Audrey Junner, Hill Brown Licensing
Question
Audrey Junner, Partner Hill Brown
I work in a hotel and we are considering introducing an exclusive lunch club where customers pay a certain amount for entry and then receive unlimited free champagne and wine plus a buffet meal during the event. We would have speakers and a charity draw each month. Would this be allowed in terms of the licensing laws?
Answer
Although the nature of the event is unlikely to cause alarm or lead to the type of anti-social behaviour the rules were designed to target it would still be caught by the irresponsible drinks promotions conditions which form part of your premises licence. Mandatory condition 8 which is set out in Schedule 2 of the 2005 Act provides at Para 8(2)(d) that a promotion would be considered irresponsible if it ‘involved the supply of unlimited amounts of alcohol for a fixed charge (including any entry charge to the premises)’. This was undoubtedly introduced to clamp down on nightclubs offering all you can drink alcohol on a £10 entry charge but as you intend to make the supply unlimited it would unfortunately mean your event was captured within this definition despite your good intentions. The alternative may be to limit the amount of alcohol to a generous amount per attendee.
Question
We are buying a shop and pub which have separate premises licences. Is it possible for me to hold the two licences at once and be the premises manager on each? They are located right beside each other and l will be managing them both. We don’t currently have any plans to employ any other personal licenceholders as it’s a small business.
Answer
Yes and no. You can be the premises licenceholder on both premises licences and can hold those licences as either an individual, a partnership, a company, or other body. When making the application to transfer you will have to provide your personal details or those of the connected persons associated with the applicant entity. Unfortunately however you cannot be listed as the premises manager on both so will need to name a different person on each licence. It is not possible for one person to act as the premises manager at two sites regardless of how they may actually be managed. If time is of the essence the Act does allow for a 6 week grace period between the appointment of premises managers provided the appropriate notification is given to the Licensing Board within 7 days. It may be possible to take advantage of this while you either recruit or organise training for another member of the team. Remember that once they have completed the Scottish Certificate for Personal Licenceholders training course and obtained their certificate an application must be made to the Licensing Board for the area where they live for a personal licence before they can actually be appointed as the premises manager.