Ongoing Licensing Compliance Services
Protect your premises licence with practical, ongoing support — inspections, incident reviews, training and unannounced night-time checks, from £295 a month.
Obtaining a premises licence is only the beginning.
Licensed businesses must continue to comply with the Licensing Act 2003, mandatory conditions, the individual conditions attached to their premises licence and the operating procedures agreed with responsible authorities.
Standards can slip when managers change, staff training becomes outdated, records are incomplete or incidents are not managed consistently.
Complete Licensing provides structured ongoing compliance support for pubs, bars, restaurants, nightclubs, hotels, entertainment venues and other licensed premises across England and Wales.
Every client begins with our Foundation Membership. You can then add the inspections, incident reviews, data protection support, undercover observations and face-to-face training appropriate to your premises.
Straightforward services. Transparent monthly pricing. No rigid packages containing work you do not need. Build your compliance programme or call us on 0207 222 2345.
How our ongoing compliance service works
1. Start with Foundation
Foundation provides access to Licensing Connect, online staff training, routine licensing advice, urgent initial incident advice and basic data protection support.
2. Select the services you need
Choose from scheduled on-site compliance inspections, unannounced night-time compliance inspections, remote incident reporting reviews, full-day on-site incident management reviews, Data Protection Plus, undercover compliance observations and in-person staff training.
3. Choose the appropriate frequency
Most recurring services can be delivered monthly or quarterly. Multi-site operators can select a different programme for each premises or arrange for inspections to rotate between locations.
4. Receive one monthly invoice
All recurring services are invoiced monthly, including quarterly and six-monthly services.
Foundation Membership
£295 plus VAT per month, including one licensed premises. Each additional premises operated by the same client can be added for £195 plus VAT per month.
Foundation provides the core tools, training and professional support required to maintain good licensing and operational standards.
Licensing Connect
Foundation includes access to Licensing Connect, our digital licensing and compliance platform. Depending on the agreed account configuration, it can be used to manage incident reports, refusals, welfare and vulnerability interventions, visitors, accidents, staff training records, important licensing documents and compliance records.
Digital record keeping helps management teams monitor standards, identify missing information and retrieve evidence when dealing with the police, licensing authority or another responsible authority.
Online staff training
Foundation includes access to our four online training courses:
- Responsible Sale of Alcohol and the Licensing Act 2003
- Conflict Management
- Data Protection
- Welfare and Vulnerability Awareness
The courses provide staff with a consistent foundation of knowledge and create a record of completed training.
Routine licensing advice
Foundation clients can contact Complete Licensing for routine telephone and email advice on matters including premises licence conditions, mandatory conditions, Challenge 25 and age verification, incident and refusal recording, CCTV requests, staff responsibilities, police enquiries, licensing authority contact, changes to operating procedures, Temporary Event Notices, special events and general Licensing Act 2003 compliance.
Routine advice is provided subject to a reasonable fair-use policy.
Initial urgent incident advice
Foundation clients can contact us for initial advice following a serious or potentially significant incident, including a serious assault, an allegation of sexual assault, a suspected drink-spiking incident, a significant welfare matter, police attendance, a drug-related incident, a request for CCTV, a serious customer complaint or an incident that may attract regulatory attention.
Initial advice is included. Detailed investigations, extensive CCTV reviews, witness statements, evidence schedules, prolonged correspondence and representation are quoted separately.
Basic data protection support
Foundation includes practical data protection support relevant to licensed premises: general UK GDPR questions, ICO registration guidance, basic privacy notice guidance, basic CCTV data protection advice, data retention guidance, advice on routine disclosures to the police or local authority, guidance on secure incident record keeping and access to the Data Protection online training course.
Complex Data Subject Access Requests, detailed redaction, formal breach investigations and extensive policy drafting are not included.
Licensing and regulatory updates
Foundation clients receive relevant updates concerning licensing legislation, statutory guidance, enforcement practice, data protection developments relevant to licensed premises and emerging compliance risks.
Transparent pricing
Foundation
| Service | Monthly price |
|---|---|
| Foundation Membership, including one premises | £295 plus VAT |
| Each additional premises | £195 plus VAT |
Inspections and incident reviews
| Service | Frequency | Monthly price |
|---|---|---|
| Scheduled on-site compliance inspection | Monthly | £298 plus VAT |
| Scheduled on-site compliance inspection | Quarterly | £100 plus VAT |
| Unannounced night-time compliance inspection | Monthly | £595 plus VAT |
| Unannounced night-time compliance inspection | Quarterly | £199 plus VAT |
| Remote incident reporting review | Monthly | £298 plus VAT |
| Remote incident reporting review | Quarterly | £100 plus VAT |
| Full-day on-site incident management review | Monthly | £745 plus VAT |
| Full-day on-site incident management review | Quarterly | £249 plus VAT |
Additional support
| Service | Price |
|---|---|
| Data Protection Plus | £295 plus VAT per month |
| Undercover compliance observation | £600 plus VAT per visit |
| Quarterly undercover observation programme | £200 plus VAT per month |
| In-person training with one trainer | £600 plus VAT per session |
| In-person training with two trainers | £1,200 plus VAT per session |
| Six-monthly training with one trainer | £100 plus VAT per month |
| Six-monthly training with two trainers | £200 plus VAT per month |
Scheduled on-site licensing compliance inspections
Our scheduled compliance inspections assess whether the premises is operating lawfully and in accordance with its premises licence.
