Food, Drink & Hospitality
Restaurants, pubs, hotels, food manufacturing, catering and food service.
96
guides
18
journeys
Guided journeys
Step-by-step guides for businesses in this sector:
Meet food safety requirements for your business
Register, implement HACCP, and comply with food safety law including allergen requirements
Start journey →Meet environmental compliance requirements
Navigate your environmental obligations including waste duty of care, pollution prevention, packaging responsibilities, and energy reporting
Start journey →Building regulations compliance for renovation
Navigate building control approval, thermal upgrade requirements, and competent person schemes when renovating business premises
Start journey →Start a brewery or distillery
Launch a brewery, distillery, winery, or cidery in the UK
Start journey →Managing business waste and duty of care compliance
Navigate your legal obligations for business waste - duty of care, waste carriers, transfer notes, and preparing for new recycling rules
Start journey →Start a food manufacturing business
Set up a food or drink production and manufacturing business
Start journey →Respond to a food safety incident
Immediate steps when unsafe food is discovered or a customer reports illness. Stop selling, withdraw the product, notify the FSA, and cooperate with enforcement.
Start journey →Start a food business for the first time
Everything you need to do before opening a food business. Covers registration, premises, HACCP, training, allergens, labelling, and preparing for your first inspection.
Start journey →Food safety quick compliance check
A quick compliance check for food business operators. Covers registration, HACCP, allergens, temperature control, training, and record keeping.
Start journey →Improve your food hygiene rating
Practical steps to improve a poor food hygiene rating. Understand what inspectors scored, fix the issues, and request a re-inspection.
Start journey →Accommodation compliance for hotels, B&Bs, and holiday lets
Compliance journey for accommodation providers covering tourist registration, fire safety for sleeping accommodation, legionella management, VAT on accommodation, short-term lets regulation, HMO licensing, and data protection for guest data.
Start journey →Start a hospitality business: licences, food safety, and compliance
End-to-end learning path for opening a hospitality business. Covers premises licences, food business registration, HACCP, fire safety, employer obligations, tipping law, and music licensing. Signposts to specialist guides for accommodation, events, and gaming.
Start 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.
Start journey →Respond to a hospitality licensing investigation
What to do if your hospitality business faces a licensing review, environmental health investigation, fire safety enforcement notice, or HMRC compliance check. Covers identifying the investigation type, understanding your rights, gathering evidence, getting representation, and preventing recurrence.
Start journey →Hospitality compliance quick check
Quick compliance check for experienced hospitality operators. Covers licensing, food safety, fire risk, tipping policy, right to work, gas safety, music licensing, and insurance.
Start journey →Help with Wales Visitor Levy
Troubleshooting guide for Wales visitor accommodation registration and levy collection. Helps accommodation providers understand registration requirements, council levy adoption, and how to collect and remit the levy.
Start journey →Running a holiday let
Step-by-step compliance guide for self-catering holiday accommodation. Covers licensing, safety, tax, food hygiene, and employment obligations.
Start journey →Guidance for food, drink & hospitality
Sector-Specific
- Comply with livestock movement standstill periods — Legal requirements for standstill periods after livestock arrive on your holding. Covers standstill lengths by …
- Identify and tag livestock correctly — Legal requirements for identifying and tagging cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, and deer. Includes species-specific tagging …
- Host weddings and events on your farm — How to set up and run a farm wedding or event venue. Covers planning permission, …
- Running a package travel business — How to comply with ATOL licensing and Package Travel Regulations 2018 when selling package holidays. …
- Pubs Code for tied tenants — Your rights as a tied pub tenant under the Pubs Code. Covers Market Rent Only …
- Register and run a food business — How to register your food business with your local authority, meet food hygiene requirements, and …
- Late Night Levy for licensed premises — Understanding the Late Night Levy for alcohol premises trading between midnight and 6am, including rates …
- Food Information Regulations 2014 compliance — Comply with mandatory food labelling and information requirements under UK and assimilated EU law.
- Allergen control systems and Natasha's Law — Implement comprehensive allergen management systems and comply with Natasha's Law PPDS labelling requirements.
- Food safety management systems and HACCP — Implement HACCP-based food safety management procedures and comply with food hygiene regulations.
- Brewery licensing and compliance — Complete licensing, registration, and duty requirements for operating a brewery in the UK, including APPA …
- Food and drink business licensing and compliance — Navigate the complete range of licences, registrations, certifications, and consents required for food and drink …
- Food and drink regulations and traceability — Comply with HFSS labelling, traceability requirements, alcohol duty obligations, packaging regulations, waste disposal, and animal …
- Gambling licensing requirements for UK businesses — How to obtain gambling licences from the Gambling Commission, including operating, personal and premises licences. …
- Recognise and report notifiable animal diseases — How to identify signs of notifiable diseases in livestock and report suspected cases to APHA. …
- Food business registration — Register your food business with your local authority before starting operations.
