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.

16 of 426 licences for Food and drink: wholesale, manufacturing and production

Choose from all 48 activities

D

Discharging effluent (Scotland)

Get permission to send liquid waste out from factories or places where sewage is dealt with and find how to contact Scottish water suppliers …

Scottish Government · Scotland

Any trade

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

F

Food analyst appointment (England, Northern Ireland, Wales)

Food analysts are responsible for performing chemical analyses on food to ensure businesses are complying with food safety law.

Welsh Government · England, Wales and Northern Ireland

Food and drink: wholesale, manufacturing and production

Food examiner appointment (England, Northern Ireland, Wales)

Food examiners are responsible for performing microbiological analyses on food and feed to ensure businesses are complying with food safety law.

Welsh Government · England, Wales and Northern Ireland

Food and drink: wholesale, manufacturing and production

Food irradiation licence (Scotland)

You need a licence if you manufacture food and treat it with irradiation in Scotland

Scottish Government · Scotland

Agriculture: animals · Animal products: manufacturing and wholesale · Food and drink: wholesale, manufacturing and production

Food premises approval (Scotland)

Get a licence for handling meat, fish, egg or dairy products.

Your council · Scotland

Animal products: manufacturing and wholesale · Food and drink: wholesale, manufacturing and production · Hospitality, restaurants, bars and catering

G

Goods vehicle operator licences

You need a goods vehicle operator’s licence if your business uses a goods vehicle with either a gross plated weight (the maximum weight that …

Traffic Commissioners · England, Wales and Scotland

Any trade

L

Local authority food establishment approval

Your council

England · Wales · Northern Ireland

Animal products: manufacturing and wholesale · Food and drink: wholesale, manufacturing and production · Hospitality, restaurants, bars and catering

O

Operating an A1 installation (England)

You must apply for an environmental permit if you operate a facility which is classed as an ‘A1 installation’.

Environment Agency · England

Any trade

P

Public analyst appointment (England, Northern Ireland, Wales)

Public analysts perform chemical analyses on food to ensure businesses are complying with food safety law.

Welsh Government · England, Wales and Northern Ireland

Food and drink: wholesale, manufacturing and production

S

Slaughterer in Food Standards Agency (FSA) approved slaughterhouses (England, Wales)

You need a full or temporary Certificate of Competence to perform many of the tasks required in a slaughterhouse.

Welsh Government · England and Wales

Animal products: manufacturing and wholesale · Food and drink: wholesale, manufacturing and production

T

The Beef Carcase Classification scheme: work as a classifier

The Beef Carcase Classification (BCC) scheme is the compulsory classification of beef carcases to an agreed standard so that a fair meat price can …

RPA · England and Wales

Agriculture: animals · Animal products: manufacturing and wholesale · Food and drink: wholesale, manufacturing and production

U

Using, treating, storing and disposing of waste (England)

You may need an environmental permit if your business uses, recycles, treats, stores or disposes of waste or mining waste.

Environment Agency · England

Any trade

V

Venison dealer licence (Scotland)

You need a venison dealer licence if you want to sell or exchange venison in Scotland

Your council · Scotland

Animal products: manufacturing and wholesale · Food and drink: wholesale, manufacturing and production

W

Weighbridge operator certificate

Contact your council for a certificate of competence to operate a chargeable weighbridge

Your council · England, Wales and Scotland

Any trade

Weighbridge operator's certificate (Northern Ireland)

You need a certificate of competence to operate a public weighbridge for which a charge is made in Northern Ireland

Your council · Northern Ireland

Any trade

Where GOV.UK lists a licence separately for each nation, it appears here once with a link to each nation's version. They are separate licences in law, often resting on different legislation.

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