Three Common Licensing Traps to Avoid

Securing your alcohol licence is the critical first step to launching your new bar, restaurant, or shop in Scotland. The Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005 creates a robust framework designed to promote public health and safety. However, for the uninitiated, the process is a regulatory minefield where a simple misstep can lead to lengthy delays, significant financial loss, or even a refused application. While the temptation to handle the application yourself to save money is understandable, the risks are substantial.

Here are three of the most common—and costly—traps that new applicants fall into under the Act.

Trap 1: Underestimating the Timeline

The Trap: You sign the lease on your perfect premises in January and plan to open for the summer season. You think applying for your licence in March gives you plenty of time. This is the single biggest mistake you can make.

The Reality: Before applying for your premises licence, you need to obtain Section 50 certificates in relation to planning, building control and food hygiene, as well as preparing a disability statement and layout plan. These can all take time. Unless you are applying for a provisional premises licence, then these documents all need to be in place before the Premises Licence application can be made.

There is then a period of statutory consultation before the application is allocated to the next meeting of the Licensing Board. As the Board will typically only meet 5-6 times a year, this can lead to further delays before it can be heard.

The Consequence: The longer it takes to pull all the documentation together, the longer it will take before your application will ultimately go before the Licensing Board. You may end up missing your entire target season. Meanwhile, you could be paying rent, rates, and loan repayments on premises that cannot trade.

How to Avoid It: Start the licensing discussions the moment you have a serious interest in a property. This should even be before you even sign the lease. You may want to make entry under the lease conditional on securing the premises licence, although you will also have to consider the timescales for fit-out out etc.

A specialist consultant will ensure your application is submitted at the right stage, turning this potential delay from a liability into a planned part of your business development timeline.

Trap 2: An Inaccurate Vague Operating Plan

The Trap: You view the Operating Plan as just another form to fill in. You use generic, copy-pasted phrases like “we will be a responsible retailer” without providing concrete, measurable steps.

The Law: The Operating Plan is the heart of your application. It is your legal contract with the Licensing Board, demonstrating precisely how your business will operate and how you will uphold the five Licensing Objectives:

1. Preventing crime and disorder

2. Securing public safety

3. Preventing public nuisance

4. Protecting and improving public health

5. Protecting children and young persons from harm

The Board and statutory consultees, like Police Scotland, will scrutinise every word. Vague promises are viewed as empty promises.

The Consequence: A weak plan invites objections and scrutiny at your hearing. The Board may impose its own stringent, and often onerous, conditions on your licence to compensate for your operating plan’s lack of detail. For example, instead of you proposing sensible closing times in accordance with policy, they may impose an early closing hour that cripples your profitability.

How to Avoid It: Your Operating Plan must be a bespoke, detailed blueprint of your business. It should specify:

• Detailed Staff Training Schedules: How and when you will deliver mandatory Section 6 training.

• Refusals Log & Incident Book: Your process for recording refused sales and any incidents.

• Noise Management: Specific steps to prevent public nuisance (e.g., managing smoking areas, delivery times, soundproofing).

• Security Measures: Precise details on CCTV coverage, door supervision policies, and cash handling. A consultant knows what language the Board expects to see and can craft a robust plan that protects your operational flexibility.

Trap 3: Neglecting the “Due Diligence” Defence – Staff Training

The Trap: You get your licence, hire your team, and focus on opening night. You assume your experienced bartenders know the rules, so you delay formal training or provide a quick, non-compliant briefing.

The Law: Section 6 of Schedule 3 of the Act is a mandatory condition on every single premises licence in Scotland. It legally requires the licence holder to ensure that every member of staff involved in the sale of alcohol has received accredited training on the law and the premises' own licence conditions and policies before they are allowed to make any sale.

The Consequence: If a member of untrained staff sells alcohol to a minor or an intoxicated person, you have automatically breached a core condition of your licence. You have also destroyed your only legal defence: “due diligence.” In court, you cannot argue you took all reasonable steps to prevent the sale if you failed to provide the legally required training. This leaves you, the licence holder, personally liable for unlimited fines and places your entire premises licence at risk of review and revocation.

How to Avoid It: View staff training not as a paperwork exercise, but as your primary legal shield. Implement a rigorous training programme from day one, delivered by a certified trainer, with full records kept for every employee. This builds a culture of compliance and provides the documented evidence you need to prove “due diligence” should the worst happen.

The Bottom Line

The licensing process is complex and unforgiving. These three traps highlight that the Act is not just about filling in forms; it’s about demonstrating a deep, operational commitment to responsible retailing from the very outset. Investing in expert guidance to navigate this process isn’t an extra cost—it’s essential insurance for your business, your investment, and your dream.