Frequently Asked Questions

  • The licensing process can be a costly and demoralising bottleneck without the right guide. Every moment your premises isn't open for business, you're losing money, and your team and your investors potentially losing faith. 

  • Licensing in England and Wales has its own jargon, etiquette and minefields - we'll help you navigate them all. A licensing consultant helps you to understand and demystify the licensing process, build relationships with residents and licensing authorities, and find any specialists required to support your application. 

  • With 30 years of experience on the side of the operator, we speak fluent licensing - and can help you navigate not just the process but what you have to do after you get a licence, including compliance, training, continuous residential engagement, and building meaningful relationships with stakeholders to knit your business into your area, permanently. 

  • Stakeholder engagement and consultation is one of our biggest strengths. We'll help you plot an approach to engaging with residents,  the community and authorities that's not adversarial, but authentic and transparent: a process that gains you allies and supporters rather than enemies, building relationships that secure the long term viability of your project.

  • City Halo has been operating for 15 years, while founder Liam O'Hare has been doing this work for 30, helping clients with hundreds of successful applications. 

  • While most of our work takes place in London and the South East, we have helped businesses across England and Wales, from Bristol to Margate.

  • A selection from 2025: a pop-up, time limited licence for You Me Bum Bum Train on Shaftesbury Ave…  a 24 hour licence for a 170 bedroom Hotel in the City of London… a community radio station and recording studio in South London… a new premise licence for a music venue in Camden Town… a contested pub variation of premises licence in Chelsea.. a new premises license application for a Golf Driving range.on

  • We can guide you through variations to existing licenses, stakeholder engagement strategies and execution, specialist reporting, advocacy and placemaking for developers, licence auditing, compliance training for your team, business bid improvement, helping councils deliver a safe and vibrant night time economy and much more.

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  • No two jobs are the same but because we have no fancy London Practice, West End office, or suite of paralegals, City Halo can promise highly competitive bespoke fee proposals - including special rates for grassroots music venues and  independent creative and cultural ventures. Schedule a call today and find out how we can save you time and money.

  • Costs will be broken down and itemised each step of the process, Billing will be clear and comprehensive, with any extra services to support your application agreed and costed in advance.

  • If required, we will assemble a team of the best specialist advisors, working  on a freelance basis.

  • A lawyer is usually only necessary in cases of extreme opposition- we have a suite of licensing practises depending on requirements.

  • All enquiries are free of charge.

  • Generally 2-4 months depending on complexity- preparation is everything.

  • We can help you separate planning from licencing issues (the two are often confused) - and we have worked with dozens of expert planners over the years so can help you find the right one to support you.

  • We're always available to help with compliance, training, placemaking, stakeholder engagement, variations to your licence and anything you need to make sure that you keep your licence and great relationships with local residents and authorities.

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