Dealing with licences and regulations
The licences you will need and the regulations you must follow depend on what your business does and where it operates.
Understand regulations for business
Regulations are the rules you must follow to operate your business legally and safely. They can come from legislation or from codes of practice issued by regulators.
Regulations set standards and requirements for different aspects of your business:
- business structure and setup
- tax and financial management
- activities that require licensing or approval
- health and safety
- fair trading, advertising and quality
- waste, packaging and other environmental concerns
- data protection, privacy and information handling
- hiring and managing your workforce
There may also be specific rules for your sector. For example, registered childminders will have an inspection to make sure they meet sector regulations.
Trade associations, who represent businesses in a certain sector or industry, can be a good source of information on sector-specific regulations.
You can find trade associations for your sector or industry when you create your personalised guide to starting a business.
Check if your products are regulated
Any products your business makes, imports, distributes or sells must comply with product safety regulations.
Make sure you understand which regulations apply to your products and what you need to do to comply with these.
The Office for Product Safety and Standards can provide advice if you are planning to introduce a new, innovative product to the UK market. To find out more, email OPSSInnovation@businessandtrade.gov.uk.
Get approval to start trading
You may need approval before you can start trading. You need a licence or permission to do certain activities that could pose a risk to the public.
Approval could be a licence from your local council; registration or accreditation with a professional body; or authorisation from a national regulator.
Advice on licences and permissions
To identify what licences and permissions you may need, talk to:
- your local council’s licensing team
- colleagues or trade associations with experience in your sector
Activities requiring local authorisation
- Prepare, sell or serve food
- Sell alcohol
- Provide tattooing, piercing, massage or cosmetic treatments
- Provide boarding, breeding or other animal services
- Trade at a market or on the street
- Operate a taxi or private hire service
- Provide live or recorded entertainment
- Provide overnight accommodation
- Operate betting or gaming machines
- Prepare, sell or serve food
- Sell alcohol
- Provide tattooing, piercing, massage or cosmetic treatments
- Provide boarding, breeding or other animal services
- Trade at a market or on the street
- Operate a taxi or private hire service
- Provide live or recorded entertainment
- Provide overnight accommodation
- Operate betting or gaming machines
Activities requiring professional or national authorisation
- Provide childcare
- Work with children or vulnerable adults
- Provide healthcare, care or therapy
- Provide financial, legal or professional advice
- Carry out gas work, electrical work or asbestos removal
- Operate gambling facilities or lotteries
- Broadcast radio or TV content
- Play or stream radio or music in public
- Sell, provide, store firearms or shotguns
- Provide childcare
- Work with children or vulnerable adults
- Provide healthcare, care or therapy
- Provide financial, legal or professional advice
- Carry out gas work, electrical work or asbestos removal
- Operate gambling facilities or lotteries
- Broadcast radio or TV content
- Play or stream radio or music in public
- Sell, provide, store firearms or shotguns
Businesses can partner with a local authority for advice on how to comply with trading standards, environmental health and fire safety legislation through the primary authority scheme. There may be a charge for this service.
Comply with consumer law
You must comply with rules that protect consumers from poor-quality products and unfair business practices.
Consumer law covers things like:
- the quality and safety of physical and digital products
- how to carry out online, distance and in-person selling
- how you advertise, price and provide your goods, services and aftercare
- how you deal with complaints, returns and refunds
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