- Food hygiene and HACCP — Implement food safety management procedures based on HACCP principles.
- Food Hygiene Rating Scheme — Understand the Food Hygiene Rating Scheme and display your rating.
- Allergen information requirements — Provide clear allergen information for all food you sell.
- Food labelling requirements — Label prepacked food correctly with all mandatory information.
- Food waste management — Comply with food waste segregation and disposal duties.
- Hospitality sector market overview — Market size, growth trends, investment opportunities, and key statistics for the UK hospitality sector including …
- Alcohol licensing requirements — How to obtain a premises licence to sell alcohol in England and Wales, including application …
- Music and entertainment licensing — TheMusicLicence requirements for playing background music, hosting live performances, and DJ events in hospitality venues …
- Food safety and hygiene requirements — HACCP-based food safety management systems, allergen labelling requirements including Natasha's Law, and food business registration …
- Health, safety and fire requirements for hospitality venues — Health and Safety at Work Act compliance, fire safety risk assessments, and fire safety certification …
- Outdoor trading and pavement licensing for hospitality — Pavement licences for outdoor seating, A-board permits, and requirements for placing tables, chairs and signage …
- Specialist hospitality licences and permissions — Gaming machines, civil wedding venues, tourist accommodation registration, HMO licensing and other specialist permissions for …
- Employment law for hospitality businesses — Tips and service charge distribution, DBS checks for staff working with children, workplace pensions, and …
- Register land to keep livestock — How to obtain a County Parish Holding (CPH) number before keeping cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, …
- Premises licence (alcohol) — Apply for a premises licence to sell or supply alcohol from your business in England …
- Personal licence (alcohol) — Obtain a personal licence to authorise and supervise alcohol sales in England and Wales. Covers …
- Temporary Event Notice (TEN) — Give a Temporary Event Notice to your local authority to carry out licensable activities at …
- Late night refreshment licence — Understand when you need authorisation to supply hot food or drink between 11pm and 5am. …
- Meet cattle welfare requirements — Legal welfare requirements for keeping cattle in England, covering the Animal Welfare Act 2006 and …
- Meet poultry welfare requirements — Legal requirements for keeping poultry in the UK, including the five welfare needs, stocking densities, …
- Meet sheep welfare requirements on your farm — How to meet your legal obligations for sheep welfare in the UK. Covers the Five …
- Understand your farm's regulatory obligations — A regulatory map for UK farms, showing which of 10+ regulatory bodies apply by farm …
- Meet bovine TB testing requirements for cattle — Comprehensive guide to bovine TB testing requirements for UK cattle farmers. Covers testing frequency by …
- FHL tax regime abolition - what's changed — Summary of the furnished holiday lettings tax regime abolition from April 2025, including the tax …
- Premises licence: how to apply — How to apply for a premises licence to sell alcohol, provide late night refreshment, or …
- Manage access land and SSSIs on your property — Understand your obligations as a landowner of open access land or Sites of Special Scientific …
- VAT for hospitality businesses — Understanding VAT rules for restaurants, cafes, pubs, hotels, and other hospitality businesses. Covers food and …
- Food handler training requirements — Legal training requirements for food handlers - training is mandatory, but certificates are not. Understanding …
- Packaging and labeling for export markets — Country-specific packaging and labeling requirements - UK standards don't automatically apply overseas.