Compliance inspections are always conducted in person. We do not offer remote licensing compliance inspections.
An inspection will ordinarily involve up to three hours at the premises and may include review of the premises licence and licence summary, mandatory and premises-specific conditions, permitted activities and operating hours, incident and refusals records, Challenge 25 procedures, staff training records, CCTV arrangements, required notices and signage, welfare and vulnerability procedures, security arrangements, relevant policies and a physical walk-through of the premises.
Following the visit, the client receives a written report identifying areas of compliance, matters requiring attention, immediate risks, recommended corrective action and suggested completion dates.
| Frequency | Monthly price |
|---|---|
| One scheduled inspection every month | £298 plus VAT |
| One scheduled inspection every quarter | £100 plus VAT |
For a multi-site operator, a monthly inspection programme can rotate between different premises. The monthly price includes one inspection on each due date, not one inspection at every premises.
Unannounced night-time compliance inspections
Our unannounced night-time compliance inspection assesses how the premises operates during live trading conditions, without management or staff being given advance warning of the inspection date.
Unlike a scheduled daytime inspection, the premises cannot prepare specifically for the consultant’s arrival. This provides a more realistic assessment of how licence conditions are implemented in practice, whether required records are available during trading, staff knowledge, door and security procedures, Challenge 25 and ID checking, incident and refusal recording, management control, welfare and vulnerability procedures, CCTV arrangements, noise management, external areas, customer dispersal and compliance at the times when the premises is most exposed to risk.
Always unannounced
These inspections are always unannounced to the premises management and staff. The operator agrees to the inspection programme in advance, but the individual inspection date and arrival time are not disclosed.
The consultant identifies themselves when they arrive and conducts a formal compliance inspection. This is therefore different from an undercover observation, where the consultant attends discreetly as an ordinary customer.
What the night-time inspection can cover
The consultant may assess whether a copy of the premises licence and summary can be produced; whether the designated premises supervisor and duty manager arrangements are clear; compliance with operating hours; door supervision numbers and deployment; SIA badge checks; search procedures; entry and re-entry controls; age-verification procedures; refusal of service; management of intoxicated customers; incident recording; welfare and vulnerability interventions; CCTV operation and staff knowledge; required signage; noise and external-area management; smoking-area supervision; queue management; dispersal procedures; compliance with premises-specific conditions; and staff understanding of their responsibilities.
The inspection is designed to replicate many of the practical pressures of an unannounced licensing-authority or police visit. It is not carried out on behalf of a council or responsible authority and does not involve the exercise of statutory enforcement powers.
Written report and action plan
Following each inspection, the client receives a confidential written report setting out what was observed, areas of good practice, licence-condition failures, missing records or documents, staff-knowledge concerns, operational weaknesses, immediate corrective actions and longer-term recommendations. Serious concerns can be brought to the nominated senior contact’s attention immediately.
| Frequency | Monthly price |
|---|---|
| One unannounced night-time inspection every month | £595 plus VAT |
| One unannounced night-time inspection every quarter | £199 plus VAT |
The quarterly programme provides four unannounced night-time inspections each year. Prices cover one inspection at one premises on each due date. Additional travel or accommodation outside the agreed operating area will be agreed in advance.
Remote incident reporting reviews
A remote incident review is different from a compliance inspection. A compliance inspection assesses whether the premises is complying with its licence and operating procedures. An incident review examines what has happened at the premises, how incidents were recorded, how management responded and whether recurring patterns or risks are developing.
The review may consider incident reports, refusals, assaults and allegations of assault, ejections, welfare interventions, suspected drink-spiking incidents, drug-related incidents, police attendance, ambulance attendance, customer complaints, CCTV requests, use of force, door-staff involvement, recurring individuals, locations or times, and gaps or inconsistencies in records.
