Attached Page: Regulatory Support

Certain business activities in the hospitality and entertainment industries are licensable – meaning you need a licence to carry them out. This is an official permit issued by your local authority. 

Licensing may feel like yet another hurdle to overcome, but it’s good for business. It shows you and your wider industry are working safely and within the law, building trust from customers.

Sandwell Council’s General Licensing Team is here to help you get the licence you need. This could be:

* A personal licence for you to be a designated premises supervisor (DPS)
* A premises licence for the sale or supply of alcohol in premises in Sandwell – such as shops, pubs, clubs, restaurants or cinemas

It might be a licence for:

* Serving hot food and drinks between 11pm and 5am (a late night refreshments licence)
* Regulated entertainment such as live music and dance
* Sex establishments – such as sex shops, sex cinemas or sexual entertainment venues
* Gambling premises – for example, casinos, bingo halls, betting shops or arcades
* Small society lotteries
* House-to-house collections for charities
* Scrap metal collecting and scrap metal premises
* Temporary events or pop-up events.

You will find a full list of available licensing support and the relevant application forms on the main Sandwell Council website.

All the application forms come with guidance notes and ways to contact the General Licensing Team if you need further support. Reading these notes and following the instructions will help you get your licence processed quickly and efficiently.

If you need tailored support, it will be possible to make an appointment to speak to someone in person. 

When running a business, it’s vital you understand and comply with trading standards.

Labelling food, selling age-restricted products, displaying weights and prices … these are all business activities that, without due care, can lead to expensive mistakes or even consumer harm.

Do it right and you’ll build trust from customers, boosting their satisfaction and your reputation.

Our Trading Standards Team looks for Sandwell businesses who are doing it wrong. They use a national intelligence-led approach to tackling problems such as illegal cigarettes, overcharging, mis-labelled food and counterfeit goods. By stopping rogue traders they instil the public’s confidence in our thousands of reputable Sandwell businesses.

Sandwell’s Trading Standards Team is also here to help you do business legally and fairly.

They suggest you visit the Business Services section of the Chartered Institute of Trading Standards (CITS) website for a raft of guidance and training suitable for all Sandwell businesses.

They also recommend Business Companion for free, impartial legal guidance for businesses.

While these resources are vast and valuable, there may be times when you need more hand holding. For in-depth advice, you can partner with our Trading Standards team in Sandwell.

You can apply for this support via the Primary Authority Register.

If you’re a consumer wishing to report a rogue trader (scams, counterfeit goods, illegal labelling and so on), see the Citizens Advice website on what to do. 

From licensing and trading standards to environmental health, our specialist Sandwell Council teams help your business comply with the law.

Trading legally, safely and responsibly protects consumers – and boosts your reputation (which can only be good for business).