Whenever we are asked to undertake legal work in relation to liquor licensing work, we offer a full, detailed, costs quotation, including our own time charges and the method of calculating these, as well as likely expenses needing to be incurred in the course of the proposed work if this proceeds as originally envisaged.
All charges detailed in that quotation will be subject to VAT payable in addition At rates current from time to time as per https://www.gov.uk/vat-rates .
We do not offer one-size-fits-all costs quotations. The basis of our charging and likely total costs through to the conclusion will depend on the nature of each individual matter. Our charges may be on a time & materials basis, or on a fixed charge basis, or in appropriate cases on a contingency basis, depending on the nature of each individual matter.
Our charges are calculated by reference to then current rates, ranging from currently £75 to £285 per hour, with expenses in addition. Ranges of likely costs are, in total, as per below.
Liquor licensing applications can vary greatly in legal costs, depending on the nature and location of the premises, the variety of activities sought to be permitted, and the hours applied for.
We would anticipate supplying a specific costs estimate along the lines of the below range if asked for a costs quotation in a straightforward matter.
The below numbers are exclusive of expenses, such as Council’s fees, and VAT, which are payable in addition:
New application – £750 – £1,000
Major variation – £600 – £850
Minor variation – £400 – £500
DPS change – £250
Transfer – £250
DPS change and transfer submitted at the same time – £350.
Fees payable to the Council depend on the rateable value :
| Non-domestic rateable value | Application fee | Annual Fee |
| £0-£4300 | £100 | £70 |
| £4,301-£33,000 | £190 | £180 |
| £33,001-£87,000 | £315 | £295 |
| £87,001-£125,000 | £450 | £320 |
| £125,001 and over | £635 | £350 |
If the premises are in the last two bands and used daily for selling alcohol, a multiplier is added :
| Band | Application fee | Annual charge |
| £87,001-£125,000 | £900 | £640 |
| £125,001 and over | £1905 | £1050 |
If you are planning to have 5,000 or more people at the venue, there is a further fee to pay.
Any legal staff member leading the work on the matter day-to-day will have appropriate skills and experience sufficient to competently do that work, as will the senior staff member or partner responsible for supervising the work, who is very experienced licensing solicitor Jeremy Woodcraft.
In our quotation letter, or by email or letter sent in parallel to or shortly after that, we will explain the projected key stages of the matter, with applicable information as to possible timescales.
Timescales for applications for personal liquor licence
The timeframe for the applications vary depending on the external agencies we have to apply through. However once we have all the information & documentation required from the applicant, we turn each stage of the application round within 72 hours; in practice we often complete each of our stages on the same day.
Below we outline a typical time-line for a personal licence application using our application service:
Stage 1 – Applicant provides us with the relevant information, supporting documents and photographs
Stage 2 (max. 48 hours) – We submit an application for a Basic DBS; or the equivalent.
Stage 3 (2-4 weeks) – The DBS process the criminal conviction certificate (Basic DBS) and send it back to us.
Stage 4 (max 48 hours) – We check all the documentation (including the APLH certificate which usually takes about a week to be received from BIIAB) and submit the completed application to the appropriate licensing authority and other responsible authorities where required.
Stage 5 (1 week to 3 months / the average is 3 to 5 weeks) – the Licensing Authority will process the licence and return both parts to us. By law the licensing authority has 3 months in which they must complete the application.
Stage 6 (max. 48 hours) – We will check the personal licence, scan it and email you a scan of the licence for your records. We post the personal licence on within 48 hours by recorded first class post and securely destroy all supporting documents and personal information.
Stages 1 to 6 – The average time in which we complete the personal licence application service, is 6 to 8 weeks.
