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  4. Business
  5. Licences, permits and registrations
  6. Alcohol and entertainment
  7. Premises licences
  8. New premises licence
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Apply for a new alcohol or entertainment premises licence

If you wish to sell alcohol, provide regulated entertainment or late-night refreshment on a permanent basis then you must usually apply for a premises licence.

For one-off or occasional events, where there will be less than 500 people present, you may be able to submit a Temporary Event Notice (TEN) instead.

  1. Overview
  2. Licence cost
  1. After you apply
  2. Apply

After you apply

After submitting your application for a new premises licence, you must:

  • send copies of the completed application to all the responsible authorities; if you make your application by email/online, we will do this on your behalf
  • advertise your application on the premises for 28 days, starting from the day after you submit your application (see ‘Useful documents’ below)
  • publish a public notice in a local newspaper within 10 working days of making the application 
  • complete and return the notice of advertising to our Alcohol and Entertainment Licensing Team (see ‘Useful documents’ below).  

These steps make the public aware of your intention to open a business that requires a premises licence and gives them time to comment or raise objections (make a representation) on the application.

We will automatically grant a new licence if no representations are received within the first 28 days of advertising your licence application.

Premises licence are granted in two parts. Part A is the full licence and contains the conditions and must be kept under the control of the premises licence holder or a person authorised at the premises so it can be produced if requested by an authorised officer. 

Part B is a summary of the licence and must be clearly displayed at the premises, together with a notice stating any persons at the premises authorised to produce Part A.

Representations

In cases where representations are made, we will send you redacted copies of all relevant representations once the 28 day application period has passed. The application will be decided by the council’s Licensing Sub Committee at a public hearing unless all parties agree this is not necessary.

The hearing will normally take place within four weeks following the initial 28 day representation period. All concerned parties will be invited to attend the hearing and they will be given the opportunity to discuss their application or representation.

Right to appeal

Applicants and/or person(s) making representation have a right to appeal against our decision on the licence application.

Appeals must be made to the magistrates’ court within 21 days of receiving written notification of the decision.