Licensing and Gambling

We are regarded by many – both nationally and internationally – as the UK’s leading firm of lawyers covering both:

• alcohol, entertainment and late-night refreshment licensing; and

• betting, gaming and lotteries law.

Clients include leaders in the pub/bar, hotel, restaurant, nightclub, casino, bingo, betting, adult gaming centre, lottery, remote/online gambling, prize competition and gaming machine fields.

Chambers Guide to the UK Legal Profession has referred to clients of the firm recommending the Team for “steering our business and giving us an excellent assessment of our needs” and for its “proactive and strategic approach” and “meticulous eye for detail” and for having “an enviable list of high-profile clients”.

We are able to assist start-up businesses through to multi-national operators, providing a tailor-made personal service to meet each client’s specific needs when guiding them through the legislative red tape which affects the whole of the leisure industry.

The team is often called upon by leading City law firms which do not have a specialist licensing/gambling law department to assist in major transactions, due diligence and corporate recovery processes. It has also advised two of the UK’s leading trade organisations in the leisure field, which has resulted in involvement in the drafting of national licensing legislation and membership of working parties on licensing and gambling law reform.

Members of the team have been Contributing Editors to the leading textbooks on the alcohol, entertainment and late-night refreshment licensing legislation (Kolvin: Licensed Premises – Law and Practice) and on gambling law (Smith & Monkcom’s Law of Gambling) and also Halsbury’s Laws of England (Betting, Gaming & Lotteries volume).