Hospitality glossary · Compliance and safety
A personal licence authorises an individual to sell alcohol, or to authorise its sale by others, under the Licensing Act 2003 in England and Wales.
In practice
Definitions are easy. What matters is how the thing behaves in a real operation, and where it tends to go wrong.
Getting one means an accredited qualification (usually the APLH), a basic DBS check and an application to your local licensing authority. Every premises licensed to sell alcohol must also name a Designated Premises Supervisor, and the DPS has to hold a personal licence. Licences in England and Wales no longer expire; Scotland runs a separate regime under the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005, where they last ten years.
Running a site where only the DPS holds one. If that person resigns, alcohol sales have to stop until the premises licence is varied — which is a reason to have more than one licence holder on the team well before you need the second.
Questions
Something here that doesn’t match what you’re seeing in your own business? That is usually worth a conversation rather than another article.
A personal licence authorises an individual to sell alcohol, or to authorise its sale by others, under the Licensing Act 2003 in England and Wales. Getting one means an accredited qualification (usually the APLH), a basic DBS check and an application to your local licensing authority. Every premises licensed to sell alcohol must also name a Designated Premises Supervisor, and the DPS has to hold a personal licence. Licences in England and Wales no longer expire; Scotland runs a separate regime under the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005, where they last ten years.
Running a site where only the DPS holds one. If that person resigns, alcohol sales have to stop until the premises licence is varied — which is a reason to have more than one licence holder on the team well before you need the second.
WHY Hospitality