through the process.
What to do next
If you have any questions about whether an activity your business is currently carrying out needs a licence or you have any other questions regarding licensing or permits, please either complete our contact us form or email [email protected].
If you would like to apply for a licence for any of the activities outlined above or anything else, please consult the licensing webpages of your local authority.
- Bolton Council: Licences and registers
- Bury Council: Licensing
- Oldham Council: Licensing
- Manchester City Council: Licences and permissions
- Rochdale Borough Council: Licences and licence applications
- Salford City Council: Licensing and permits
- Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council: Licensing
- Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council: Licensing
- Trafford Council: Licences and permits
- Wigan Council: Licensing and permits