giving away free booze at a commercial premises?
Discussion
Wife is opening a new shop next week and is worried she'll be doing something wrong giving away some free cheap plonk to customers on opening day.
will she be breaking any laws etc or is there any potential implications we need to consider?
nothing hard obviously some glasses of fizzy wine to go alongside some opening day discounts
we're in Scotland if that makes a difference
will she be breaking any laws etc or is there any potential implications we need to consider?
nothing hard obviously some glasses of fizzy wine to go alongside some opening day discounts
we're in Scotland if that makes a difference
Licensing legislation is quite different in Scotland in a number of respects in comparison with England and Wales.
In E&W, the Licensing act 2005 governs the sale and supply of alcohol and in the circumstances you describe, your wife would require a temporary event notice to supply alcohol at her business to members of the public (even if its given away free of charge). TENs are an easy process, the fee is only £21 and they need to be submitted to the local authority at least 5 working days before the event.
In Scotland, the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005 only governs the sale of alcohol. No reference is made to supply other than in relation to member's clubs, and temporary event notices do not exist in Scotland. My interpretation of this is that your wife should be ok to supply small amounts of alcohol to customers as part of a one-off event, but she could still be committing offences if she supplies alcohol to anyone under 18, to anyone on behalf of under 18s, to anyone who is drunk etc.
I'm a local authority licensing manager for an English council, so I'm no expert on Scottish licensing law, but having had a quick look at the Scottish legislation, I think she'll be fine. It might be worth speaking with a licensing officer at your local council just to be doubly sure.
In E&W, the Licensing act 2005 governs the sale and supply of alcohol and in the circumstances you describe, your wife would require a temporary event notice to supply alcohol at her business to members of the public (even if its given away free of charge). TENs are an easy process, the fee is only £21 and they need to be submitted to the local authority at least 5 working days before the event.
In Scotland, the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005 only governs the sale of alcohol. No reference is made to supply other than in relation to member's clubs, and temporary event notices do not exist in Scotland. My interpretation of this is that your wife should be ok to supply small amounts of alcohol to customers as part of a one-off event, but she could still be committing offences if she supplies alcohol to anyone under 18, to anyone on behalf of under 18s, to anyone who is drunk etc.
I'm a local authority licensing manager for an English council, so I'm no expert on Scottish licensing law, but having had a quick look at the Scottish legislation, I think she'll be fine. It might be worth speaking with a licensing officer at your local council just to be doubly sure.
Johnny 89 said:
OT but how do the new age hipster barber shops manage to give away free beer?
They probably shouldn't - hairdresser my wife used to use would offer a glass of wine etc while your hair was getting done. They stopped when it was pointed out to them that they were effectively selling alcohol (because you were getting it as part of a haircut that you were most definitely paying for) and required a licence.This is based on what my wife was told, so may be true or may be folklore!
George111 said:
glasgowrob said:
cheap plonk
Make it something nice not cheap plonk. There shouldn't be an issue doing it in Glasgow. I do it through a business venture, Cruise gives you beers while you shop, Bridal shops give you champagne, even my hairdresser gives beers/wines out, it seems to be quite common and as long as it's free there shouldn't be an issue.
Slightly off topic and probably very non-pc these days, many (many) years ago as a kid I went on a pub/club coach outing to the seaside and as was usually the case, the establishment provided a few crates of stuff to go in the coach boot for the adults looking after us. At a stop on the motorway coming back some of this was being cracked open, when they got “accosted” by a Motorway BIB and told they couldn’t sell alcohol. When told it wasn’t being sold, but given away, the response was “Oh” (whispered) “have you got a couple of bottles to spare then?”
R_U_LOCAL said:
Licensing legislation is quite different in Scotland in a number of respects in comparison with England and Wales.
In E&W, the Licensing act 2005 governs the sale and supply of alcohol and in the circumstances you describe, your wife would require a temporary event notice to supply alcohol at her business to members of the public (even if its given away free of charge). TENs are an easy process, the fee is only £21 and they need to be submitted to the local authority at least 5 working days before the event.
In Scotland, the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005 only governs the sale of alcohol. No reference is made to supply other than in relation to member's clubs, and temporary event notices do not exist in Scotland. My interpretation of this is that your wife should be ok to supply small amounts of alcohol to customers as part of a one-off event, but she could still be committing offences if she supplies alcohol to anyone under 18, to anyone on behalf of under 18s, to anyone who is drunk etc.
I'm a local authority licensing manager for an English council, so I'm no expert on Scottish licensing law, but having had a quick look at the Scottish legislation, I think she'll be fine. It might be worth speaking with a licensing officer at your local council just to be doubly sure.
If memory serves me correctly the fee is £21 if served more than 10 working days in adavance, a higher fee is payable if you find yourself relying on the 5 day option.In E&W, the Licensing act 2005 governs the sale and supply of alcohol and in the circumstances you describe, your wife would require a temporary event notice to supply alcohol at her business to members of the public (even if its given away free of charge). TENs are an easy process, the fee is only £21 and they need to be submitted to the local authority at least 5 working days before the event.
In Scotland, the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005 only governs the sale of alcohol. No reference is made to supply other than in relation to member's clubs, and temporary event notices do not exist in Scotland. My interpretation of this is that your wife should be ok to supply small amounts of alcohol to customers as part of a one-off event, but she could still be committing offences if she supplies alcohol to anyone under 18, to anyone on behalf of under 18s, to anyone who is drunk etc.
I'm a local authority licensing manager for an English council, so I'm no expert on Scottish licensing law, but having had a quick look at the Scottish legislation, I think she'll be fine. It might be worth speaking with a licensing officer at your local council just to be doubly sure.
Chrisgr31 said:
If memory serves me correctly the fee is £21 if served more than 10 working days in adavance, a higher fee is payable if you find yourself relying on the 5 day option.
No, the fee is £21 for both standard and late TENs.The biggest difference is that if the police object to a standard (more than 10 days notice) TEN, the local authority must hold a hearing, whereas for a late TEN, if the police or environmental health object, the notice is simply refused.
But the fee is the same for both.
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