Journey
Open new hospitality premises: from lease to launch
End-to-end journey from signing a lease to opening night. Covers planning use class checks, premises licence application timeline, building regulations and fire safety, commercial kitchen fit-out, food business registration, music licensing, pavement licensing, and staff recruitment with right to work checks.
What this journey covers
Fitting out a new hospitality site involves regulatory steps that must happen in the right order. Miss one and you face delays measured in months. This learning path takes you through the full process chronologically, from lease signing to opening night.
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Check the planning use class before signing
Before committing to a lease, verify the premises has the correct planning use class. Restaurants and cafes fall within Use Class E, but pubs, drinking establishments, hot food takeaways, and nightclubs are sui generis and need specific planning permission. Converting between categories requires a planning application taking eight weeks or longer.
A mismatch between lease terms and planning permission is a common cause of delayed openings.
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Apply for a premises licence early
If you intend to sell alcohol, provide late-night refreshment, or offer regulated entertainment, you need a premises licence under the Licensing Act 2003. The application includes a mandatory 28-day consultation period during which responsible authorities and residents can object. A licensing committee hearing adds further weeks.
Submit your application before fit-out works begin. You will also need a Designated Premises Supervisor who holds a personal licence.
Alcohol licensing requirements
How to apply for a premises licence, appoint a Designated Premises Supervisor, understand the 28-day consultation process, and prepare for potential licensing committee hearings
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Meet building regulations and fire safety requirements
Structural alterations, changes to fire escape routes, or installation of extraction systems require building regulations approval. You must complete a fire risk assessment before opening. The responsible person is legally accountable for fire safety under the Fire Safety Order 2005. Sleeping accommodation triggers additional requirements for detection, emergency lighting, and means of escape.
If the new site will hold 200 or more people, note Martyn's Law (the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025): its preparedness duties are not yet in force but are expected to commence in 2027 - monitor GOV.UK and ProtectUK while planning the fit-out.
Health, safety and fire requirements for hospitality venues
Complete your fire risk assessment, understand responsible person duties under the Fire Safety Order 2005, and identify common hospitality health and safety risks
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Fit out the commercial kitchen safely
Commercial kitchen installations must comply with gas safety, ventilation, and electrical standards. Gas appliances require Gas Safe registered engineers and an annual gas safety check from installation. Extraction systems must meet building regulations and may need planning permission if external ducting is visible.
Commercial kitchen safety: gas, ventilation, and legionella
Gas safety checks, extraction system requirements, interlock systems, carbon monoxide detection, and legionella risk management for water systems in hospitality premises
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Register as a food business
You must register your food business with the local authority at least 28 days before you start trading. Registration is free and cannot be refused, but you must do it. Environmental health officers will inspect your premises, typically within 28 days of opening, and assign a Food Hygiene Rating. Your HACCP food safety management system must be in place before that first inspection.
Food safety and hygiene requirements
Register your food business, set up your HACCP food safety management system, understand allergen labelling obligations under Natasha's Law, and prepare for your first environmental health inspection
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Arrange music and entertainment licensing
Playing recorded music, hosting live performances, or showing television requires separate licences. TheMusicLicence from PPL PRS covers copyright for recorded and live music, separate from your premises licence which covers regulated entertainment. Live music for audiences of no more than 500 is deregulated between 8am and 11pm, but recorded background music still requires TheMusicLicence.
Music and entertainment licensing
Understand the difference between TheMusicLicence and Licensing Act entertainment permissions, live music deregulation rules, and TV licensing requirements for business premises
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Recruit staff and complete right to work checks
Hospitality is a Home Office enforcement priority sector. You must check every new employee's right to work before their first day. Civil penalties reach 60,000 pounds per illegal worker. Use the online checking service where possible, and retain records for the duration of employment plus two years.
Right to work checks for hospitality employers
Conduct compliant right to work checks using the online checking service, understand repeat check requirements for time-limited permission, and avoid civil penalties up to 60,000 pounds per worker
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Complete pre-opening checks
Before opening night, confirm these items are in place. Missing any one of them could result in enforcement action, an inability to trade, or a poor hygiene rating on your first inspection.
Outdoor trading and pavement licensing
Apply for a pavement licence for outdoor seating and understand A-board rules if you plan to use the public highway outside your premises
Managing noise from hospitality premises
Understand noise nuisance law, manage residential complaints, and put operational controls in place before your premises licence conditions are tested