The client receives a written summary identifying significant incidents, emerging trends, recording deficiencies, risk indicators, recommended management actions and matters requiring escalation.
| Frequency | Monthly price |
|---|---|
| Remote incident review every month | £298 plus VAT |
| Remote incident review every quarter | £100 plus VAT |
The standard review covers the agreed volume of routine incident records. Detailed CCTV examination, witness statements, formal investigations and extensive follow-up work are quoted separately.
Full-day on-site incident management reviews
Our on-site incident management review provides more detailed senior oversight. An experienced former senior police officer spends a working day at the premises with the management team reviewing incidents, decisions, records and operational practices.
The review may include detailed consideration of significant incidents, meetings with premises management, review of incident and refusal records, review of relevant CCTV or body-worn video, discussion with security personnel, assessment of escalation procedures, review of police and authority contact, consideration of evidence preservation, identification of recurring risks, evaluation of management responses and recommendations for operational improvement.
The client receives an independent written report and action plan.
| Frequency | Monthly price |
|---|---|
| One full-day on-site incident review every month | £745 plus VAT per premises |
| One full-day on-site incident review every quarter | £249 plus VAT per premises |
Additional investigations, statements, extensive CCTV schedules and formal regulatory representation are quoted separately.
Data Protection Plus
£295 plus VAT per month. Data Protection Plus is available as an optional addition to Foundation, for licensed businesses that need more than routine data protection guidance.
Complete Licensing does not act as the client’s statutory or external Data Protection Officer.
It can include advice on routine Data Subject Access Requests, support with DSAR correspondence, guidance on identifying relevant records, guidance on exemptions and disclosure, Data Protection Impact Assessment support, personal data breach assessment, initial breach-response advice, advice on possible ICO notification, review of CCTV privacy information, review of data-retention arrangements, review of up to three core data protection documents each year, an annual remote data protection compliance review, written recommendations and action plan, a quarterly remote data protection meeting, routine data-sharing advice, advice on staff and customer information, and advice on incident records and CCTV disclosure.
It does not include acting as the organisation’s DPO, unlimited DSAR processing, large-scale document review, extensive redaction, cybersecurity or forensic investigation, litigation support, formal legal representation or major remediation projects. Complex or unusually time-consuming work is scoped and quoted separately.
Undercover compliance observations
£600 plus VAT per visit. An undercover compliance observation assesses how the premises operates when the consultant attends discreetly as an ordinary customer. The premises is not told the date or time, and the consultant does not identify themselves during the observation.
The consultant may observe door and entry procedures, ID checks, Challenge 25, door supervision, staff interactions, refusal of service, management of intoxicated customers, welfare and vulnerability awareness, internal and external supervision, customer dispersal, implementation of relevant licence conditions and general management control.
The client receives a confidential written report identifying good practice, compliance concerns, operational weaknesses and recommended corrective action.
| Service | Price |
|---|---|
| Individual undercover observation | £600 plus VAT |
| Four observations per year | £200 plus VAT per month |
In-person staff training
£600 plus VAT per trainer. Face-to-face training allows staff to apply licensing and compliance requirements directly to their premises, licence conditions and previous incidents.
Training is available in Responsible Sale of Alcohol and the Licensing Act 2003, Conflict Management, Data Protection, and Welfare and Vulnerability Awareness. It can incorporate premises-specific licence conditions, site policies, previous incidents, practical scenarios, management expectations, staff questions and lessons identified through inspections and incident reviews.
| Training requirement | Price |
|---|---|
| One trainer | £600 plus VAT per session |
| Two trainers for a larger group | £1,200 plus VAT per session |
| Two sessions per year with one trainer | £100 plus VAT per month |
| Two sessions per year with two trainers | £200 plus VAT per month |
Whether a second trainer is required will be agreed in advance, taking account of group size, course content, practical exercises and venue layout.
Which inspection service do you need?
| Service | Notice given? | Consultant’s role | Best suited to |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scheduled compliance inspection | Visit arranged in advance | Formal compliance consultant | Routine licence-condition and record review |
| Unannounced night-time compliance inspection | No date or time disclosed | Formal compliance consultant who identifies on arrival | Testing real trading standards and readiness for authority visits |
| Undercover compliance observation | No date or time disclosed | Consultant attends discreetly as a customer | Observing customer-facing practice and staff behaviour |
| On-site incident management review | Arranged in advance | Senior former police officer | Detailed analysis of incidents, risk and management decisions |
Higher-risk premises may benefit from combining more than one service. For example, a venue may have a scheduled compliance inspection each month, an unannounced night-time inspection every quarter, a remote incident review each month and an undercover observation every quarter.
