How to compare England licensing suppliers on one fixed scenario without ranking them

What to take away

One fixed England licensing scenario keeps the comparison fair, because an official search service, an administrative provider, a solicitor and a workflow platform carry different responsibilities.
Compare Poppleston Allen, John Gaunt & Partners, Woods Whur, Kamma and Idox inside their own category, never in one score.
Separate public claims, demonstration observations, contract commitments and references into distinct columns before scoring.
Put disqualifying items first, weight criteria to match the buyer's task, and publish the weights before scoring.
Set a decision rule before you see the scores, so a preferred supplier cannot bend the weights.

The method here is desk research. No commercial supplier was commissioned or tested for this draft, and no supplier is ranked.

Fix the buyer's task

Every supplier in this comparison answers one fixed scenario. A five-site restaurant group in Manchester (M1 4BT) wants to vary its premises licences to add late-night refreshment until 02:00 on Fridays and Saturdays. Each site has one designated premises supervisor, and staff records sit in a hosted HR system.

Fix one English scenario

Activity and expected output
Postcode and sites
Stage of application
Data sensitivity
Buyer taskdiscovery, admin, advice, renewal

The buyer's task here is application administration and renewal control, not discovery. Decide which of the four you need before shortlisting: discovery, application administration, professional advice or renewal control. Department for Business and Trade guidance on dealing with licences and regulations supports identifying requirements and responsible authorities during planning. It does not endorse a particular supplier.

Prepare one English scenario with activity, postcode, sites and stage. State the expected output and the data sensitivity. Do not submit false information to an authority or provider.

Verify first-party scope

The Department for Business and Trade's Find a licence service documents its activity-and-location search and warns of possible catalogue gaps. Use it as an official discovery reference, not as a competitor whose statutory role can be scored against a commercial product.

Supplier	Category	Documented claim	What the fixed scenario must show
Poppleston Allen	Licensing solicitors, Nottingham and London	Advises on alcohol, entertainment and late night refreshment licences, and publishes licensing bulletins	Named fee earner for the Manchester variation and the cost of a police representation
John Gaunt & Partners	Licensing solicitors, Sheffield and London	Alcohol and late night refreshment work for operators, plus training seminars	Who drafts the operating schedule and who attends a hearing
Woods Whur	Licensing law firm, Leeds	Premises licence applications, reviews and appeals	How a cumulative impact policy argument is handled
DLA Piper	International law firm with a UK licensing team	Licensing and regulatory advice alongside property and corporate work	Which office delivers the work and the fee band for five sites
Kamma	Property technology company, London	Tracks HMO and selective licensing across councils on subscription	Whether it covers premises licences at all, or only residential licensing
Idox	Software supplier to local authorities	Licensing and regulatory modules for council teams	Whether your organisation is a council or an operator, because operators cannot buy this route
National Residential Landlords Association	Landlord membership body	Licensing guidance and template documents for members	Whether restaurant licensing falls inside its remit
Institute of Licensing	Professional body	Training and continuing professional development for licensing practitioners	Whether the named adviser holds a recognised qualification

For every supplier, retain the first-party page supporting the named service, contracting entity and geography. Mark price or feature gaps unknown rather than guessing.

Indicative cost bands by category

None of these figures is a quotation. Statutory fees are set by regulation. Commercial figures are quoted per matter or per portfolio.

Supplier category	Indicative cost	What sets the figure
Official search, Find a licence	Free	Statutory service
Licensing solicitors and consultants	Quoted per matter	Fixed fee per site plus a hearing day rate
Statutory variation application	£89 per premises	Set by the Licensing Act 2003 fees regulations
Change of designated premises supervisor	£23 per premises	Set by the same regulations
Annual premises licence fee	£70 to £1,120 per premises	Rateable value band
Property or licensing data subscription	Quoted per portfolio	Number of councils and postcodes covered
Council software licence	Contract only	Sold to local authorities, not to operators
Membership bodies	Annual subscription	Membership grade

Separate evidence types

Keep public claims, demonstration observations, contract commitments and references in distinct columns. A polished proposal is not proof of delivery. A customer quotation is not an independently measured approval rate.

Supplier pages, including those of Poppleston Allen and Woods Whur, are first-party claims rather than results. The Advertising Standards Authority's CAP Code section on misleading advertising addresses substantiation, comparisons and material information. Check superiority, speed and savings claims against evidence that matches the wording.

Inspect terms and influence

Record referral fees, sponsorship, ownership and free access. Paid placement must not become an editorial winner. Review data, subcontracting, support and change terms. Check liability and exit terms too.

