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UK alcohol licence fee proposals slammed
Small businesses could suffer from a 400% increase in the cost of applying for alcohol licenses if UK Government proposals go ahead, The Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) has warned.
Small businesses could see the cost of applying for alcohol licences increase by 400% if UK Government proposals go ahead
The (ACS) is calling for an “urgent rethink” from the government on its proposals to allow councils to set their own alcohol licence fees, which its says would cause a “dramatic increase” in the costs to small businesses.
Alcohol licensing fees are currently decided by taking into account a business’ size according to five different “bands”, which charge smaller businesses fees from £100 while larger organisations such as supermarkets can be charged more than £600.
According to the ACS, removing the current system and delegating powers to local authorities could see the cost of applying for a license for a small village shop go from £100 to £624, while a large supermarket could see a much smaller increase from £635 to £683.
“We urge Ministers to undertake an urgent rethink of these proposals because they would impose dramatic unaffordable hikes in the cost of licensing for small and start-up businesses in particular,” said James Lowman, ACS chief executive.
“The reforms are based on the flawed premise that a small village shop should pay the same for its licence as a major supermarket.
“This problem is compounded by the suggestion that fees should be set by each local authority according to their own estimates. If ministers accept this proposal they will expose the convenience sector to a potential 400% increase, totalling more than £36m, in direct additional costs.
“Imposing such significant increases in the cost of obtaining or varying an alcohol licence would be a major barrier to investment and growth, especially for small businesses. We therefore urge Ministers to consider an option that is more closely based on the existing fee structure, and retains the distribution of cost burdens that better reflects the different sizes of businesses in the market.”