Licensing & Compliance

Register as a Food Business with Your Council

This one’s a must for anyone starting a restaurant, café, takeaway, or even a home-based food biz. You need to register with your local council’s environmental health department at least 28 days before you start trading.

It’s free to do and just officially notifies them that you’re opening – after you’re up and running, they’ll probably pop by for an inspection. If you have more than one location, remember to register each one.

Prepare for a Food Hygiene Rating

Once you’re up and running, a health inspector will drop by to check your hygiene and cleanliness.

They’ll then give your place a Food Hygiene Rating from 0 to 5, with 5 being top marks, under the Food Standards Agency scheme. This score might be displayed publicly and online, so aim high!

If you stick to good food safety practices – keeping things clean, proper food handling, record-keeping, etc. – you’ll boost your chances of scoring a 5. A high rating is a great selling point to customers who care about safe food.

Premises Licence If Selling Alcohol

Thinking of serving alcohol at your restaurant or offering beer/wine with takeaway orders?

If so, you’ll need a Premises Licence from the council, and you’ll have to appoint a Designated Premises Supervisor who has a personal alcohol licence, to legally sell booze.

Selling alcohol without the proper licence is a serious offence – definitely not worth the risk. The process involves an application, a fee, and meeting conditions under the Licensing Act 2003.

Heads up: it can take a few weeks, so plan ahead.

Late Night Refreshment Licence

Planning to serve hot food or drinks after 11pm?

That’s a licensable activity too. By law, any hot food sold between 11pm and 5am counts as “late night refreshment”.

In plain English: if your takeaway stays open past 11pm, you need permission for that on your Premises Licence, or sometimes a separate late-night refreshment licence, depending on local rules.

Many takeaways miss this detail – but it’s required even if you’re not selling alcohol. Double-check with your council and be sure you’re covered for late-night trading if you plan to serve those night owls.

Music Licence

Few things create atmosphere like some good tunes in your restaurant – but keep in mind, if you play recorded music in public, background music, radio, etc., you’ll need a Music Licence.

In the UK this is managed by PPL PRS under “TheMusicLicence” scheme. It basically ensures artists get their royalties.

The silver lining is that sorting out a music licence is straightforward – usually just an annual fee based on your business size and music use.

If you’re not sure about the specifics, check the PPL PRS site or the GOV.UK guidance for the full scoop.

Follow Health & Safety Rules

As a business owner, you’ve got a legal duty to keep both your staff and customers safe.

Health and safety law applies to all businesses, even little ones like yours. So, what does that mean for a takeaway, café or restaurant?

Essentially, you need to assess the risks in your operations and take sensible steps to prevent accidents and injuries.

Key actions include keeping walkways and kitchens free of hazards, training staff to use equipment safely, storing cleaning chemicals properly, and maintaining equipment.

It might sound like a lot, but the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) has simple guidance for catering businesses on the basic things you must do to comply.

Conduct a Risk Assessment

One key health and safety requirement is to do a risk assessment for your business activities.

This basically means walking through your premises and workflows to spot potential hazards, such as sharp knives, hot oil, cleaning chemicals, fire risks, etc., and noting what measures you have or need to mitigate those risks.

If you have more than five employees, you’re legally required to write this down, but even if you have fewer, it’s good practice to document it.

Taking risk assessments seriously not only keeps everyone safe, it also shows you’re diligent if an inspector comes knocking.

The HSE offers a handy 5-step guide and sample templates for risk assessments to help you out.

Fire Safety

Restaurants and takeaways have to be extra careful about fire.

In most cases, you’re the “Responsible Person” in charge of fire safety at your premises. The law requires you to do a fire risk assessment and put in place proper fire precautions.

Make sure you’ve got the basics covered: clearly marked, unobstructed fire exits, working smoke alarms, the right fire extinguishers, and emergency lighting if needed.

Also, train your team on what to do if a fire breaks out.

A fire can be devastating to life and property, and not following fire safety rules can land you with hefty fines or even prison time – so it’s a responsibility you need to take seriously.

Your local Fire Service might offer guidance or inspections to help you comply. You can also check GOV.UK for advice.

Proper Waste Disposal

A food business generates heaps of waste, including packaging, food scraps, used cooking oil, you name it.

The UK has strict rules for commercial waste – you can’t just chuck it with the household rubbish. You have a legal “duty of care” to handle your business waste responsibly.

In a nutshell, that means: store waste securely so it can’t leak or attract pests, use licensed waste carriers to collect and dispose of it, and get a waste transfer note or receipt for each pickup.

Absolutely no fly-tipping or dodgy disposal methods.

For example, used cooking oil should go to a specialist recycling company, not down the drain.

If you flout the waste rules, you could face fines – not to mention a nasty mess. So be sure to arrange a proper commercial waste collection service before you open your doors.

Allergen Management

Allergens are a hot topic in food safety.

The law says you must inform customers if any of your dishes contain any of the 14 major allergens, such as peanuts, gluten, milk, eggs, etc.

Clear communication is key – many businesses put up a notice like “Please let us know about any allergies before ordering” and keep an allergen menu or labels handy.

For a takeaway, it’s smart to mark allergens on your menu or provide an online chart.

Also, do everything you can to avoid cross-contamination in your kitchen, such as using separate utensils and having strict cleaning routines, because even tiny traces can be dangerous for allergic customers.

The Food Standards Agency has guidance on allergen management – following it will keep your customers safe and your business on the right side of the law.