Licensing

Fees for

Licensing applications in relation to businesses

Our fees for applying for a new premises licence are £700(+VAT)

Our fees to vary a premises licence to allow those premises to be used for one or more licensable activities start from £800 +VAT we will be able to give a precise quote at the first meeting.

Fixed fee of £700 (+ VAT) does not include disbursements.

Disbursements

Disbursements are costs related to your matter that are payable to third parties, such as the application fee. We will pay the disbursements on your behalf to ensure a smoother process.

• Application fee (payable to licensing authority) to be confirmed based on the relevant authority;
• Advertising fee may vary based on the method of advertising;
• Enquiry agent fees to display public notices can be in the region of £200-£300 (may vary);
• Special delivery fee to serve the application £6.50 -£26.94;
• Printing additional copies of plans if necessary £50-£170.

*These fees vary depending on the individual premises and where it is located. The fees can on occasion be higher than the ranges given above. We will give you an accurate figure for each item as soon as we are able to do so.

Fee includes:

• Taking your instructions and advising you as to how you can promote the licensing objectives within your application
• Advising you as the type of plans you are required to submit with your application.
• Completing the application form for a new premises licence (including the operating schedule) in accordance with your instructions and submitting this to the local licensing authority alongside suitable plans. You must provide suitable plans.
• Providing guidance on the fee levels payable to the licensing authority.
• Preparing copies of the premises licence application for disclosure to the responsible authorities and serving copies of the application on the responsible authorities.
• Drafting the notices advertising the premises licence application and submitting the notice to the local newspaper.
• Arranging with you for you to display the notice(s) advertising the premises licence application and advising as to where and how this should be done by you in order to comply with the requirements of the Licensing Act 2003.
• Providing a Designated Premises Supervisor (DPS) consent form for signature by a personal licence holder proposed by yourself.
• Checking the licence once granted and correcting any errors with the licensing authority.

The fee does not include:

• obtaining suitable plans
• attending pre-consultation meetings with the Licensing Authority or Responsible Authorities, nor their fee for this meeting.
• dealing with or advising you in relation to queries or representations received from either the responsible authorities or other interested parties
• advising on varying the licence
• attendance and representation at a licensing sub-committee hearing of the responsible authority. If representations are received and attendance and representation at a licensing sub-committee is required then we will provide a separate fee estimate for this work which will be charged at an hourly rate.

How long will my application take?

Matters usually take between 1 to 3 months from receipt of full instructions from you. This is on the basis of the application being relatively straightforward and you being able to provide all the necessary documents promptly. If your matter is more complex, for example, if there is substantial opposition from interested parties, or if there is a delay in receiving the documents we need, it may take longer.

For Complicated matters/Appeals we will charge you the following hourly rates for their work:

All routine correspondence which we write will be charged at 1/10th of the hourly rate, while routine correspondence we receive will be charged at 1/20th of the hourly rate.

All routine telephone calls, either made or received, will be charged at 1/10th of the hourly rate.

More complicated correspondence and telephone calls will be charged at the hourly rate for the actual time they take.

If your instructions mean we have to work outside normal office hours, we may increase the level of the hourly rates. We will notify you in writing of any increases.

We will add VAT to our fees at the rate that applies when the work is completed (if we are registered for VAT). Currently VAT is charged at 20%.

If we have agreed an agreed fixed fee we will endeavour to carry out the work within the fixed fee. However, if the matter has become complicated or prolonged for whatever reasons we reserve the right to charge you more than our standard hourly rate but we will inform you of the same before we do so.