How to register a food business in the UK (and what happens next)

Registering a food business is the easiest bit of opening a venue. It takes a few minutes online, it costs nothing and the council can't say no. What matters is what it sets in motion: a food safety team that now knows you exist and will turn up, usually without warning, to see how you run your kitchen.

This guide covers when and how to register, what happens afterwards, how the rules differ across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, and what to have in place before that first knock on the door.

The short answer

• When: at least 28 days before you start trading.
• Where: your local council. In England, Wales and Northern Ireland you use the GOV.UK food business registration service. In Scotland you register with your council's environmental health service.
• Cost: free, everywhere in the UK.
• Can it be refused? No. The Food Standards Agency (FSA) is clear that registration cannot be refused.
• What next: the council's food safety team is told, and you get an inspection. Higher-risk businesses go first, so it may be several months.

Who needs to register

You need to register if you sell, cook, store, handle, prepare or distribute food. That covers far more than restaurants:

• pubs serving food, cafés, restaurants, takeaways and hotels
• mobile units, market stalls and temporary premises
• home-based food businesses
• online-only and delivery-only businesses
• food distribution or brokerage companies run from an office, even if no food is kept there

If you run food from more than one site, you register each site with the council where it is located. One registration can cover several trading names, and you can add new names later by telling the council.

Charities and food banks may need to register too, even when the food is free.

When to register: the 28-day rule

The rule in England, Wales and Northern Ireland is at least 28 days before trading. Food Standards Scotland uses the same 28 days.

Two points people miss:

1. Don't register too early. The FSA says that if you are not ready to trade, wait until about 28 days before you plan to open. Registering six months ahead while the kitchen is still a shell doesn't help anyone.
2. If you've already opened, register now. Registration is a legal requirement. If you have started trading without it, register as soon as possible.

A practical approach: put the registration date in your opening plan the day you sign the lease, set for four to five weeks before your launch date.

How to register in each UK nation

You'll be asked about the premises, who runs the business, the type of food activity and when you plan to open. If you're unsure which council covers your address, GOV.UK has a postcode checker.

Childminders are a special case. In England, Ofsted or childminder agency details are used to register you as a food business, so you don't register separately. Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland have their own arrangements.

Registration or approval?

Most hospitality businesses only need to register. Some businesses that make, prepare or handle meat, fish, egg or dairy products to supply other businesses may need approval instead, which is a fuller process. A pub or restaurant selling direct to customers almost always registers. If you plan to supply other businesses with products of animal origin (for example, wholesaling your own cured meats to other venues), ask your council early.

What happens after you register

Registering doesn't mean anyone has checked your kitchen. Here's what follows.

The council's food safety team is told

Your registration goes to the food safety team at your council. They decide when to inspect you based on risk. Higher-risk businesses are inspected first, so the FSA warns your first inspection may take several months.

The first inspection

Inspections are usually unannounced. Officers must show ID and can visit at any reasonable time. Home-based businesses are usually visited by arrangement.

The officer looks at three things:

1. Hygiene practices: how food is handled, stored and cooked.
2. The premises: cleanliness, repair, layout, handwashing, pest proofing.
3. Your food safety management system: how you keep food safe and whether you can prove it.

They may look at your records, take samples or take photos. Afterwards you get a letter listing any improvements needed, with a reasonable time to make them, unless there's an immediate risk to public health.

Your food hygiene rating

In England, Wales and Northern Ireland you get a rating under the Food Hygiene Rating Scheme, from 0 (urgent improvement necessary) to 5 (very good). The rating reflects what the officer finds on the day, and every business should be able to reach a 5.

You can also use a "right to reply" to explain what you've fixed, or request a re-rating visit once you've made the improvements. After that, the gap between planned inspections ranges from six months for the highest-risk businesses to two years for lower-risk ones.

For a full prep list, see how to prepare for an EHO inspection and how to get a 5-star food hygiene rating.

What to have running before your first inspection

Because you don't know when the officer will come, the safe assumption is that it could be your first week. Have these working from day one:

• A food safety management system. HACCP procedures, or a HACCP-based pack: Safer Food, Better Business (SFBB) in England and Wales, Safe Catering in Northern Ireland, or CookSafe in Scotland. See Safer Food Better Business, digitally.
• Temperature records. Fridges, freezers and hot-holding, checked and written down daily. In England, Wales and Northern Ireland chilled food must legally be kept at 8°C or below.
• Opening and closing checks and a cleaning schedule that someone actually signs off.
• Allergen information for every dish, covering the 14 allergens.
• Supplier records. Keeping a record of what you bought, who from, how much and when is a legal requirement, so you or an officer can trace food back. Keeping invoices in order usually does the job.
• Training records showing staff are trained for the work they do.
• Pest checks and contact details for a pest control contractor if you use one.

Tell the council when things change

Registration isn't one and done. Tell your council if you:

• add delivery or takeaway, or otherwise change the business significantly
• open under a new trading name
• don't start trading after all, or close

When you change how you operate, the FSA also expects you to update your HACCP or food safety system, train staff on the new process and record what changed.

Common mistakes

How ShiftComplete helps you start right

Opening is the one moment you get to set up your systems properly before habits form. ShiftComplete puts the day-one records in one place on the phones your team already carry:

• Temperature logs for every fridge, freezer and hot-hold point, each with its own safe range. Out-of-range readings are flagged on the dashboard, and every reading is named and timestamped, with a 7-day rolling view for inspection visits.
• Opening, closing and cleaning checklists that can differ by weekday, with optional photo evidence on any tick.
• An allergen matrix with every dish mapped to the 14 allergens, searchable by front-of-house staff from the floor.
• Rotas built from staff availability, published to every phone.

It doesn't replace your food safety management system and it can't promise a rating, but it helps you keep the records an EHO asks to see. Set-up takes about five minutes, and it's free for 60 days with no card needed.

Registration checklist

• Opening date fixed and registration date set for about 28 days before
• Each premises registered with its own council
• All trading names included
• Food safety management system chosen (SFBB, Safe Catering, CookSafe or your own HACCP plan)
• Temperature checks, opening and closing checks and cleaning schedule ready to start
• Allergen information prepared for every dish
• Supplier records system in place
• Staff training planned and recorded
• Reminder set to tell the council about any big change, like adding delivery