Registering a food business
The law requires the registration of premises used for a food business, including market stalls, delivery vehicles and other moveable structures. Registration will allow local authorities to keep an up-to-date list of all those premises in their area so they can visit them when they need to. The frequency of the visits will depend on the degree of risk involved.
Who needs to register?
If you run a food business for five or more days in any five
consecutive weeks, you must tell (or arrange for someone else to
tell) the local authority about any premises you use for storing,
selling, distributing or preparing food. Food premises
include restaurants, hotels, cafes, shops, supermarkets, staff
canteens, kitchens in offices, warehouses, guest houses, delivery
vehicles, buffet cars on trains, market and other stalls, hot dog
and ice cream vans etc.
If you use vehicles for your food business in connection with permanent premises such as a shop or warehouse you only need to tell the local authority how many vehicles you have. You do not need to register each vehicle separately. If you have one or more vehicles but no permanent premises, you must tell the authority where they are normally kept.
- anyone starting a new food business must register with the
local authority at least 28 day before doing so.
- the majority of premises will have to be registered. However, certain premises are exempt from registration eg, some which are already registered for food law purposes, certain agricultural premises, motor cars, tents, marquees (but not stalls), some domestic premises and some village halls. You should contact your local authority if you think you might be exempt
Register your food business
Register your food business by completing a
registration of food premises form (word).
Registration cannot be refused and there is no charge. The
registration form should be sent to Environmental health and
trading standards, Perceval House, 14/16 Uxbridge Road, Ealing W5
2HL.
If the form is sent to the wrong address, your application will
not take effect until it is received at the proper place. If you
use premises in more than one local authority area, you must
register with each authority separately.
Completing the form
You must tick all the boxes that apply to your
business, answer all the questions and give all information
requested. Seasonal businesses operating for a certain period each
year should give the dates between which they will be open in
answer to question 9. If you have any question your local authority
will help you. It is an offence to give information, which you know
is false.
The local authority will enter the details provided on the
form to its register. A register of the name of the business
(if any), the address, telephone number and the type of business
carried on at each will be open to inspection by the general
public. Records of the other information provided will not be
publicly available.
Changes
Once you have registered with the local authority you only
need notify them of a change of proprietor, if the nature of the
business changes, or if there is a change of the address at which
moveable premises are kept. The new proprietor will have to
complete an application form.
If the local authority wishes to change the entry in the
register because of information which it receives from someone else
you will be given 28 days notice and an opportunity to comment on
the proposed change.
Note: these notes are provided for information only and
should not be regarded as a complete statement of the law.