About

Complex licensing needs more than a form. It needs the right people, the right evidence and a plan that works.

Complete Licensing is an independent licensing and regulatory consultancy. We help businesses secure, protect and improve the licences they depend on.

We work across England and Wales, and our core work is alcohol and premises licensing under the Licensing Act 2003. Our clients include venue operators, venue groups, landlords, event organisers, investors and professional advisers. We also support solicitors and barristers on complex licensing matters.

Many firms can submit a premises licence application. Our work goes further. We bring together licensing, policing, environmental health, investigation, security, acoustics, health and safety, medical and practical operating experience, so we can look at the whole problem rather than the paperwork in front of us.

Our model is simple:

• One team, not one view.
• Crisis response, not just applications.
• Compliance that creates proof.
• Specialist support for law firms.

We assess the risk, gather the facts, test the systems and find the gaps. We then help put the right changes in place and track the result.

Built for difficult licensing work

Licensing problems rarely sit in one neat box.

A police concern may involve CCTV, door staff, drugs, incident records and management control. A noise complaint may involve sound data, dispersal, customer behaviour and the design of the premises. A premises licence review may involve years of records, several responsible authorities and a business that needs to keep trading throughout.

That is why Complete Licensing uses a mixed team. Our specialists include former senior police officers, former police licensing officers, environmental health professionals, investigators and other experts, and members of the team have worked in some of the busiest and most demanding licensing areas in the country.

One of our consultants was the Metropolitan Police licensing officer for Westminster, overseeing 6,000 licensed premises from small bars to casinos, hotels and late-night clubs. Another led Metropolitan Police licensing for the London 2012 Olympic Games after a decade on the Clubs and Vice Unit. Our environmental health experience includes some 40 years of work across nine London boroughs, major public events and licensing hearings.

That experience shows us how responsible authorities assess risk, and what a committee needs to see before it can trust an operator. We use that knowledge to find practical answers that protect the licence and improve the business.

Licensing crisis management when time matters

A serious incident can put a premises licence at risk within hours. The police may seek a summary review. A licensing authority may consider interim steps. A closure notice may be served. Meanwhile CCTV, incident logs and staff accounts may be incomplete, managers are under pressure, and the business does not know what to do first.

Complete Licensing provides licensing and regulatory crisis management. We can help secure and organise evidence, review the premises licence and operating procedures, and assess CCTV, incident records, training files and management controls. We can speak with the relevant staff and help build a clear timeline of what happened.

We can also bring in the right specialist — a crime and disorder expert, an environmental health professional, an acoustic consultant or a medical expert.

The response has to be fast. It also has to be credible. A weak promise to do better is rarely enough: decision-makers need to see what went wrong, what has changed, and how that change will be kept in place. We help turn urgent action into a clear and workable recovery plan.

Where a solicitor or barrister is involved, we work as part of the wider case team, providing the operational detail and specialist evidence that supports the legal strategy.

Ongoing compliance that can be proved

A premises licence is not safe simply because it has been granted. Conditions must be followed every day, staff must know what is expected, records must be accurate, incidents must be handled well, and policies must reflect the real operation.

Good compliance is not a folder on a shelf. It is a working system that can be tested and proved.

Our ongoing compliance service can include planned audits and unannounced checks that mirror the kind of visit made by a licensing officer, police officer or environmental health officer. We review what is happening in practice, then provide written findings and clear actions.

We can examine incident logs, refusals records, CCTV systems, age checks, door supervision, dispersal, staff training and licence conditions. We also review incidents after they happen — speaking with staff or witnesses, viewing CCTV and preparing an independent record of what the footage shows. That builds due diligence evidence and catches small problems before they become serious ones.

The service works for single venues, groups, landlords and multi-site operators, so a common standard can be set and tracked across every site. It also supports law firms: it helps show that agreed measures were not just promised before a hearing, but put in place, checked and maintained.

A specialist resource for law firms

Complete Licensing is not a law firm and we do not replace the solicitor or barrister. We strengthen the legal team.

The lawyer remains responsible for legal advice, case strategy, disclosure and advocacy. We focus on the facts, the operation and the specialist evidence.

For law firms the value is straightforward: access to a ready-made team of licensing and operational specialists, without sourcing separate crime, noise, CCTV, compliance and venue experts for every issue. The legal team keeps control and the client gets a joined-up service.

