Commercial

Licensing

Our experienced solicitors can help you or your business with a variety of licensing issues, including applications, variations, and complying with licensing conditions.

Getting and keeping the right licence is vital to many businesses. Whether you’re starting a new operation or need help with an existing licensed business, we can advise and support you through the entire process.

We help businesses with alcohol, betting, gaming, and taxi licences. We also help individuals with their own taxi licences and shotgun licences.

We’ll help you plan your licensed activity and collect all the necessary information to give your application the best chance of success. We’ll also explain what conditions you’ll have to follow to avoid fines or other enforcement actions from your licensing authority.

If you face enforcement actions, we can advise on the best way forward and represent you during meetings and appeals hearings with your licensing authority.

Our licensing services are provided by Jason Newall, a Senior Associate Solicitor with 13 years' experience, and John Davies, a Solicitor with 8 years' experience.

To ensure you’re clear on the service you’ll receive and the price you can expect, please take a look at our prices section.

What Licensing Services Do We Offer

We help with all issues involving alcohol, betting, gaming, taxi, and shotgun licences. We can advise you on:

  • Applying for new licences
  • Applying for variations or amendments to existing licences
  • Defending applications against objections in appeal hearings
  • Keeping licences up-to-date
  • Complying with industry regulations and licensing conditions
  • Objecting to someone else’s licence application
  • Contesting enforcement actions such as fines or penalties.

If you’re applying for a new premises licence to sell alcohol, we’ll advise on appropriate licensable activities and hours for your business and the likely licensing conditions that you’ll have to meet. This will help give your application the best chance of success.

We’ll collect all the relevant information and submit your application.

We can also advise you on appealing if your taxi licence has been refused or revoked. We can represent you at any disciplinary or Taxi Licensing Committee hearings.

Who We Can Help

We work with a wide variety of businesses and individuals depending on the type of licence they need:

Alcohol licences

We have particular experience helping food and drink retailers and can also help:

  • Private clubs, including sports clubs
  • Off-licences
  • Restaurants
  • Bars and pubs
  • Nightclubs
  • Sports venues
  • Theatres
  • Music venues.

Betting and gaming licences

We help both bricks-and-mortar and internet-based operators.

Taxi Licences

  • Taxi drivers
  • Taxi firms
  • Private hire companies.

Shotgun licences

We can help you apply for a firearms licence for sport or pest control.

Why Choose Our Licensing Solicitors?

Our licensing solicitors are highly experienced with large-scale regulatory and criminal investigations. We’ll apply the skills and knowledge to help you apply successfully, manage your licensing obligations, or handle enforcement pressure.

After years of working with various regulators and licensing authorities, we can anticipate what they look for in applications and the approaches they take during enforcement proceedings. We’ll help you prepare as thoroughly as possible to ensure the best possible outcome.

Licensing issues can often lead to wider legal problems for businesses due to government agencies sharing information. For example, you may face investigation from the Food Standards Agency or HMRC if your licensing authority informs them of any discrepancies.

With Irwin Mitchell offices all over the country, we have local specialists on hand to quickly assist with any other issues that arise and minimise disruption for you or your business.

Contact Us

Call us on 0370 1500 100 to find out more about how we can help with your licensing issues, or contact us online and we’ll ring you back at a convenient time for you.

Contact our Licensing lawyers -
0370 1500 100


Or visit the Licensing team page.

Key Contacts

Our key contacts are all experts in their fields. Feel free to email or phone them to find out how we can help your business.

KEY CONTACTS

Meet the whole team

Testimonials

We truly value the feedback we receive from both our clients and legal accreditation societies, such as The Legal 500 and Chambers & Partners.

Chambers

"They are very approachable and good with clients."

Chambers & Partners, 2016

Legal 500

“A good firm to have on your side.”

Legal 500, 2015

Awards & Accreditation

We're always proud to be recognised for the work we do for our clients and have been named as a leading firm in the latest legal guides - which provide information and recommendations about lawyers and law firms in the UK.

Leading Firm - Legal 500 2017 UK Chambers & Partners Leading Firm 2018 Shortlisted for Property Law Firm of the Year - Yorkshire Insider Property Industry Awards 2016 5th Most Active Mergers & Acquisitions Firm - Experian 2016 Lex 100

We Work Nationally

We have offices in major cities throughout the UK and our lawyers can arrange to visit you or your business in person if necessary. We also have international capability, with global links to other legal specialists.

Enter your postcode or location to find your nearest office.

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