Open a second premises

Before you sign anything, check the property's planning use class matches what you intend to do there. A change of use between classes can require a planning application, and applications take weeks to months to determine. Discovering a mismatch after signing a lease is expensive to fix.

Understand what you're signing

Lease type determines who pays for repairs and building maintenance. An FRI (full repairing and insuring) lease can leave you liable for dilapidations at the new site that you did not budget for. Check break clauses, rent review terms, and alienation provisions (whether you can assign or sublet) before signing.

You pay business rates on each non-domestic property you occupy, so the new site brings its own rates bill and its own rateable value. If you currently claim Small Business Rate Relief, taking on a second property commonly reduces or removes that relief - the rules and thresholds vary by nation and depend on the rateable value of each property, so check your specific position rather than assuming relief simply continues.

Notify the Valuation Office Agency (or the relevant devolved body) and your local council about the new property so your rates account is set up correctly from the start.

Premises-specific licences do not transfer between sites. A premises licence, food business registration, or other site-based permit that covers your existing location does not extend to the new one - you need to apply, register, or notify again for the new address, even though it is the same legal business.

Work out what applies to the new site specifically. This depends on what you do there and where it is, not on what you already hold elsewhere.

Fire safety, health and safety, and accessibility obligations apply per site. Holding a compliant existing premises does not carry those duties over to the new one - each property needs its own assessment.

Before you open the new site, you need a fire risk assessment for that specific building, a health and safety risk assessment covering the work that happens there, and a check that the premises meets your duties on accessibility and reasonable adjustments. You also take on a waste duty of care for the new address from the day you start producing waste there.

If you employ anyone, your employers' liability certificate must be available at each place of work, including the new one - check whether you need a separate certificate displayed there or whether your existing policy already covers it. Review your buildings, contents, and public liability cover with your insurer so the new property is properly covered from day one; a policy written for a single site does not automatically extend to a second.

Decide how you'll staff the new site - relocating existing staff, splitting time across both sites, or recruiting locally. Each option has different practical and contractual implications worth thinking through before you commit to an opening date.

Update HMRC and your own records with the new address so your correspondence and any site-specific filings go to the right place. Your VAT registration does not change - you're still the same legal entity trading from an additional location, so there's no new VAT registration to make. Your data protection registration with the ICO is also unaffected by adding a site, though you should update your own records of processing if the new premises changes what personal data you handle or where.