How to Start & Run a B&B BandBED2eBook-1 | Page 40

The downsides are:

becoming licensed is fairly expensive and involves a lot of time, paperwork and
regulation

serving drinks opens up a whole new area of workload for you

you will need space for a bar and sitting area; and

you will need to invest in equipment such as fridges, optics, glasses, ice
machines, dishwashers etc., depending on the scale of your operation, and of
course in sufficient stock of drinks.
The Licensing Act 2003, which finally came fully into force in November 2005, changed
the system completely: you now need both a “Premises Licence”, and a separate
“Personal Licence”. For the Premises Licence, you need to fill in a form and submit
copies of plans of your premises to about seven authorities (fire, police, etc.) and
publish your plans in the main local paper. For the personal licence, you need to
undergo a training course typically costing between £120 and £150.
In our B&B, even though we do not serve dinner, we have chosen to go for a license
because (a) we have a bar area from when the premises were a hotel, (b) we have a
fairly upmarket clientele who will (we hope!) buy wine by the glass and the occasional
bottle of champagne for celebrations, and (c) David has always been a keen wine buff
(or at least, drinker!) and plans wine-tasting events.
In many ways, the 2003 Act was a simplification and liberalisation of the previous
licensing regime. It swept away the previous distinctions between serving alcohol with
meals and without, for instance. In this sense it is good for B&Bs, who will also benefit
from the presumption in favour of granting a licence, which is part of the Act.
However, many small B&Bs may be deterred from applying for a licence because of
their worries about beurocracy, time and cost. Don’t be deterred! If selling alcoholic
drinks is important to you, persevere – it is not as bad as you think!
David writes:
Having been part of the very first “intake” of new licensees (both for premises and
personal licences) under the 2003 Act as it came into force on 24 November 2005, I am in
an ideal position to advise you on the practicalities of how the new Act works in real
life. My hands-on experience will help you more than the various books written by
“experts” in the old regime who tried to forecast how the new system might work.
I will guide you through it using the principles we have tried to follow throughout this
book: keeping it to the simple essentials, and avoiding jargon as far as possible
Firstly, the Act separates Premises Licences and Personal Licences: your physical
premises must be licensed, AND they must be supervised by someone who also has a
Personal License. The Premises Licence can be “sold” with the premises (and may
indeed become an asset to a new owner), whereas your Personal Licence stays with you
and will allow you to run another licensed premises elsewhere.
Personal Licence
This is the simplest, so we’ll take it first. Basically you just fill in a form and pay the fee
of £37. Of course, it is slightly more complicated than that, but not much. You need
two passport photos, one signed by a town councilor, solicitor or someone similar,
How to Start & Run a B&B
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