Licences and registration

What follows is simply an overview of key laws regarding licensing and registration that affect small business. For more details or specific guidance before you start up, seek professional legal advice.

Find out whether you need a licence

To operate certain businesses you need a licence from your local authority. These include taxi firms, pet shops, boarding kennels, hotels, restaurants, hairdressers, mobile shops, food outlets, massage parlours, sex shops, acupuncturists and tattooists. You’ll also need a licence if you plan to sell alcohol. Find local authority contact details on the Direct.gov website.

If you want to open a childminding business or day-care nursery, you must register with the Office for Standards in Education in England, Care and Social Services Inspectorate in Wales, Scottish Commission for the Regulation of Care in Scotland or the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety in Northern Ireland.

Those hoping to operate public-service vehicles must apply to their local VOSA Traffic Area Office. The Office of Fair Trading Consumer Credit Licensing Bureau must issue a licence before a business can lend money, arrange credit, collect debts, issue credit cards, offer debt adjusting or counselling services or operate a credit-reference agency.

You must apply for a licence to sell alcohol in a shop, pub, club, nightclub, restaurant, hotel or gaming establishment. Rules also apply to regulated entertainment. Learn more on the Department for Culture, Media and Sport website.

Businesses involved in food and drink are also affected by environmental health and food hygiene regulations. Get more information on the Food Standards Agency website.

Find out about health and safety rules

Businesses with employees who work in an office, shop, warehouse, catering or leisure facility need to register with their local authority’s environmental health department.

Most other firms fall under the jurisdiction of the Health & Safety Executive, with which you need to register if you’re an employer. Ring the organisation’s Infoline on 0845 345 0055. Health and safety rules also apply to self-employed people who work alone, as well as those with staff.

Business owners are responsible for the health and safety of their employees, visitors, customers and premises. For more information read Comply with health and safety rules on the Start Up Donut. Also read An introduction to health and safety, published by the Health & Safety Executive. 

For more in-depth information on how the law applies to your business read The No-Nonsense Guide to Government rules and regulations for setting up your business, available from Business Link.