Licensing solicitors and barristers can instruct us for a defined part of a case or for the full operational workstream, and we can work directly with the client while reporting through the legal team. Our support can include:

• an urgent premises and licence audit;
• a review of CCTV, incident logs and training records;
• a clear chronology of events;
• interviews and factual enquiries;
• licensing due diligence for acquisitions, leases and insolvency;
• crime, disorder, noise and public safety analysis;
• expert reports and hearing evidence;
• policies, action plans and staff training;
• liaison with specialist consultants;
• preparation for licensing meetings and hearings;
• ongoing checks before and after a hearing; and
• support with remedial work agreed with responsible authorities.

We understand the difference between legal argument and operational evidence, and we work to clear instructions, firm deadlines and accurate records. We carry professional indemnity insurance, we carry out conflict checks and we treat client information as confidential. We also make clear that communications with a consultancy do not automatically attract legal advice privilege, so the instructing firm can decide how the work should be commissioned and handled.

We are particularly useful where the case depends on proving that a venue has changed. We can help design the change, put it into practice and test whether it is working.

Expert evidence grounded in real experience

Licensing committees need evidence they can understand and trust.

Our expert witness and specialist support covers crime and disorder, licensing compliance, public nuisance, environmental health, safety, drugs, medical issues and venue operations. Our experts draw on careers in policing, licensing enforcement, environmental health and regulated operations. They can assess evidence, visit premises, identify weaknesses and explain practical controls, and where appropriate they can prepare reports and give oral evidence.

We can also coordinate several experts within one case, which matters when the same facts affect more than one licensing objective. The result is a joined-up case: the evidence supports the legal argument, and the action plan supports the evidence.

Evidence of the approach

Claims are easy to make. The work has to support them.

Licensing outcomes depend on the facts and on the decision-maker, and no honest consultant can promise a result. What we can promise is careful preparation, clear evidence and practical action.

Our case studies show the approach in practice. In one matter our team reviewed licensing compliance, noise controls, health and safety and local crime data before a successful magistrates’ court appeal. In another contested case, independent environmental health and former police licensing experts observed the venue and gave evidence at the hearing. Both show why a team matters — difficult licensing work usually needs more than one professional view.

Support through the full licensing lifecycle

We support clients before, during and after a licence application. Our work includes:

• new premises licence applications;
• full and minor variations;
• changes of DPS and licence transfers;
• temporary event notices;
• festival and event licensing;
• premises licence reviews and summary reviews;
• licensing appeals and crisis support;
• expert witness reports;
• ongoing licensing compliance;
• policy design and review;
• landlord and licensed estate support;
• licence preservation during insolvency;
• sexual entertainment venue licensing;
• gambling applications; and
• late-night refreshment licensing.

We can manage a straightforward application or a difficult matter that has already attracted objections, enforcement action or a review. The principle is the same in both cases: prepare properly, deal with risk early, keep a clear record, and never leave the important details to chance.

Professional standards and secure handling

Licensing work can involve sensitive information — CCTV, witness accounts, allegations, staff records, medical information and police material. We take that responsibility seriously.

Complete Licensing is a corporate member of the Association of British Investigators, and individual members of our team hold full ABI membership. We are also accredited by the Good Business Charter, we are members of the Institute of Licensing, and we hold Cyber Essentials certification.

Our published policies cover privacy and data protection, anti-bribery, modern slavery, complaints and vulnerability reporting. We use secure systems and clear data-handling controls, and we maintain professional indemnity insurance. These standards matter to operators, and they matter even more to law firms that need reliable external specialists.

Why choose Complete Licensing?

Choose Complete Licensing when the work needs more than a form and a covering letter. When the licence is valuable. When several responsible authorities are involved. When a serious incident has changed the risk. When the evidence needs to be gathered, tested and explained. When a law firm needs a capable licensing consultancy behind the legal team. And when a business needs ongoing compliance that works in the real world.

We combine deep regulatory experience with practical delivery. We can act quickly in a crisis and stay involved long after the hearing, helping you secure a licence, protect it and build the evidence needed to keep it.

Speak to Complete Licensing

Contact us at the earliest stage. Early advice can prevent objections and reduce the risk of enforcement, and it gives a legal team more time to build the right case.

For law firm instructions, urgent licensing crisis management, a premises licence review, expert evidence or ongoing compliance, get in touch or call 0207 222 2345.

Questions and answers