- Comply with tipping law in hospitality — How to comply with the Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act 2023 as a hospitality employer. …
- Packaging waste producer responsibilities — Who must comply with Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for packaging, how to register and report …
- Apply for a water abstraction licence — How to apply for a licence to abstract water from rivers, streams, boreholes, or other …
- Get a water discharge permit — How to get an environmental permit for discharging liquid effluent or waste water to surface …
- Trade effluent consent for discharging to sewers — How to get consent from your water company to discharge trade effluent into public sewers. …
- Set up food premises that meet hygiene standards — How to set up food premises that meet the legal hygiene standards under Regulation (EC) …
- Control food temperatures safely — Keep food at safe temperatures throughout storage, cooking, holding, cooling, and reheating to prevent harmful …
- Food safety training for your staff — Food hygiene certificates are not a legal requirement -- UK law requires competency, not certificates. …
- Selling food online: labelling and safety requirements — Comply with distance selling rules when selling food online, including providing mandatory food information before …
- Food safety requirements in Scotland — How food safety regulation differs in Scotland. Covers Food Standards Scotland, CookSafe, the Food Hygiene …
- Apply for a club premises certificate — How qualifying clubs (social clubs, sports clubs, working men's clubs) can apply for a certificate …
- Licence reviews and enforcement action — How premises licence reviews work, who can trigger them, what happens at a hearing, possible …
- Responsible alcohol retailing — Checklist of mandatory conditions and best practices for responsible alcohol retailing — Challenge 25, refusal …
- Food safety compliance checklist — Quick verification checklist for food business operators. Covers registration, HACCP, temperature control, allergens, training, record …
- Food traceability, withdrawal, and recall — Maintain food traceability records using the one step back, one step forward principle, and follow …
- Prepare for a food hygiene inspection — Use this checklist to prepare your food business for an environmental health inspection. Covers the …
- Alcohol licensing in Scotland — How alcohol licensing works in Scotland under the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005 — five licensing …
- Alcohol licensing in Northern Ireland — How alcohol licensing works in Northern Ireland — court-granted licences, 5-year renewal, seven licence categories, …
- Appoint and manage a Designated Premises Supervisor — Every premises licence authorising alcohol sales must name a Designated Premises Supervisor (DPS). Learn about …
- Register as an alcohol wholesaler (AWRS) — If you sell alcohol to other businesses, you must register under the Alcohol Wholesaler Registration …
- Vary your premises licence — How to apply for full and minor variations to your existing premises licence — change …
- Transfer a premises licence to a new owner — How to transfer a premises licence when buying or taking over licensed premises in England …
- Alcohol licensing in Northern Ireland: court-granted licences — How Northern Ireland's court-based alcohol licensing system works, including the seven licence categories, 5-year renewal …
- Right to work checks for hospitality employers — Step-by-step guide to conducting right to work checks for hospitality staff, including the three-step process, …
- National Minimum Wage, tips, and pay compliance in hospitality — How to ensure NMW compliance in hospitality, covering the accommodation offset, why tips cannot count …
- Working time and rest breaks in hospitality — Working Time Regulations explained for hospitality employers including maximum hours, rest break entitlements, split shift …
- Commercial waste management for hospitality businesses — How to manage commercial waste from hospitality premises including duty of care obligations, using registered …
- Managing noise from hospitality premises — How to prevent and manage noise complaints from hospitality premises including statutory nuisance law, planning …
- Commercial kitchen safety: gas, ventilation, and legionella — Gas safety obligations, ventilation and extraction requirements, interlock systems, and legionella risk management for hospitality …
- Data protection and CCTV for hospitality businesses — How to comply with UK GDPR and PECR in hospitality, covering CCTV use, guest booking …
- Accommodation regulations for hotels, B&Bs, and short-term lets — Comprehensive guide to UK accommodation regulation covering tourist accommodation registration, short-term lets rules, fire safety …
- Hospitality annual compliance checklist — Annual compliance checklist for hospitality businesses covering all key regulatory obligations: licence renewals, fire safety …
- Get a short-term lets licence in Scotland
- Operating in a short-term let control area
- Running an Airbnb in Scotland legally
- Apply for an alcohol premises licence in Scotland
- Get a personal licence to sell alcohol in Scotland
- Minimum unit pricing compliance for alcohol retailers
- Prepare for Scotland's visitor levy
- Register your visitor accommodation in Wales
- Wales Visitor Levy: what accommodation providers need to know
- Novel foods authorisation in Great Britain — How to determine whether your food product requires novel food authorisation in Great Britain, and …
- Holiday let licensing and registration by nation — Licensing and registration requirements for self-catering holiday accommodation across the UK. Covers Scotland's mandatory short-term …
- Holiday let safety requirements and compliance — Health and safety requirements for self-catering holiday accommodation. Covers fire safety, gas safety, electrical safety, …
- Holiday let tax obligations and business rates — Tax obligations and business rates for self-catering holiday accommodation from April 2025. Covers the FHL …
- Holiday let food hygiene, employment and insurance — Food hygiene, employment law, insurance, and environmental duties for self-catering holiday accommodation. Covers food business …
Environment & Sustainability
- Check if you need an environmental permit — Determine whether your business activity requires an environmental permit from the Environment Agency or local …
Tax & Finance
- VAT and tax on exports — Zero-rating exports, evidence requirements, rules of origin, and claiming tariff-free trade under UK agreements.
Growth & Strategy
- Export market research and selection — How to research overseas markets, assess demand, understand competition, and evaluate market entry costs.
Compliance & Legal
- Business licences by activity type — A quick-reference lookup of UK business licences organised by activity type, covering food, alcohol, entertainment, …
- Penalties for trading without required approvals — Quick-reference table of penalties for operating a business without required licences, registrations, or insurance, covering …