Licensing Application Pricing in Relation to Businesses

Hourly rate is £250 per hour plus VAT. The rage below is only an estimate, each application differs and the cost could well be less

Anticipated Disbursements include Application fee (payable to licensing authority which can confirm the exact fee but e.g. for rateable value of £24,000 the application fee is £190) and advertising fee (to be agreed by you – about £300).

These fees may be subject to variation upon further information on the individual premises and their location. If you have not got suitable plans/drawings, you may need to pay for some to be produced. We do not do this.

Our fees are fixed and include items detailed above, however there may be factors which would typically increase the cost of the fees estimated above. Where there is likely to be any additional cost, we will make sure you are informed of this at the earliest opportunity and a clear estimate of those extra costs will be provided.

Factors that may lead to an increase in cost include:

• Obtaining suitable plans
• Attending pre-consultation meetings with the Licensing Authority or Responsible Authorities and their fee for such a meeting.
• Dealing with or advising you in relation to queries or representations received from either the responsible authorities or other interested parties
• Advising on varying the licence
• Attendance and representation at a licensing sub-committee hearing of the responsible authority. If representations are received and attendance and representation at a licensing sub-committee is required, then we will provide a separate fee estimate for this work which will be charged at an hourly rate.

A typical application will take about 5 weeks if unopposed and 10 weeks if there are objections that cannot be withdrawn by negotiation. We will discuss any changes to timescales with you as appropriate, so you always have a realistic idea of how long your licensing application should take.

With every transaction there are key milestones; our fee will include these milestones and may be as follows:

• Taking your instructions and advising you as to how you can promote the licensing objectives within your application
• Advising you on the type of plans you are required to submit with your application.
• Completing the application form for a new premises licence (including the operating schedule) in accordance with your instructions and submitting this to the local licensing authority alongside suitable plans. You must provide suitable plans.
• Providing guidance on the fee levels payable to the licensing authority.
• Preparing copies of the premises licence application for disclosure to the responsible authorities and serving copies of the application on the responsible authorities.
• Drafting the notices advertising the premises licence application and submitting the notice to the local newspaper.
• Arranging with you for you to display the notice(s) advertising the premises licence application and advising as to where and how this should be done by you to comply with the requirements of the Licensing Act 2003.
• Providing a Designated Premises Supervisor (DPS) consent form for signature by a personal licence holder proposed by yourself.
• Checking the licence once granted and correcting any errors with the licensing authority.