When establishing or running a party business in United Kingdom, it’s important to ensure you’ve met all the legal requirements. Our legal team specialises in helping small businesses with all their legal needs, from contracts to intellectual property protection and privacy. Get in touch today!
To establish a party business in the UK, you will need to prepare and register a variety of legal documents. Key requirements include:
- Registering your business name with Companies House.
- Obtaining Employers' Liability Insurance and business insurance (e.g. public liability, professional indemnity).
- Securing Local Authority approval (if operating from a commercial premise) and a lease agreement (if renting premises).
- Having Health and Safety policies and procedures in place.
- Complying with privacy and data protection policies and procedures, in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.
- Obtaining a Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR) and registering for Value Added Tax (VAT) if applicable.
A dry hire agreement outlines the specifics of a contract where one party rents equipment to another. If you operate a party business in the UK and plan to provide party supplies or equipment for hire, then a Dry Hire Agreement can safeguard your business and reduce your liability.
Occasionally, businesses might want to earn additional income by also offering their services to operate the equipment or machinery being rented - in this scenario, a Wet Hire Agreement would be necessary.
Your IP is often the key to your business' success. In a software or technology business, it's important to keep your IP secure. To effectively protect your creative works, you'll need to understand the type of IP you intend to keep secure and the specific process required.
Copyright protection applies automatically to creative, original works in the United Kingdom (however, you may still wish to display copyright disclaimers for clarity!).
For further legal protection, you can also register a trade mark with IP United Kingdom. This lists your IP on an online register and prevents other people from using it - so it's officially and legally yours.
There is also the option to patent your IP, but there is a very specific criteria for doing so. Our IP lawyers can guide you through your options.
