Most shops need no licence simply to trade. The activities below each need a licence, registration or permission before you start, and most are issued by your council.
Sell fireworks
To supply adult fireworks to the public in Great Britain outside the traditional periods, you need a fireworks licence from your local licensing authority. That is your council or, in some metropolitan areas, the fire and rescue authority. It will grant the licence only if you hold a storage licence under the Explosives Regulations 2014, or none is needed. You still need to be licensed to store fireworks if you sell only in the traditional periods.
Where you sell category 2 or 3 fireworks from premises, display a notice of at least 420 by 297 millimetres, with letters at least 16 millimetres high, saying it is illegal to sell them to anyone under 18 and illegal for anyone under 18 to possess them in a public place. Keep records of who you bought fireworks from and sold them to for three years.
Selling fireworks without the licence you need is a criminal offence, with a fine of unlimited amount and up to 6 months in prison.
Buy scrap metal
In England and Wales you need a scrap metal licence from your council if you carry on a business that consists wholly or partly of buying or selling scrap metal, or if you are a motor salvage operator. Gold, silver and alloys with 2% or more of either are not scrap metal.
Keep records of what you receive and dispose of for 3 years.
Trade at a market or on the street
Trading from a market stall or in the street needs permission, and who gives it depends on where you trade. At a market held under a grant, Act or order, the operator sets the terms. In England and Wales, in streets that a council has designated as licence streets or consent streets, you need a street trading licence or the council's consent. Trading at a shop, or in the street next to it as part of the shop's business, is outside those street trading rules.
Sell tobacco, vapes and nicotine products
Whether you must join a retailer register, or hold a licence, before selling tobacco, herbal smoking, vaping or nicotine products depends on where your shop is. The position in each nation is set out below.
Sell animals as pets
Selling animals as pets, or keeping them in the course of a business to sell as pets, needs a licence in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and the licensing authority inspects your premises. Each nation sets its own rules, as the notes below show.
Check the rules for your nation
Legal basis
Primary legislation and key regulations