Licensing & Gambling

Three Raymond Buildings provides market-leading expertise in licensing law. With decades of experience, we offer a depth of knowledge and advocacy unmatched at the Bar.

Our barristers have appeared in many of the most significant cases before licensing committees, the Gambling Commission, the Magistrates’ Court, the Crown Court, the High Court, the Court of Appeal and specialist tribunals. We advise and represent all participants, including licensing authorities, the , police forces, corporate operators, individual licence holders, residents and trade associations. Our clients include many of the UK’s leading pub, bar, restaurant, hotel, terrestrial casino, betting and online gambling operators.

Licensing and gambling law sit within a wider regulatory landscape that includes health and safety, food safety, corporate governance, financial regulation and criminal enforcement. Our barristers combine leading expertise in all of these areas , enabling us to provide strategic advice on compliance, risk management, regulatory investigations and enforcement action. We regularly appear in licensing appeals, judicial review proceedings, inquests and public inquiries, and have been involved in many of the landmark cases that have shaped modern licensing and gambling law.

Areas of Expertise

• Alcohol & Entertainment Licensing
• Gambling Law
• Security Industry Regulation
• Taxi & Private Hire Vehicle Licensing
• Sporting Venues & Infrastructure

In addition, we deliver bespoke training on all aspects of licensing and gambling law and interrelated areas, tailored to the needs of our clients.

To discuss counsel availability or how we can assist, please contact our clerking team who are able to manage instructions with discretion and efficiency.

Representative Work

Pubs / Restaurants

• Bills
• Bocco di Lupo
• Bulbul
• Creative Restaurant Group (Niju)
• Côte
• Endo at the Rotunda
• Green King
• J Sheekey
• JD Wetherspoon
• Le Caprice
• MIA Restaurant
• Murano Covent Garden
• Murano Mayfair
• Nusr-Et
• Pickle Factory
• Punch Taverns
• Raffles London
• Rochelle Canteen
• Secret Cinema
• Sexy Fish Manchester
• Sushi Samba Covent Garden
• The Ivy Collection
• The Trafalgar, Greenwich
• The Wolseley Group (Manzi’s)

Festivals / Music & Multi-Purpose Events

• Boomtown Fair
• Hyde Park Olympic Events
• Hyde Park Summer Festival
• Natural History Museum
• Notting Hill Carnival
• O2 Brixton Academy
• Royal Parks Events
• St James Park Stadium Newcastle
• The London Stadium
• WOMAD Festival

Nightclubs / Private Members’ Clubs

• Annabel’s
• George Mayfair
• Harry’s Bar Mayfair
• Humo
• Kensington Roof Gardens
• Kinz
• Kioku at Raffles London at The OWO
• Madame JoJo’s
• Maison Estelle
• Soho House Group

Hotels

• Art’otel Hoxton
• Hotel Indigo Torquay
• Rosewood London
• The Chancery Rosewood
• The Ritz

Gambling

• Aspers Casino
• Genting Casinos
• Grosvenor Casinos
• Merkur Casinos / Merkur Slots UK
• The Gambling Commission
• The Trocadero

Judicial Review

• R (on the application of Borwork) v London Borough of Newham [2005] EWHC 3450 (Admin)
  Acting for a licensing authority in a judicial review concerning the extent to which a premises licence may have lapsed by reason of insolvency during the transitional period under the Licensing Act 2003.
• R (on the application of JD Wetherspoon plc) v Guildford Borough Council [2006] EWHC 215 (Admin)
  First judicial review concerning the implementation of cumulative impact policies by licensing authorities.
• R (on the application of Gala Casinos Ltd) v Beacon Casino and the Northampton Betting and Gaming Justices [2007] EWHC 2185 (Admin)
  Representing an interested party in a judicial review concerning the exercise of discretion under the Gaming Act 1968.
• R (on the application of 4Wins Leisure Ltd) v Blackpool District Council [2007] EWHC 2213 (Admin)
  Judicial review concerning the extent to which local authorities have a discretion to accept representations to licensing applications from local businesses and residents in the vicinity of the premises.
• R (on the application of Proud) v Buckingham Pubwatch Scheme [2008] EWHC 2224 (Admin)
  Established that decisions of unincorporated private bodies with links to public authorities may be susceptible to judicial review.
• R (on the application of TC Projects Ltd) v Newcastle Licensing Justices [2008] EWCA Civ 428
  Representing three of the UK’s largest casino operators in a landmark Gaming Act 1968 case concerning the exercise of discretion by licensing authorities and appellate courts.
• Luminar Leisure v Wakefield Magistrates’ Court [2008] EWHC 1002 (Admin)
  Case stated concerning the exercise of a district judge’s discretion in cumulative impact licensing cases.
• R (on the application of Boyle) v Haverhill PubWatch [2009] EWHC 2441 (Admin)
  Administrative Court ruling concerning the extent to which the actions of private societies of publicans may be susceptible to judicial review.
• R (on the application of Prassanan) v West London Magistrates’ Court (2010) High Court (Admin) (unreported)
  Administrative Court ruling on the powers of appellate tribunals to award costs in licensing cases.
• R (Clockfair Ltd) v Sandwell Borough Council [2012] EWHC 1857 (Admin)
  Representing an interested party in a judicial review concerning the power of licensing authorities to correct historical errors in decision-making through the licensing review procedure.
• R (on the application of Mawusi) v Cambridge City Council, Cambridge Constabulary and Cambridge Business Against Crime
  Representing a private business association at the permission stage of a judicial review concerning the rights of businesses to regulate individuals on their premises and associated data protection issues.
• R (Qin) v Metropolitan Police [2017] EWHC 2750 (Admin)
  Representing the Metropolitan Police in two judicial reviews and an appeal by case stated concerning compensation for premises affected by closure notices and the consequences of procedural non-compliance.
• Walksafe Security Services Ltd v London Borough of Lewisham [2024] EWHC 1787 (Admin)
  Represented a London local authority in a judicial review successfully resisting a challenge to the lawfulness of remote licensing hearings, a case with national significance for licensing authority procedures.