Question
I operate a hotel and we would like to sell a small selection of local products at our reception desk. Do l need to make any changes to my licence to accommodate this?
Answer
Audrey Junner, Partner Hill Brown
Like most things in licensing there is no straightforward answer to this question. Whether you are required to make any changes will ultimately come to down to where your hotel is located and what products you intend to sell. If you would like to sell alcohol, you will need to have off-sales hours specified on your premises licence. If you don’t at present, then a major variation application will be required to add these in, and you may also have to amend your layout plan to show the display area and note the ‘off-sales’ capacity of the space. Depending on your expected volume of sales this may not be cost effective.
If, however, the products don’t contain alcohol, it’s unlikely you will have to make any changes to your licence to offer this facility, as most Boards take the view that this is not an activity which relates to the sale of alcohol, so does not have to be specified. If you are installing any type of permanent/fixed displays, you may need to vary your layout plan, but ordinarily there will be no action required. With that said, some Licensing Boards including Aberdeen City will insist on a major variation to include retail facilities as an activity within the Operating Plan of your premises licence so, as always, it would be wise to consult your Solicitor or your LSO before embarking on the new venture.
Question
We are hoping to take advantage of the automatic extensions the Licensing Board allows us to have over the festive period this year. Do we need to do anything extra?
Answer
If you are located in a Board area where extensions to your licensed hours are granted automatically, either because you have seasonal variations specified at Question 3 of your Operating Plan, or the Board have agreed to approve a general extension for all premises in their area, then generally there is nothing additional required from licenceholders, with one or two exceptions. Where the additional festive hours result in trading after 1am then, in terms of the Licensing Conditions (Late Opening Premises) (Scotland) Regulations 2007, the Board may have attached a condition requiring you to have a person trained in first aid on the premises from 1am to close. Other Licensing Boards have specific ‘festive policy’ conditions. This includes the City of Glasgow Licensing Board who require all premises opening after 12 midnight to comply with their policy on toughened glass and other recognised safety products, and some Boards including Renfrewshire, Highland and Inverclyde ask that you contact Police Scotland, and sometimes the Board’s office, to confirm which dates and hours you intend to utilise over the festive period so resources can be properly allocated.
Get in touch with Audrey if you have any questions – AJ@mshblicensing.com