A personal licence allows the sale of alcohol by:
- the licence holder
- a person authorised by the licence holder.
Personal licence applications should be made to the local authority in which the applicant lives and not the authority area of the premises where alcohol is sold.
If you live in the Bury borough, you can submit a personal licence application to us. Personal licences do not expire.
Current personal licence holders
If you move out of our borough and hold a personal licence issued by us, you should contact us to let us know you've moved out of our authority area. You should also inform your new local authority area if you're becoming a designated premises supervisor of a premises and if so, the premises licence will need to be varied.
If a designated premises supervisor (DPS) vacates a premises, the new incoming personal licence holder must apply to become the DPS to allow them to sell alcohol.
Personal licence eligibility
Before applying for a personal licence, applicants must have:
- a level 2 national certificate for personal licence holders from an accredited qualification provider
- requested a basic disclosure and barring service (DBS) check.
Please be aware that basic DBS's are only valid for 30 days from the date they're issued.
Apply for a personal licence
You can apply for a personal licence online to request permission to sell alcohol.
Your application will also require you to provide two passport photographs, with one endorsed by a person who holds a professional qualification, such as:
- accountant
- manager
- barrister or solicitor
- member of parliament
- chairman or director
- nurse, doctor, optician or dentist
- officer of armed forces
- fire service official
- police officer
- journalist
- social worker
- justice of the peace
- legal secretary
- teacher.
The endorsement signatory cannot be a partner or relative.
When applying, you must also pay a personal licence fee:
- £37 for new or renewal personal licence applications
- £10.50 to change a name or address on a personal licence.
Please send your completed application to: Bury Licensing Service, 3 Knowsley Place, Duke Street, Bury BL9 0EJ
You'll also need to declare any relevant criminal convictions, as this may impact your suitability as a licensed person.
Personal licence process
We'll aim to process your application within 28 days and we'll contact you to advise if your personal licence has been granted.
If your application is unsuccessful, we'll explain our reason for refusal. We will also advise how you can request a review of our decision.
Personal licence legislation
View the Licensing Act 2003 section 114 of schedule 4 regarding persona licensing legislation or relevant or foreign offences.