How bars, pubs and clubs can stay open longer on Christmas Eve
Christmas and the festive period is the most lucrative time of year for clubs and bars. Yet Christmas Eve and New Years Eve fall on a Sunday in 2023. This means that the opening hours of clubs and bars will be shorter than any other year. To avoid this hit and open longer, businesses will need to acquire a temporary events notice.
How to know if I can open my business late on Christmas Eve and New Year Eve?
Check your premises license. It should include special mention for Christmas Eve trading or New Years Eve trading, if it doesn’t then it’s most likely that you are to abide by the alcohol licensing laws governing curfews on Sundays.
If a mention of Christmas and New Year is included, then also check what types of activities this extends to. Activities vary – including the sale of alcohol, entertainment, late night food service, games or betting.
Most licenses which permit activities late on New Years Eve and late on Christmas Eve often only covers alcohol sales. If you are wanting to stay open later and put in place activities but you’re premises license doesn’t allow you, then you will need a (TEN) temporary events notice.
What are temporary events notices? And what to consider when applying for a TEN?
Temporary events notices are for businesses which want to run an event on their premises but don’t have a license in place. Contact your local council to apply for a temporary events license, but remember to be clear about what you are applying for and what activities you plan to hold.
TENs are a great opportunity to maximise business and attract additional customers. However, the use of TENs is governed by strict procedures, provisions and limitations. It’s important to know the rules and to plan ahead in plenty of time.
Consider consulting the local police and maybe also the local council environmental health (noises nuisance) officer, informing them that you will be open late due to a temporary events license.
Consider which individual is named on the TEN. 50 TENs can be given by a personal licence holder per year, 5 for a non Personal Licence holder.
The maximum duration for an event is 168 hours – 7 days. Hence we recommend you will need two separate TENs for Christmas Eve and New Years Eve.
When do I need to apply for a Temporary Events Notice (TEN) to be able to open late on New Years Eve and Christmas Eve?
For Christmas Eve, extensions you must submit your Temporary Events Notice by 8th December. Before the 15th December, it may be possible to submit a late Temporary Events Notice for Christmas Eve – Late TENs require to be 5 clear working days before the event but can only be applied for 10 times within the year.
For New Year’s Eve, the last dates for submitting your TENs are 13th December, and 20th December for a Late TEN.
Before planning an event of any kind on Christmas or New Year, inform your insurance broker. This is important because we will be able to provide you advise on risk, safety precautions, documentations and limitations. At NDML, we have over 20 years’ experience managing businesses’ risk and advising on how to run events. We may inform you that you require extra insurance.
Do you need additional events insurance?
Temporary Events often need additional event insurance as well as a license. You can receive an instant nob-obligatory free quote with Insure Our Event for Party Insurance.
Insure Our Event event insurance is able to top up your public liability cover, employer’s liability cover, and cancellation cost cover as well as additional covers such as bad weather and performers insurance.
For additional insurance, buy with Insure Our Event.