Foundations
Part of Business licences in England start with the activity, not the company type
Business licences: how to price support by named output, not approval
Compare business models for England licensing support by service boundary, deliverable, responsibility and continuing work, without promising approval.
A commercial licensing service should be defined by the job it performs, not by a vague promise to make compliance easy. In England, the authority still decides whether an application succeeds. A provider can organise information, manage a case or supply professional advice, but those roles carry different responsibilities and prices.
What to take away
- Define each licensing service by the job it performs, not by a vague promise of easy compliance.
- Match every fee to a named deliverable such as a report, pack, log or calendar.
- State clearly which authority fees, notices, plans and hearing work fall outside the quote.
- Recurring revenue should come from recordkeeping, change reviews and renewal reminders.
- Disclose professional-status limits, referral fees and escalation rules beside the advice they affect.
Compare four workable offers
An information publisher explains common routes and sends readers to primary sources.
Typical buyer
- Information publisher
- First-time applicant
- Discovery service
- Multi-site operator
- Case-management provider
- Operator with live applications
- Regulated professional
- Contested or appeal case
Price basis
- Information publisher
- Fixed guide price or subscription
- Discovery service
- Per site or per activity report
- Case-management provider
- Fixed monthly retainer or per case
- Regulated professional
- Hourly rate or fixed advice fee
One organisation can combine these models if customers can see where each service begins and ends.
Four licensing support models
Information publisher
- Output
- Routes and sources
- Boundary
- Signposts only
- Responsibility
- Reader decides
- Continuing work
- None
Discovery service
- Output
- Activity report
- Boundary
- Facts and location
- Responsibility
- Customer supplies
- Continuing work
- None
Case management
- Output
- Coordinated file
- Boundary
- Documents and dates
- Responsibility
- Provider coordinates
- Continuing work
- Renewals and changes
Regulated professional
- Output
- Advice on exposure
- Boundary
- Contested facts
- Responsibility
- Qualified adviser
- Continuing work
- Hearings and appeals
A premises-based offer needs activity detail. GOV.UK's premises licence page routes applications to the relevant local authority in England and Wales and identifies activities within that licence. A support business may help assemble the file.
Match the fee to a named output
Possible deliverables include a discovery report, document review, completed application pack, correspondence log or renewal calendar.
| Deliverable | Indicative fee or band |
|---|---|
| Discovery report | No public tariff; quote set by site count and activity type |
| Document review | No public tariff; hourly or fixed quote by document volume |
| Completed application pack | Public premises licence fee in England and Wales runs from £100 to £1,500 by rateable value, and sits outside the provider fee |
| Correspondence log | No public tariff; included in a retainer or priced per update |
| Renewal calendar | Public annual premises licence fee in England and Wales runs from £70 to £350 by rateable value, and sits outside the provider fee |
State which authority fees, notices, plans, specialist reports and hearing work sit outside the quote. A fixed fee is comparable only where the scope is fixed; hourly work may be more honest when facts or objections remain unresolved.
Match fee to named output
- Name the deliverablereport, review, pack, log or calendar
- State authority fees outside the quote
- State notices, plans and specialist reports outside the quote
- State hearing work outside the quote
- Use fixed fee only where scope is fixed
- Use hourly when facts or objections unresolved
Alcohol work shows why the boundary matters. The Home Office's licensing guidance describes the framework for alcohol supply, regulated entertainment and late-night refreshment in England and Wales. Administrative support can help a client follow that route.
Advice on a difficult application may require a solicitor regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority or a licensed premises consultant with an accredited licensing qualification, particularly where refusal or enforcement is possible.
Design for continuing responsibility
Recurring revenue can come from controlled recordkeeping, change reviews and renewal reminders. The supplier should retain granted conditions, identify operational owners and trigger review when the site, service or responsible people change. The customer remains responsible for accurate facts and lawful operation unless a contract expressly allocates a particular task.
Continuing responsibility cycle
- Retain granted conditions
- Identify operational owners
- Trigger review on site change
- Trigger review on service change
- Trigger review on responsible people change
- Customer remains responsible for facts
Food operations add another boundary. The Food Standards Agency's registration guidance identifies covered handling and distribution activities and explains that separate establishments may need separate registration.
Food business registration is free. A multi-site service can organise those records, while making clear that food registration is not a substitute for every other permission.
Disclose responsibility clearly
The sales page and contract should answer five questions.
| Question | What the contract should state |
|---|---|
| What the customer receives | Named deliverables and format |
| Which facts the provider verifies | Checked sources and limits |
| What the customer must supply | Documents, consents and access |
| Who communicates with the authority | Named contact and approval rights |
| What happens when the scope changes | Variation, pause or exit terms |
Put any professional-status limitation beside the description of advice, not in an unrelated footer.
Case managers also need an escalation rule. A missing document may remain an administrative task; a disagreement about legal applicability or a threatened appeal may not. Set the boundary before work starts, identify the qualified route available to the customer and explain whether a referral creates any commercial benefit for the provider.
Test the proposition before scaling
Give a prospective client a realistic scenario and ask which part they would pay to remove: uncertainty about the route, evidence preparation, case coordination or ongoing control. Check what they currently do, what failures cost and who signs the decision. Interest in a general compliance platform is weaker evidence than payment for a specific completed task.
Worked example: one-page offer for a single-site premises licence.
| Section | Example content |
|---|---|
| Deliverables | Discovery report, completed application pack, correspondence log |
| Price basis | Fixed provider fee for the named deliverables; public premises licence fee of £100 to £1,500 by rateable value sits outside the quote |
| Exclusions | Authority fees, plans, specialist reports, hearing work |
| Customer duties | Accurate facts, proof of ownership or consent, named premises supervisor |
| Escalation | Referral to a solicitor regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority or a licensed premises consultant with an accredited licensing qualification, with written consent before referral |
| Data handling | Retain records for the agreed period and delete on request |
Disclose referral fees, sponsorship or paid placement beside the affected recommendation.
Before you act
- Name the output the customer pays for.
- List authority fees and hearing work as exclusions.
- State what the customer must supply.
- Identify who communicates with the authority.
- Set an escalation rule before work starts.
Common questions
What should a licensing support fee be tied to?
It should be tied to a named output, such as a discovery report, document review, completed application pack, correspondence log or renewal calendar. The article says a fixed fee is comparable only where the scope is fixed, and hourly work may be more honest when facts or objections remain unresolved.
What roles can a licensing support provider take?
A provider can organise information, manage a case or supply professional advice, but those roles carry different responsibilities and prices. The contract should name the role and its limits.
When does administrative support need to become qualified advice?
A missing document may remain an administrative task, but a disagreement about legal applicability or a threatened appeal may not.
The article says advice on a difficult application may require a solicitor regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority or a licensed premises consultant with an accredited licensing qualification. The boundary should be set before work starts, particularly where refusal or enforcement is possible.