The official Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977 may be relevant to some liability restrictions, but this article cannot assess a particular clause. Obtain qualified advice on material contract exposure.

Build a weighted scorecard

Put disqualifying issues first. Unclear professional status, no usable export or an unresolved data risk can make an option unacceptable whatever else it offers. Record the evidence and the remediation route for each stop item.

Weight the remaining criteria to the buyer's task. An organisation coordinating renewals might weight condition ownership, alerts and recovery above discovery content. A first-time applicant buying advice may focus on relevant competence, case scope and escalation. Publish the weights before scoring so they are not adjusted to favour a preferred supplier.

Worked example for the fixed Manchester scenario. Weights total 100 and each score runs from 1 to 5.

Weight

Evidence of five-site variation work: 30
Named fee earner and fixed fee clarity: 20
Contested hearing experience: 20
Renewal and condition ownership: 15
Data handling and export: 15
Total: 100

Option 1 score

Evidence of five-site variation work: 4
Named fee earner and fixed fee clarity: 3
Contested hearing experience: 5
Renewal and condition ownership: 2
Data handling and export: 4
Total

Option 1 weighted

Evidence of five-site variation work: 120
Named fee earner and fixed fee clarity: 60
Contested hearing experience: 100
Renewal and condition ownership: 30
Data handling and export: 60
Total: 370

Option 2 score

Evidence of five-site variation work: 3
Named fee earner and fixed fee clarity: 5
Contested hearing experience: 4
Renewal and condition ownership: 4
Data handling and export: 3
Total

Option 2 weighted

Evidence of five-site variation work: 90
Named fee earner and fixed fee clarity: 100
Contested hearing experience: 80
Renewal and condition ownership: 60
Data handling and export: 45
Total: 375

The two totals sit five points apart out of 500, which is too close to name a winner. Both options go forward to the handover test instead.

Run two independent reviews and reconcile material differences. Keep the original scores, notes and unknowns. A total should never hide a failed control, and closely matched totals are not a meaningful ranking without a sound basis.

Timelines and costs for a five-site variation in England

A full variation to add late-night refreshment is a regulated application, not a notification. The statutory fee is £89 per premises, so five sites total £445. A change of designated premises supervisor costs £23 per site. Annual premises licence fees run from £70 to £1,120 per site according to the rateable value band.

The applicant advertises each application in a local newspaper within 10 working days and displays a notice at the premises for 28 days. Representations can be made during that period.

If relevant representations are made and not withdrawn, the authority must hold a hearing within 20 working days of the period ending and give notice of its decision within 5 working days of the hearing.

Solicitor and consultant fees are quoted per matter. Ask for a fixed fee per site, a separate hearing day rate and the newspaper advertising cost for each area.

Validate the handover

Ask the preferred supplier to produce the agreed deliverable from the fixed scenario, such as the variation pack and renewal calendar for the five Manchester sites. A colleague who did not attend the demonstration then finds the source record, outstanding question and next action. That shows whether the output is usable outside the sales setting.

Make a category decision

No supplier is ranked here. Use the comparison output to shortlist two candidates for your own task, then apply one rule before signing. If the weighted totals are within 10 per cent and no stop item applies, choose the option that scores higher on your highest-weighted criterion. Otherwise choose the higher total, provided no stop item is unresolved.

The final record should explain fit, limitations, untested items and the person accountable for the choice, rather than declaring a universal best provider.

Before you act

Fix one English scenario with activity, postcode, sites, stage and output.
Retain the first-party page for each supplier's named service.
Mark price or feature gaps unknown rather than guessing.
Check superiority, speed and savings claims against matching evidence.
Record referral fees, sponsorship, ownership and free access.
Run two independent reviews and reconcile material differences.

Common questions

Which suppliers does the comparison cover?

It covers licensing solicitors Poppleston Allen, John Gaunt & Partners and Woods Whur. It also covers the Kamma licensing data platform, Idox council software and the National Residential Landlords Association. The Institute of Licensing provides a competence benchmark, and Find a licence is the official discovery route.

Why should an official search service not be scored against a commercial product?

The Find a licence service is an official discovery reference with a statutory role, not a competitor. Its activity-and-location search has possible catalogue gaps, so it should not be scored against a commercial supplier whose responsibilities differ.

How should a buyer handle claims that cannot be verified?

Record them in the claims column and mark gaps unknown rather than guessing. The separate columns in the evidence section show where each item belongs.

What does the handover test show about a preferred supplier?

Ask the supplier to produce the agreed deliverable from the fixed scenario. A colleague who did not attend the demonstration then finds the source record, outstanding question and next action. This shows whether the output is usable outside the sales setting.