Business guidance

Food, Drink & Hospitality

Get authorisation for a water activity in Scotland (EASR)

How to get authorisation for any activity affecting surface water or groundwater in Scotland — abstraction, impoundment, engineering in or near a water body, and discharges. Since 1 November 2025 water activities are authorised under the Environmental Authorisations (Scotland) Regulations 2018 (EASR), which replaced the Controlled Activities Regulations (CAR 2011) framework. Covers the four-tier authorisation system (General Binding Rules, notification, registration, permit), pre-application advice, fees, and enforcement, all administered by SEPA.

Environment & Sustainability

Meet your environmental permits, waste and construction duties for remediation

A remediation business must hold environmental permits for waste operations, register as a waste carrier, comply with the contaminated land regime, control asbestos, meet CDM construction duties, handle hazardous waste correctly and observe the waste duty of care. This guide takes you through each duty in turn.

Environment & Sustainability

Meet your sewerage regulatory duties

A sewerage business must hold an appointment as a sewerage undertaker (or be exempt), hold environmental permits for its discharges, meet urban waste water treatment standards and comply with sewage sludge controls when spreading to agricultural land. This guide takes you through each regulatory duty in turn.

Environment & Sustainability

Meet your waste management regulatory duties

Waste collection, treatment, disposal and materials recovery carry activity-specific regulatory duties beyond the universal workplace spine. This guide covers waste carrier, broker and dealer registration, the section 34 duty of care, environmental permits for waste treatment and disposal facilities and for recovery operations, authorised treatment facility requirements for end-of-life vehicles, hazardous waste consignment controls, and landfill tax.

Retail & Consumer Goods

Motor trade compliance checklist

A confirmation checklist for motor trade businesses. Work through the cross-cutting duties every motor business shares, then the section for what you do — selling vehicles, repair and MOT, parts, or dismantling and salvage. Several duties differ by nation, so check the rule for where you operate.

Environment & Sustainability

Remediation: compliance checklist

Use this checklist to confirm your remediation or waste management business meets its obligations. Work through the workplace items every business shares, then the environmental, waste and construction duties. If you answer no to any item that applies to you, follow the linked guide before you proceed.

Environment & Sustainability

Set up and run a safe remediation operation

Every remediation and decontamination business must protect its workers and others affected by the work. This guide covers the workplace health and safety, employers' liability insurance, equality and data protection duties that apply before you get into the sector-specific environmental, waste and construction requirements.

Environment & Sustainability

Set up and run a safe sewerage operation

Every sewerage business must protect its workers and others affected by the work. This guide covers the workplace health and safety, fire safety, employers' liability insurance, equality and data protection duties that apply before you get into the sector-specific sewerage regulatory requirements.

Environment & Sustainability

Set up and run a safe waste management operation

Waste collection, treatment, disposal and materials recovery is high-hazard work — heavy plant, moving vehicles, manual handling, dust, biological and chemical exposure, and fire risk from stockpiled combustible waste. Whatever waste activity you carry on, this is the universal spine. It takes you through your core workplace health and safety duties, fire safety, employers' liability insurance, equality and data protection.

Environment & Sustainability

Sewerage: compliance checklist

Use this checklist to confirm your sewerage business meets its obligations. Work through the workplace items every business shares, then the sewerage regulatory duties. If you answer no to any item that applies to you, follow the linked guide before you proceed.

Agriculture & Farming

Understanding the Water Framework Directive for businesses

How the Water Framework Directive shapes UK water regulation — river basin management, water body classification, the no-deterioration principle, and what it means for any business whose activities affect surface water or groundwater. Explains the post-Brexit retention position and the four-nation regulatory landscape.

Environment & Sustainability

Waste management: compliance checklist

Use this checklist to confirm your waste management business meets its obligations before you begin operating. Work through the universal workplace items every operator shares, then the activity-specific environmental, registration and tax duties. If you answer no to any item, follow the linked guide before you proceed.

Retail & Consumer Goods

Which motor trade rules apply to your business

"Motor trade" covers very different businesses — selling cars and motorcycles as a dealer, repairing and MOT-testing vehicles in a garage, selling parts and accessories, or dismantling and scrapping end-of-life vehicles. Each has its own regulators and rules, on top of the duties they all share. Work out which description fits you and follow the right guide.

Environment & Sustainability

Which remediation and waste management rules apply to you

If you carry out land remediation, decontamination or other waste management services you must meet workplace safety duties and comply with the environmental, waste and construction regulations that govern your work. Use this page to find which guides apply to your business.

Environment & Sustainability

Which sewerage rules apply to you

If you operate a sewerage undertaking, carry out sewage treatment, empty cesspools and septic tanks, or maintain drains and sewers, you must meet workplace safety duties and the regulatory requirements for your activities. Use this page to find which guides apply to your business.

Environment & Sustainability

Which waste management regulations apply to your business

Every waste management business shares the same workplace-safety foundation, but the rules then diverge by what you do — whether you collect and transport waste, operate a treatment or disposal facility, run a materials recovery operation, or dismantle end-of-life vehicles. Work out which path applies to you before you go any further.

Energy & Utilities

Working in the civil nuclear industry

Regulatory compliance requirements for businesses operating in the civil nuclear industry including site licensing, security vetting, liability insurance, and decommissioning obligations under Office for Nuclear Regulation oversight.

Tax & Finance

Check if you need to register for VAT

Find out if your business must register for VAT based on your taxable turnover. Covers the £90,000 threshold, what counts as taxable turnover, the rolling 12-month test, and when voluntary registration makes sense.

Business Structure

Mandatory registrations every business must complete

Step-by-step guide to the registrations every business must complete before trading, regardless of sector. Covers HMRC tax registration, ICO data protection fee, mandatory insurance, and pension auto-enrolment.

Premises & Operations

Meet your business waste duty of care

Understand your legal responsibilities when producing, storing, or disposing of business waste. Covers using registered waste carriers, completing waste transfer notes, and the stricter rules for hazardous waste.

Compliance & Legal

Pre-trading compliance checklist

A concise yes/no checklist to verify you have completed all mandatory pre-trading requirements, including business registration, tax, insurance, licences, premises approvals, and data protection.