Personal licence to sell alcohol

You must have a personal licence, or be authorised by a personal licence holder, in order to sell or supply alcohol. This is in addition to a premises licence or a temporary event notice.

Not every person at an establishment that supplies alcohol needs to be a personal licence holder, but most premises licences require every sale of alcohol to be authorised by a personal licence holder.

A personal licence can be used anywhere in England or Wales and it is not necessary to obtain licences from every local authority in whose area you intend to work.

Scotland has separate licensing laws and English personal licences are not valid for use there, and vice versa.

Who can apply

Only applicants that are resident in the borough of Brent can make a personal licence application to Brent Council.

Timescale

If the correct documentation is submitted we will try to issue the licence within four weeks.

Costs

£37

Before you begin

Please read the below information carefully before you complete the online application.

Accredited qualification

Personal Licence applications can only be made by people who have successfully completed an accredited qualification. 

Five courses are currently accredited:

• BIIAB Level 2 Award for Personal Licence Holders
• EDI Level 2 Award for Personal Licence Holders
• HABC Level 2 Award for Personal Licence Holders
• NCFE Level 2 Award for Personal Licence Holders
• SQA Level 2 Award for Personal Licence Holders

Gov.uk has a full list of accredited qualification providers

Convictions and declaration

When completing your application you will need to tell us about any relevant or foreign offences or conventions.

You do not need to provide details of convictions for relevant or foreign offences which are spent for the purposes of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. are the offences listed in Schedule 4 to the Licensing Act 2003.

If you are convicted of any relevant or foreign offence during the period between when your application is made and when your application is determined or withdrawn, you must notify us. Failure to do so without reasonable excuse could lead to prosecution and a fine.

What you will need to apply 

Before completing your application, please ensure that you have:

• the payment of the application fee.
• two passport photos, both must be taken against a light background, with the full face uncovered and without sunglasses or head covering(unless due to religious beliefs). One of which has been endorsed by a solicitor, notary, a person of standing in the community or an individual with a professional qualification with a statement that the photo is a true likeness of the applicant. 
• the certificate issued after passing the accredited training course.
• a completed basic Disclosure of Criminal Convictions form or a criminal record certificate or the results of a subject access search of the police national computer by the National Intelligence Service must be obtained prior to submitting your application and must not be more than one calendar month old, when submitting your application.
• A proof of your right to work in the United Kingdom.

Apply for a personal licence to sell alcohol

All personal licence applications need to be completed online. If you require an electronic copy of the form please contact us.

If your personal licence is lost, stolen, damaged or destroyed, you can request a copy of your licence from us if we issued the original licence.

Who can apply

Only the personal licence holder can apply

Costs

£10.50

Apply for replacement personal licence

You can apply online if you need to change the name and/or address on your personal licence.

Who can apply

Only the Personal Licence holder can apply for a change of name or address

Costs

£10.50

Apply to change the name or address on your personal licence

Personal licences are now valid indefinitely due to the Deregulation Act 2015.

This means you can still use your existing licence even though it appears to have expired.

You do not have to remove the expiry date, as all responsible authorities are aware that the licence is now indefinite. However, if you still wish to have the expiry date removed from your personal licence card please contact us.