Kuit Steinart Levy LLP’s Manchester-based licensing department acts for a wide range of clients, most notably across the hospitality and leisure sectors, including competitive socialising brands, sports clubs, and festival operators, and it is described by clients as a ‘first-class licensing team – the best outside London.’ Led by licensing specialist Felicity Tulloch, the team is often called upon by law firms without specialist licensing departments to assist in the drafting and vetting of licensing clauses in property agreements. The group, which is home to Rebecca Lowe, has developed a reputation for successfully obtaining new premise licences in areas of cumulative impact. Drawing on her experience as a healthcare regulatory solicitor, Claire Morris acts for hospitality clients in defending review applications. Anthony Lyons left the firm in March 2022.

The ‘go-to‘ licensing team at Brabners LLP is led by head of the regulatory group Lachlan Nisbet, who acts for shooting clubs, firearms-related businesses, and individual certificate holders. While the group continues to specialise and develop in firearms and field sports licensing, it also provides support to privately funded clients in the alcohol, entertainment, gambling, and vehicle industries on a broad array of contentious and non-contentious issues, including on compliance matters, Section 5 offences, applications regarding prohibited persons, kinetic testing failures, antique firearms, and mandates related to alcohol and psychiatry. Associate Charlotte McRae is ‘a rising star’.

The Manchester-based licensing team at DAC Beachcroft LLP is regularly called upon to advise on all licensable activities pursuant to the Licensing Act, the Gambling Act, Marriage Licences, and other specialist licensing areas. The highly-experienced licensing expert Jan Levinson heads up the team, which represents a range of clients within the retail and hospitality sectors, as well as developers and investors. Associate Andrew Martin has significant expertise within the sports and entertainment industries and has, together with Levinson, represented some of the largest promoters and sports venues in the country.

With the arrival of practice head Malcolm Ireland in 2021 and associate Samantha Faud who joined in May 2022 from Napthens LLP, Harrison Drury & Co made a significant push into the North’s licensing sector. Already having  an established reputation in the region, clients praise the team as a ‘very friendly and helpful team who go the extra mile to provide a very unique and quality service.’ While the group handles, most notably, all aspects of alcohol and entertainment licensing, it is also adept in servicing a diverse client roster, including from the corporate and commercial property sectors.

With a wide geographical reach, Napthens LLP’s Blackburn-based team handles licensing requirements for clients across the leisure industries, ranging from single-site operators through to some of the largest brewers and pub-companies in the North. While Samantha Faud departed for Harrison Drury & Co in June 2022, Gill Sherratt joined from Licensing Matters Limited in the same month and took over the leadership of the team, which includes the highly-experienced legal executive Suzanne Marchese.