The royal wedding – make the most of extended licensing hours

‘The Licensing Act 2003 (Royal Wedding Licensing Hours) Order 2018’ extends hours for licensable activities for the wedding of His Royal Highness Prince Henry of Wales and Miss Rachel Meghan Markle.

The order enables certain licensable activities to be carried out without the need to issue a temporary event notice (TEN), but others that aren’t covered will still require a TEN.

Extended hours

Do you currently have a premises licence allowing the sale of alcohol and provision of regulated entertainment until 11pm?  If so, then you will be able to extend the terminal hour to 1am (from 11pm) automatically under the order, without the need to issue a TEN.  For example – your current premises licence allows the sale of alcohol and provision of regulated entertainment until 11.30pm on a Friday and a Saturday; on 18-19 May and 19-20 May, you will be able to sell alcohol and provide regulated entertainment until 1am the following morning automatically.

Temporary event notice

Do you currently have a premises licence allowing the provision of late-night refreshment?  If so, then you will be able to extend the terminal hour to 1am automatically under the order, without the need to issue a TEN, provided that your Premises Licence permits the sale of alcohol for consumption on the premises to 11pm or later.  For example – your current premises licence allows the provision of late night refreshment from 11pm until 11.30pm on a Friday and a Saturday; on 18-19 May and 19-20 May you will be able to extend this until 1am the following morning automatically.

Check your licence – the order only allows for the sale of alcohol for consumption on the premises. If your licence allows off sales, and you want to continue off sales for the same additional hours, you will need to issue a TEN.

Is hot food covered?

If your current licence does not allow for the provision of late-night refreshment, but you wish to serve hot food during the additional hours, you will need to serve a TEN because the additional automatic hours won’t apply.

If you have an outside area (terrace/garden) that is not shown on your licensed plans as part of the ‘ON’ premises then any consumption of alcohol in this area will be considered an OFF sale and does not benefit from the extension – a TEN will be needed to extend any hours.