In any business where alcohol is sold, any person who sells alcohol must either be a personal licence holder or be authorised by a current personal licence holder.
The authorisation process is not simply a matter of adding their name to a List of Authorised Staff , it is all about the training they receive which makes them competent to sell alcohol responsibly.
The authorisation to sell alcohol should also be reviewed and renewed on a regular basis. Our recommendation is that the initial authorisation period should be for three months followed by a review and renewed every six months thereafter. A suggested renewal process is outlined below.
There are three ways of achieving suitable standards of training which meet the minimum requirement for authorising staff to sell or supply alcohol.
Option 1. The BIIAB Level 1 Award in Responsible Alcohol Retailing
This is a nationally recognised course, followed by an exam. For further details please visit the Award in Responsible Alcohol Retailing page of our website.
Option 2. In-House Training
Running your own training is perfectly lawful in England and Wales. This training must however be suitably documented and stand up to scrutiny.
For example; if at any time an incident occurs where a member of your team commits an offence or unauthorised licensable activity, it is the standard of your in-house training and associated training records which will stand between you and the maximum penalty of a £20,000 fine and / or 6 months imprisonment or a review of your premises licence; which can lead to revocation of your premises licence.
Option 3. Authorisation to Sell Alcohol Induction from Beyond the Blue
We design a course which specifically reflects your business and incorporates the specifics of your premises licence and the conditions and restrictions it contains.
The course is delivered in 2 to 2.5 hours depending on the client and their premises licence. Learners complete a quiz in their own time, within a week of completing the course.
Beyond the Blue assesses and accredits the learning; please see the ‘Who accredits the Authorisation to Sell Alcohol Induction’ section below for further details.
We have two solutions depending on the nature of your business. Which solution is best for you will depend on the number of employees, nature of the business, availability of suitably skilled people within your organisation to deliver the training and existing time-commitments; as well as your personal preference.
Solution 1 – We Deliver our Training
One of our experienced trainers will come to your workplace and deliver the training to your team. Courses are run at the convenience of our clients; including weekends where required.
Solution 2 – You Deliver our Training
We either deliver the initial training course to familiarise the client with the delivery method or we provide an induction session with the client prior to initial delivery.
A suitably experienced member of the client’s own team delivers the training in-house. They order all the training materials (course hand-outs, quizzes etc.) and Beyond the Blue assesses and accredits the learning.
Whenever training materials are ordered for new candidates, we update the presentation as required and as the law changes; this ensures you are always delivering up-to-date information1.
How to Book an Authorisation to Sell Alcohol Course.
- Call us on 01784 434 392 / 0845 602 55 95 (low call rate from a land-line) to book over the telephone. Talk to a member of our professional team of licensing consultants, who will answer your questions promptly and honestly.
What is the Authorisation to Sell Alcohol Induction?
The Authorisation to Sell Alcohol Induction is designed to meet the requirement to train all front-line employees who sell or supply alcohol.
The Licensing Act 2003 requires anyone who sells or supplies alcohol to either hold a personal licence or be authorised by a personal licence holder. Personal licence holders who authorise others to sell alcohol on their behalf, must ensure that those they authorise are suitably trained to ensure they sell alcohol in a lawful and responsible manner.
Once trained and authorised, employees can sell alcohol providing there is a premises licence, club premises certificate or temporary events notice in place which permits such a sale; the personal licence holder does not have to be present at all times unless a condition on their particular licence demands it.
The sale of alcohol without the approved authorisation carries a maximum penalty on conviction of a £20,000 fine and / or 6 months imprisonment.
For more details regarding the personal license please visit our Personal License Information Page or for those requiring the qualification to allow them to apply for a personal licence please visit the BIIAB Level 2 Award for Personal Licence Holders page of our website.
The Authorisation to Sell Alcohol Induction training acts as a safeguard for the premises licence, Designated Premises Supervisor (DPS) and authorising personal licence holder, as it strengthens the defence of due diligence where prosecutions may affect a company's continued operations or lead to individual fines and other penalties attributable under the Licensing Act 2003 and other relevant legislation.
The course is designed to reflect the client’s working environment and premises licence(s), highlighting the responsibilities employees have under the Licensing Act 2003, as well as the specifics of individual premises licences; such as the permitted hours and individual conditions of the licence.
What does the Authorisation to Sell Alcohol Induction Cover?
The Licensing Act 2003 • Licensable activities • Permitted hours • Premises licence conditions • Mandatory conditions • The Designated Premises Supervisor (DPS) • Employee authorisation • Licensing objectives • Responsible alcohol retailing • Protection of children • Age restricted product sales • Age verification procedures • Duty to refuse service • Nature & strength of alcohol • Recognising drunkenness • Smoke free law •
Who should attend the Authorisation to Sell Alcohol Induction?
