The UK already has 24 hour drinks licensing in theory, and lots of bars have a late licence. But in practice, very few bars actually open through the night; it turns out that the economics of keeping a bar staffed and open when most of the customers are in bed just doesn’t work out.
It’s pretty much just nightclubs that make any use of it.
Is there such a thing as a 1am or 2am licence? I feel it would be better if pubs/bars could just choose whatever opening times they want, it would prevent this “chucking-out time” phenomenon where everyone spills onto the streets with nowhere to go.
Yes, “24 hour licensing” means that bars can apply for any licence they want, but they don’t need to apply for a full 24 hours if they don’t want to; they can apply for any licence terms they like.
They also don’t need to open for the full terms of their licence. Just because they’ve been granted a 4am licence, it doesn’t mean they can’t still shut up shop at 10:30pm if they like. It’s permission to open during those hours, not an obligation.
All licence applications cost the same in the UK, regardless of what you apply for (or to be more exact: the cost scales with the size of the venue according to fixed bands related to “business rates” valuations).
Licensing conditions are actually entirely fluid and negotiable between the applicant and the local council, who act as the licensing body. Not only with regards to opening hours, but also to all sorts of weird and wonderful additional terms. In practice when it comes to opening hours, a lot of pubs and bars apply for (and are granted) licenses quite a lot later than their actual intended closing time, as it gives them leeway to open late for special occasions without the need to apply for a temporary extension, and gives flexibility for “lock ins” (i.e. continuing to serve customers after they’d normally have shut up shop).
The UK already has 24 hour drinks licensing in theory, and lots of bars have a late licence. But in practice, very few bars actually open through the night; it turns out that the economics of keeping a bar staffed and open when most of the customers are in bed just doesn’t work out.
It’s pretty much just nightclubs that make any use of it.
Is there such a thing as a 1am or 2am licence? I feel it would be better if pubs/bars could just choose whatever opening times they want, it would prevent this “chucking-out time” phenomenon where everyone spills onto the streets with nowhere to go.
Yes, “24 hour licensing” means that bars can apply for any licence they want, but they don’t need to apply for a full 24 hours if they don’t want to; they can apply for any licence terms they like.
They also don’t need to open for the full terms of their licence. Just because they’ve been granted a 4am licence, it doesn’t mean they can’t still shut up shop at 10:30pm if they like. It’s permission to open during those hours, not an obligation.
Right, for some reason I thought it was a binary choice: close at 12 or get the (probably expensive) 24-hour licence.
All licence applications cost the same in the UK, regardless of what you apply for (or to be more exact: the cost scales with the size of the venue according to fixed bands related to “business rates” valuations).
Licensing conditions are actually entirely fluid and negotiable between the applicant and the local council, who act as the licensing body. Not only with regards to opening hours, but also to all sorts of weird and wonderful additional terms. In practice when it comes to opening hours, a lot of pubs and bars apply for (and are granted) licenses quite a lot later than their actual intended closing time, as it gives them leeway to open late for special occasions without the need to apply for a temporary extension, and gives flexibility for “lock ins” (i.e. continuing to serve customers after they’d normally have shut up shop).
Interesting, thanks for explaining!