Legal work for hotels, pubs, restaurants, conference centres and leisure venues, and for those who own or operate them. It spans sales and acquisitions of groups or single premises, development and refurbishment, lease negotiations, hotel management and franchise agreements, and regulatory compliance covering food safety, fire and health and safety and alcohol licensing. Solicitors draft sale and purchase agreements, leases and licences, hotel management agreements, security for lenders, apply for premises and personal licences under the Licensing Act 2003 or for temporary event notices, liaise with local planning authorities and register title and charges at HM Land Registry, and represent clients at licensing sub-committee hearings, magistrates’ courts, commercial litigation in the county court or High Court, and regulatory enforcement interactions.
What a solicitor handles in these matters
Practice requires coordinating planning consents, licensing under the Licensing Act 2003, building regulations and the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 with transactional documentation, lender security and landlord covenants. A solicitor manages due diligence, negotiates warranties and indemnities in sale agreements, drafts management and franchise agreements, registers charges at HM Land Registry and handles hearings before local authority licensing committees and civil courts where commercial disputes or enforcement arise.