The Authorisation to Sell Alcohol Induction programme is designed for anyone who sells or supplies alcohol on premises licensed under the Licensing Act 2003.
• Pubs • Bars • Night Clubs • Private Members Clubs • Social Clubs • Licensed Café’s • Hotels • Leisure Centres • Events Companies • Restaurants • Off-Licenses • Licensed Shops • Supermarkets • Internet / Telephone Sale of Alcohol • and many more…
It allows employers, designated premises supervisors (DPS) and personal licence holders the peace of mind to know that employees have been suitably trained to be authorised by a personal licence holder to sell alcohol.
How is the Authorisation to Sell Alcohol Induction assessed?
Beyond the Blue will provide each learner with a quiz. Learners complete the quiz within a week of the course and Beyond the Blue review their responses, provide them with further guidance where required and subject to satisfactory answers being received, award them with their certificate.
The quiz is not an exam or conducted under exam conditions. It relies on honesty and openness both on behalf of the client and the learner; should there ever be a requirement for this induction to act as a safeguard in future prosecutions it will be this integrity which will be tested.
The reason we use a quiz rather than an accredited exam is to ensure this remains a cost effective approach to the authorisation process while maintaining the integrity of training given. It is not a legal requirement for training which enables the authorisation of the sale of alcohol to involve a formal exam.
The quiz is designed to allow learners to demonstrate their understanding of the induction training given by answering 20 questions from the core learning objectives.
How learners find the answers will come in a number of different ways, most will come from the knowledge they gained during the induction, however they can also refer to their notes, the course handouts, the premises licence on display, the internet, licensing manuals or even their supervisors and managers.
We encourage the use of multiple sources of information to complete the quiz as this demonstrates that learners are actively considering their response. The intention of the quiz is not simply to tick a box, but rather to ensure that the vital information any person authorised to sell alcohol requires is learned; if they need to do some research to find out some of the details then that process itself will be part of the learning process and reinforce the core messages.
The quiz is always hand written as this reduces the possibility of staff cutting corners and plagiarising other responses.
How long is the Authorisation to Sell Alcohol Induction valid for?
We suggest to all our clients that when they employ someone for the first time, they train them and authorise them to sell alcohol for an initial 6 month period. Once that period has been completed a short appraisal should be conducted to ensure they still have the relevant knowledge before re-authorising them annually thereafter.
For this purpose we also provide short follow-up quizzes which can be used to reaffirm the learning every time reauthorisation is required. These are sent to the client and the learner completes them in the same way as the initial induction quiz and returns them to us at Beyond the Blue.
We assess the responses to the quiz, provide any guidance which may be required where answers are inaccurate and provide an updated certificate to cover the next 1 year period of authorisation to sell alcohol; providing the quiz is satisfactorily completed.
Who accredits the Authorisation to Sell Alcohol Induction?
The Authorisation to Sell Alcohol is accredited by Beyond the Blue Training & Consultancy and successful learners receive an individually numbered certificate of completion.
The client receives the following for their employee files:
- Copies of the certificate
- Copies of the guidance forms sent to learners highlighting the feedback from their quiz
- The original learner quiz once corrected by our licensing consultants
Authorisation to Sell Alcohol Induction Fees
Fees for the Authorisation to Sell Alcohol Induction are always broken down into 4 sections:
- Preparation of the PowerPoint presentation
£On Demand
- Induction delivery by a Beyond the Blue trainer; where required.
£On Demand
- Induction pack. This includes; course folder & hand-outs, quiz, learner quiz assessment, individually numbered certificate and training records.
£26.50 per learner
- Re-authorisation pack. This includes; Updated hand-outs where required, learner quiz, quiz assessment, individually numbered certificate and training records.
£18.50 per learner
Some fees are only available on demand as they will vary from client to client depending on individual circumstances. Please the Request More Information about this Course form for further details or call one of our licensing consultants on 01784 434 392 for an honest assessment of your requirements.
All fees are exclusive of vat at the current rate.
Why choose Beyond the Blue Training & Consultancy as your training provider?
Beyond the Blue is recognised as a leader in the alcohol and entertainment licensing field both by existing clients and industry bodies alike.
Beyond the Blue is a ‘BIIAB Grade 1 Accredited Training Centre’; the BIIAB describe Grade 1 as ‘demonstrating outstanding quality procedures’.
For more reasons why you should choose Beyond the Blue as your training provider for the please visit:
Download our ‘Training the Licensed Retail Sector’ Information Leaflet (pdf document)
Additional Information
Further information about all our alcohol licensing training & consultancy services is available on this website:
Further information available on this website in the area of Alcohol Licensing:
For further details please Contact Us or call us on 01784 434 392 / 0845 602 55 95 to speak with one of our licensing consultants.
