Personal licence

Anyone responsible for authorising the sale of alcohol needs a personal licence.

Personal licences are 'portable' between different premises throughout England and Wales. This allows a personal licence holder to authorise the sale of alcohol anywhere that has a Premises licence.

There are different rules for supplying alcohol under a Club premises certificate or  Temporary event notices (TENs).

How to apply for a personal licence

Anyone can apply for a personal licence. You do not have to be currently employed or have business interests relevant to the use of the licence.

However, we will only grant a personal licence if you:

• Are 18 or over
• Have the right to work in the UK
• Possess a relevant licensing qualification
• Have not forfeited a personal licence in the previous five years
• Have not been convicted of any relevant offence (though we may grant a licence if you have been convicted of a relevant offence, if the police don't object)

In addition, you must not already hold a personal licence or have applied for a personal licence with us or any other licensing authority.

We aim to process all applications for a personal licence within three to five days of receiving all relevant documents.

 Application form - personal licence [321kb]

 Application form - personal licence disclosure of convictions [94kb]

How to change details on a personal licence

You have to tell us by law if you are a personal licence holder, and there is a change to your name or address. Please do this by returning your licence (both paper and photo card) to us with a letter advising us of the change, and the relevant fee.

If your name has changed, you will also need to give us proof of the change, such as a copy of your marriage certificate.

We will then produce new licence documents, and post them back to you.

Cost of a personal licence

Please see our alcohol and entertainments fees and charges.

Register of personal licences

We hold a register of personal licences. Please contact us using the details on this page to see who is on the register.