How to Start & Run a B&B BandBED2eBook-1 | Page 41

stating that it is a good likeness of you. You also need to run a Criminal Records
Bureau (CRB) check less than a month before your Personal Licence application goes in,
to show that you don’t have any disqualifying criminal convictions, and you must
disclose any recent relevant convictions, including alcohol-related driving offences.
The most costly and time-consuming part though, is that you have to pass a specified
qualification for licensees: this means attending a one-day course followed by a half-
day exam, costing typically between £140 and £200 (though I managed to find one for
only £108.75 in 2005). The good news is that this is a one-off expense. There are a large
number of such courses, run fairly frequently, in most regions, so it should not
generally be a problem to book onto one at a reasonably convenient date and location –
though if you have a full-time job, it will generally mean taking two consecutive days’
leave. You cannot apply for your Personal Licence until you have taken and passed
your licence holder’s qualification, so check out local course dates and locations early
on in your planning process with this in mind.
Having not sat an exam for 22 years, it was a novel experience revising the essential
points of the Licencing Act 2003, then taking the “BIIAB Level 2 National Certificate for
Personal Licence Holders” at Yeovil College. However, I can now assure you that it is
pretty easy, and I left the examination hall after only 30 of the 40 minutes we were
allowed for the paper – and I passed, although I was not told my score. The exam is
multiple choice, and 40 questions: you must correctly answer the first eight, and must
then get at least 22 of the next 32 to pass.
Your Personal Licence will last 10 years, and is then renewable for further 10 year
periods, but you only have a two-month window within which to renew, starting three
months before the 10 years expires, so don’t miss it or you will have to start again and
take a new exam.
The only requirements thereafter which must be remembered is that you must always
tell “your” licensing authority (ie the authority who granted your personal licence in
the first place) of every change of address while you still hold a licence, and of every
“relevant” conviction, including drink-driving convictions. Should you appear in
court, you must also inform the court that you are a personal licence holder.
Besides allowing you to serve drinks at your own licensed premises, once you hold a
personal licence you will be able to serve or supervise the serving of drinks in any
licensed premises, so if you are interested in other employment (perhaps part time) in a
hotel, restaurant, pub or bar, your personal licence will make you more marketable to
potential employers.
Premises Licence
This is independent of the personal licence, so you can apply for it before you have sat
your course and passed your personal qualification. The most involved part of this
process is the application form, and the premises plans you will need to submit with it.
Timing is dictated by the notice periods you need to give to the public about your
application, so you need to plan to submit the application on the same day as your
“Public Notice” advert comes out in your local paper (which typically needs booking a
week in advance), and you also need to post information notices outside your premises
on the same day (A4, black 16 point type on pale blue paper, please!).