If your business sells alcohol to other businesses—or purchases alcohol from UK wholesalers—the Alcohol Wholesaler Registration Scheme (AWRS) may apply to you. Failing to understand your responsibilities could expose your business to enforcement action, financial penalties, seizure of alcohol stock and possible licensing consequences.

Many licensing problems do not happen because an operator deliberately ignores the rules. They often happen because the premises gets busier, staff are under pressure, temporary workers are brought in, events are added, customers move outside, or the business starts operating slightly differently from the way the premises licence originally intended.

If you operate a pub, bar, restaurant, takeaway, nightclub, hotel or any other licensed premises, right to work checks should be treated as a core part of your compliance system. Many operators think right to work checks are simply an HR or employment issue. In licensed premises, they are much more than that.

The Government has confirmed a relaxation of licensing hours for England and Wales for certain 2026 World Cup matches involving qualifying home nations during the knockout stages. However, this is not a blanket permission for all licensed premises to trade late throughout the whole tournament.

Running a licensed premises means understanding who can legally enter your venue and under what authority. Confusion in this area can lead to offences, enforcement action, or licence reviews.