Q: I am planning to begin an online alcohol delivery service taking orders by telephone or online. The alcohol will be dispatched from an existing licensed properties (a bar or off-licence) with whom I will share the revenues or, additionally, a separate storage facility. Will I require a licence under the Licensing Act for my call centre and are there any other licensing ramifications?.
A: This mode of alcohol sales is ending up being increasingly popular. The first thing to remember is that any sale by retail of alcohol to the general public will need a property licence and a designated property supervisor (DPS)– who should have a present personal licence. Note that you can not offer alcohol from a vehicle that moves from place to place unless you have a facility licence for each location from which alcohol sales are made from that vehicle.
As to the location for the properties licence, this requires to be the location where the alcohol is specifically selected following a definite order (be that online or over the phone). Your call centre therefore would not need a licence (unless the items are being selected from there), however definitely the garage or storage facility from which you dispatched the alcohol would. Such a property licence would need to have authorization for ‘off-sales’ due to the fact that intake of the alcohol will happen off those facilities when you have delivered it.
If you operate in partnership with an existing licensed company, that business would require authorisation for off-sales, and you would have to make sure there were no conditions on the existing property licence restricting you from performing your organization as proposed.
Statutory assistance encourages that persons who run properties providing ‘alcohol shipment services’ need to notify the licensing authority of such a business model in your application for a facility licence. This will ensure the licensing authority and other authorities can appropriately consider what conditions might be appropriate.
One of the compulsory conditions that would connect to any licence you obtain, would be a requirement to make sure that an age verification policy uses to the premises and that the DPS guarantees staff are not just familiar with the policy however likewise using it. This has a particular effect with remote sales (telephone and online) due to the fact that you can not see the purchaser of the alcohol when making the initial sale.
Age confirmation steps (for example, online age verification) might be utilized to guarantee that alcohol is not sold to anybody under 18. You must also consider what actions you could require to guarantee age confirmation takes place before the alcohol is in fact served (ie, physically provided to the client) to be satisfied the customer is aged 18 or over.
It is recommended that picture ID be examined and if your shipment chauffeur can not verify age, the delivery will not be made.
The entire procedure is not always simple and believed need to be offered to the licensing goals, especially that of protection of kids from harm.