Decide what happens to the licence
This guide covers premises licences in England and Wales. Start with the licence itself: identify the named holder and issuing council, then ask whether a buyer, landlord or new operator needs it. If licensed activities will continue, plan the transfer before surrendering the licence or completing the company’s closure.
If no one needs the existing licence, the holder can send the council a surrender notice with the licence, or a statement explaining why it cannot be supplied. The licence lapses when the authority receives a notice that meets those requirements. Check the fee balance and any designated premises supervisor arrangements before sending it; keep a copy and ask for acknowledgement. These are planning recommendations, with the legal requirements explained below.
Scotland and Northern Ireland have different licensing law. In Scotland, contact your local licensing board; in Northern Ireland, contact the relevant court or a licensing adviser about your liquor licence.
Check the premises and the named holder
A premises licence authorises licensable activities at the premises. The named holder also matters: if a company holds the licence and is dissolved, the licence lapses, subject to statutory reinstatement provisions. Check the holder rather than assuming it is your company, landlord or buyer.
A licence held by a company also lapses on specified insolvency events: approval of a voluntary arrangement proposed by its directors, appointment of an administrator or administrative receiver, or going into liquidation. These are statutory events, not a description of every company struggling to pay its bills.
Transfer it before liquidation or strike-off
An eligible new holder can apply to the licensing authority to transfer a premises licence. Where the application requests immediate effect and meets the statutory requirements, the applicant is treated as the holder during the application period. Consent from the existing holder is normally needed; the council can exempt the applicant if the statutory conditions are met. Arrange the transfer with the incoming operator before liquidation or dissolution, rather than relying on a rescue after lapse. Ask the council about the application, fee, consent and intended start date.
Surrender it and settle the fee balance
The licence holder can give the licensing authority a notice of surrender. The notice must include the premises licence or, if providing it is not practicable, a statement explaining why. The licence lapses when the authority receives a notice that meets those requirements. Discuss the timing with anyone who may need the licence before you send it.
If trading stops without surrender, annual fees continue for as long as the licence remains in force. Surrender does not clear outstanding annual fees that became due before you gave up the licence. Ask the council to confirm the balance and acknowledge receipt of your notice.
Distinguish annual fees from licence lapse
Most premises licences have unlimited duration, but an annual fee is payable. Stopping annual-fee payments does not surrender the licence. The council must normally suspend it if an annual fee is unpaid. A limited 21-day grace period applies only if payment was missed because of an administrative error, or you disputed liability for the fee or its amount with the council in writing by the due date. That period starts the day after the fee became due. Check the council’s suspension notice and fee balance if payments have been missed.
Act within the transfer reinstatement window
If the licence has lapsed after holder dissolution, a statutory insolvency event or surrender, section 50 provides a qualified transfer route. For a section 27 lapse, no interim authority notice can be in effect. An eligible applicant must make a transfer application no later than 28 days after the day the licence lapsed and request immediate effect. The applicant must meet the applicable section 42 age and right-to-work conditions. Contact the council and a licensing adviser promptly; ask them to check the application and its receipt date.
A qualifying application reinstates the licence from the time the council receives it. The licence lapses again if the application is rejected or withdrawn: for rejection, this happens when the applicant is notified. Only one transfer application can use this reinstatement route. Do not assume that an ordinary transfer application automatically rescues a lapsed licence or that trading can restart before the requirements are met.
Check interim authority after formal insolvency
Section 47 allows an eligible person to give an interim authority notice within 28 days beginning with the day after lapse. This route covers the specified death, incapacity, insolvency and immigration-status events, not dissolution or surrender. No section 50 transfer application can already have been made. For a restaurant company, a freeholder or leaseholder with a legal interest in the premises, or the insolvency practitioner acting for the insolvent former licence holder, may qualify. Applicable right-to-work requirements must also be met; only one interim authority notice is allowed.
A valid notice reinstates the licence on receipt by the council and makes the person giving it the holder. Copies must reach the relevant police and, for alcohol or late-night refreshment licences, the Secretary of State before the initial 28-day period ends; otherwise the licence lapses again. If the council’s relevant electronic facility is used, the council must send those copies instead.
The interim authority period ends three months after receipt, or earlier if the notice giver terminates it. The licence lapses then unless a qualifying transfer application with interim effect has been made; a rejected or withdrawn transfer also causes lapse. An interim authority notice can also be cancelled under the statutory objection procedure. This is a temporary route with conditions, so ask the insolvency practitioner and council to handle the notices and transfer together.
End your role as alcohol supervisor
Premises licensed to sell alcohol normally need a designated premises supervisor (DPS) who holds a personal licence. If an incoming operator will sell alcohol, arrange any DPS change alongside the transfer.
To stop being the DPS, give the licensing authority notice under section 41. If you are also the licence holder, include the licence or appropriate part, or explain why it cannot be supplied. Otherwise, within 48 hours of giving notice, send the holder a copy and a notice directing them to send the licence or appropriate part to the council within 14 days of receiving it, or explain why they cannot. Your DPS role ends once the notice requirements are met, from council receipt or a later time specified in the notice.
Closing the company does not itself end your personal licence. Personal licences have indefinite effect, subject to separate surrender, revocation, forfeiture, suspension and right-to-work rules.
Check the company closure timetable
For voluntary strike-off (DS01), you must wait at least 3 months after the company’s last trading or sale of trading stock held for gain. A name change or other prohibited activity in that period also blocks the application. Activities needed to conclude the company’s affairs, meet statutory requirements or decide on and make the application are exceptions; paying an existing trading liability does not by itself count as trading.
Within 7 days from the application date, give a copy to those who were members, creditors, employees, non-signing directors, or managers or trustees of an employee pension fund on that day. Creditors include a landlord, staff or voucher holders where the company owes them money. The copy duty ceases if the application is withdrawn before the copy period ends.
Have the licence number, named holder, premises address and intended handover or closure date ready when you contact the council. Ask them to confirm the transfer or surrender steps, fee balance and DPS arrangements for your case.