Example compliance programmes
| Programme | Included | Total per month |
|---|---|---|
| Single restaurant | Foundation £295 | £295 plus VAT |
| Single premises, monthly scheduled inspection | Foundation £295 + inspection £298 | £593 plus VAT |
| Single premises, quarterly unannounced night-time inspections | Foundation £295 + programme £199 | £494 plus VAT |
| Two premises, one rotating monthly inspection | Foundation £295 + additional premises £195 + inspection £298 | £788 plus VAT |
| Four premises, one rotating monthly inspection | Foundation £295 + three additional premises £585 + inspection £298 | £1,178 plus VAT |
| Late-night premises, enhanced oversight | Foundation £295 + inspection £298 + monthly on-site incident review £745 + quarterly undercover £200 + six-monthly training with two trainers £200 | £1,738 plus VAT |
| Late-night premises, unannounced testing | Foundation £295 + inspection £298 + quarterly unannounced night-time £199 + monthly remote incident review £298 | £1,090 plus VAT |
Suitable for individual and multi-site operators
Our ongoing compliance services are suitable for pubs, bars, restaurants, nightclubs, hotels, late-night refreshment premises, members’ clubs, event venues, music and entertainment venues, leisure operators, landlords with licensed tenants and multi-site hospitality businesses.
Different premises within the same group can receive different levels of support. A higher-risk late-night venue may require monthly inspections and incident reviews, while another premises within the group may require Foundation only.
Why ongoing compliance matters
Licensing difficulties frequently develop from smaller issues that have not been recognised or corrected, including missed premises-licence conditions, incomplete incident records, weak management oversight, inconsistent staff training, poorly managed incidents, missing CCTV or other evidence, recurring risks that have not been identified, inadequate responses to complaints and poor communication with responsible authorities.
Regular independent oversight helps operators identify these issues earlier and maintain evidence of the steps taken to address them. It can also help demonstrate an ongoing commitment to the four licensing objectives: the prevention of crime and disorder, public safety, the prevention of public nuisance, and the protection of children from harm.
What to tell us
Tell us how many licensed premises you operate, the nature and operating hours of each venue, whether there has been previous police or licensing-authority contact, the approximate volume of incidents, the frequency of inspections or reviews required, whether unannounced night-time testing is appropriate, and whether enhanced data protection support is required.
We will recommend a proportionate programme and provide a clear monthly quotation. Build your compliance programme.
Questions and answers
Does every client need Foundation?
Yes. Foundation is the starting point for every ongoing compliance arrangement.
Are compliance inspections conducted remotely?
No. Licensing compliance inspections are conducted in person so that the consultant can inspect records, speak with management and assess the physical premises.
What is an unannounced night-time compliance inspection?
It is a formal inspection carried out during trading hours without the premises being told the date or arrival time in advance. The consultant identifies themselves on arrival and assesses how the premises is operating under normal live conditions.
Is the night-time inspection the same as a council inspection?
No. It is an independent private compliance service and does not involve statutory enforcement powers. It is designed to provide the closest practical simulation of the operational pressure and scrutiny associated with an unannounced authority visit.
Is the night-time inspection always unannounced?
Yes. Although the operator agrees to the programme, the premises management and staff are not told the individual visit date or time.
What is the difference between an unannounced inspection and an undercover observation?
During an unannounced night-time inspection, the consultant identifies themselves when they arrive and conducts a formal inspection. During an undercover observation, the consultant attends discreetly as an ordinary customer and does not identify themselves during the visit.
What is the difference between a compliance inspection and an incident review?
A compliance inspection assesses whether the premises is complying with its licence and operating procedures. An incident review analyses events that have occurred, the quality of the records, management responses and developing risks.
Can a monthly inspection rotate between premises?
Yes. A multi-site operator can purchase one monthly inspection and agree that the visit will rotate between its premises. The monthly fee buys one inspection, not one inspection at every location.
Can unannounced inspections rotate between premises?
Yes. The client can agree which premises are included in the programme, but the venue selected for each visit and the visit time may remain unannounced.
Does Complete Licensing act as our Data Protection Officer?
No. We provide practical data protection advice and support but do not act as a client’s statutory or external DPO.
Are quarterly services invoiced monthly?
Yes. Quarterly and six-monthly services are divided into equal monthly payments.
Are additional investigations included?
No. Detailed CCTV review, witness statements, formal investigations, extensive correspondence and representation are quoted separately.
Build your compliance programme
Tell us how many premises you operate, their hours, any previous authority contact and the level of oversight you need. We will recommend a proportionate programme and provide a clear monthly quotation.
Other licensing services
- New Licence Applications
- Premises Licence Variations
- DPS Changes
- Expert Witness Reports
- Festival Licensing
- Landlord Services
- Licensing Preservation in Insolvency
- Policies and Procedures
- Licensing Reviews
- Crisis Management
- Sexual Entertainment Licensing (SEV)
- Temporary Event Notices (TEN)
- Gambling Act Application
- Late Night Refreshments