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Businesses must register with us if they handle food in the course of their business.

We enter your business details on a public register and visit you to discuss what you are doing and look at what facilities you have and what you may need.  

Registration is free and applies to most types of food business, including catering businesses run from home, childminders and mobile or temporary premises, such as stalls and vans. If you use two or more premises, you will need to register all of them.

If food premises are used by several catering businesses (for example, a village hall or conference centre), each person who use the premises must register their business, so there may be several registrations on the same premises.

We strongly recommend if you are starting a food business you contact our office to discuss your proposals with an Environmental Health Officer, and that you look at the Food Standards Agency website on registering and starting a new food business. You will also need to consider what records your business will need to keep, and we recommend you look at the Safer Food Better Business packs available from the Food Standards Agency. 

If you close your food business you should inform us within 28 days.