Becoming A Personal Licence Holder– What, Why, How And Where?

By Author: Safetymark Training
Total Articles: 29
Comment this article

The Licensing Act 2003 states that if you plan to serve alcohol on licensed premises (excluding clubs licensed under Club Premises Certificates), then you must have a designated premises supervisor (DPS) appointed. In order to become a DPS, you must have a personal licence. This is the same for all premises, so applies in exactly the same way to pubs, restaurants, cafes, event spaces, off licences, hair salons and absolutely any licensed venue that wishes to conduct the sale of alcohol on/off the premises (excluding clubs).

So, what is a personal licence, and why do I need one?

If you want to provide your customers with alcoholic drinks on your premises (or to take off the premises) in any way, or to have your staff serve alcohol, you or someone on your staff need to be appointed DPS, and all sales need to be authorised by a personal licence holder.

A personal licence permits the holder to authorise others (e.g. other staff) to sell or supply alcohol on any licensed premises. The licence is intended to ensure the professional and legal sale of alcohol by businesses. Section 135 of the Licensing Act 2003 ...
... provides that a personal licence on a premises where they are authorising sales must, when prompted by a constable or authorised officer (usually the Police), produce their personal licence. Failure to do this could result in a personal fine of up to £500. So once you have it, and when you are using it, make sure you carry it.

How do I obtain a personal licence?

By law, before applying for a personal licence, you must first have obtained a relevant licencing qualification, for example the HABC Level 2 Award for Personal Licence Holders (APLH) which we offer. The course is designed to ensure that as a personal licence holder you would be aware of and understand licensing law, and the responsibilities involved with the sale of alcohol.

The topics covered by this course include:

The Licensing Act 2003
Premises Licenses and Club Premises Certificates
Licensing Objectives
Powers of Enforcement and Offences
Temporary Events Notices (TENs)
Responsibility in Alcohol Retailing
You will also need to disclose any relevant criminal convictions to your local council to allow them to assess your suitability as a licensee with a basic criminal disclosure form.

Where can I do my personal licence training course?

Safetymark Training is fully accredited by CITB Awarding Body for Compliance and can offer training courses from our training centre in London

At Safetymark Training we offer regular CITB Level 2 APLH courses at our training centre and, subject to numbers, we can provide training at your premises. The full day training course is £89.99 + VAT, including course materials & exam. A free re-sit of the exam is available if required.

Find out more:

To find out more about the Safetymark Training Advanced Personal Licence Holder training courses, or any of our other training courses for licensed trade professionals please contact at Safetymark Training on 0204 600 0874 / 0203 859 5901 or email info@safetymark.uk.com.