Licences and permits

The permissions a business needs before it can trade, each one tied to the law that creates it and to the body that issues it. We point at GOV.UK for fees and forms, and never copy them.

8 of 426 licences in England for Beauty, hairdressing, nails and spa treatments

Choose from all 48 activities

D

Discharging effluent or waste water (England)

You may need an environmental permit to discharge liquid effluent or waste water to surface water or the ground.

Environment Agency · England

Any trade

H

Hairdresser registration (England)

You may have to register with your local council in England if you run a hairdressing or barbers business, so that they can check …

Your council · England · No national statute

Beauty, hairdressing, nails and spa treatments

L

Laser or intense pulsed light treatment registration (England)

Some practitioners need to register to offer treatments that use intense pulsed light systems or lasers in England

Scottish Government · England

Beauty, hairdressing, nails and spa treatments · Healthcare · Tattooing, piercing and electrolysis

M

Massage and special treatment premises licensing

Contact your council if you run an establishment for massage or other special treatments and need a premises licence

Your council · England and Wales · No national statute

Beauty, hairdressing, nails and spa treatments

N

Notification to process personal data

You must notify the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) if your organisation processes personal data in an automated form

UK Government · England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland

Any trade

P

Pavement or street display licence (England and Wales)

Get a licence to put an advertising sign on the road or pavement in England and Wales - restrictions, fines, penalties

Your council · England and Wales

Any trade

Permission to distribute leaflets (England and Wales)

You may need to get permission to distribute free printed material in certain areas controlled by the local council.

Your council · England and Wales

Any trade

T

Tattoo, piercing and electrolysis licence (England and Wales)

You need to register with the relevant local council to get a tattoo, piercing and electrolysis licence in England and Wales

Your council · England and Wales

Beauty, hairdressing, nails and spa treatments · Tattooing, piercing and electrolysis

2 licences on this list have no national enabling statute behind them. The regime is council byelaws or a local Act, or a statute that reaches only part of the area, and those pages say so plainly rather than citing something that does not apply to you. We have not yet mapped an enabling instrument for 1 licence on this list. That is a gap in our graph, not a statement about the law, and those pages say so rather than guessing.

Checking approvals more broadly?

A licence is one of several things you may need before your first day of trading. The pre-trading quick check walks the registrations, insurances and approvals alongside it.

Run the pre-trading quick check

Not sure which of these apply to you?

Our guides on finding a licence and dealing with your local council walk through the questions that decide it.

Find a licence