How to start a private members club in the UK

To start a private members club in the UK, first decide who will own it: the members, or you and your investors. That choice sets the alcohol licence you apply for, how the club is governed and what the membership rules must say. After that come the steps any new venue takes, such as registering the food business and buying insurance, plus the systems for applications, member records and billing that need to work before the first applicant arrives.

This guide covers England and Wales, where alcohol licensing falls under the Licensing Act 2003, whose licensing regime has applied since November 2005. Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own laws, the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005 and, for registered clubs, the Registration of Clubs (Northern Ireland) Order 1996, so check the local rules there.

Members' club or proprietary club?

In licensing law the word club covers two different businesses. A members' club belongs to its members. They elect a committee, the committee runs the club, and any surplus goes back into the club. A proprietary club is owned by an individual, a partnership or a company that runs it commercially for profit, and members pay to use it without owning any part of it.

A club opened by an entrepreneur, a hospitality group or a property developer, with owners who expect a return, is a proprietary club. That is a perfectly normal way to run a club, but it closes off the licensing route designed for members' clubs. The Home Office guidance issued under section 182 of the Act says proprietary clubs require a premises licence and are not qualifying clubs.

Which licence does a private members club need?

A proprietary club needs a premises licence from the licensing authority at the local council, the same type of licence a bar or restaurant holds. Where the licence covers alcohol, section 19 of the Act requires a designated premises supervisor who holds a personal licence, and every supply of alcohol must be made or authorised by a personal licence holder. The same premises licence can also cover regulated entertainment and late night refreshment.

A members' club can apply for a club premises certificate instead, provided it is a qualifying club. Sections 62 and 64 of the Act set the conditions for a club that wants its certificate to cover alcohol:

• It has at least 25 members.
• Its rules require an interval of at least two days between a person's nomination or application for membership and their admission.
• It is established and conducted in good faith as a club.
• Alcohol is supplied to members on the premises only by or on behalf of the club.
• Unless the members as a whole manage it, the purchase and supply of alcohol is run by a committee of members aged 18 or over, elected by the members.
• Nobody receives a commission or any other personal benefit from the club's alcohol purchases or sales, apart from benefits to the club as a whole.

A certificate lets the club supply alcohol to members and sell it to their guests without any member or employee holding a personal licence. In return the club has to stay a genuine club. The section 182 guidance says a club that ends up providing commercial services to the general public is no longer conducted in good faith, and that the licensing authority must then give notice withdrawing the certificate.

What should the membership rules say?

Write the rules before you sell a single membership, because the licence application, the application form and the member contract all depend on them. A members' club sends its rules with its application for a club premises certificate, and the guidance says a certificate shouldn't be granted if the rules show the club doesn't qualify. For a proprietary club the rules form part of a consumer contract: the Consumer Rights Act 2015 requires written terms to be transparent, and an unfair term isn't binding on the member. At minimum, the rules should cover:

• Who can join, how applications are proposed and reviewed, and how admission works
• Membership categories, joining fees, subscription rates and when they are billed
• Renewal, cancellation, refunds and what happens when a payment fails
• How many guests a member can bring and who is responsible for them
• Conduct, dress code, and rules on phones and photography
• Suspension, expulsion and how a member can appeal
• How member data is used, with a link to the privacy notice

Pricing needs its own planning, and our guides to joining fees and annual subscriptions and to pricing membership tiers go through the options.

Registrations and insurance to sort out before opening

Settle the legal entity early. The lease, bank account, payment processing, licence application and insurance all need its name, and changing it later means repeating paperwork. Then work through the registrations that apply to any hospitality venue:

• Register the food business with your local authority at least 28 days before you start trading. The Food Standards Agency says registration is free and can't be refused.
• Get TheMusicLicence from PPL PRS if you play live or recorded music in public. Royalty-free music doesn't need one.
• Pay the ICO data protection fee unless you are exempt, and publish a privacy notice that covers members, applicants and guests.
• Take out employers' liability insurance as soon as you employ anyone. It must come from an authorised insurer and cover at least £5 million, and you can be fined £2,500 for every day you aren't properly insured.

A broker can advise on the other cover your lease and activities call for, such as public liability, property and business interruption insurance.

How many members can the club hold?

Membership numbers decide revenue, and space decides how many members can use the club at once. Estimate how often a typical member will visit and compare that with the seats, rooms and staff you have at busy times. Say you plan for 600 members who each visit twice a month. That's 1,200 visits a month, or about 40 a day over 30 days, and those visits won't be spread evenly across the week.

You can offer founding members a lower joining fee or a fixed rate for their first years in return for joining before the doors open. A capped founding list, followed by a waiting list, lets the club fill steadily without overloading it in the first month.

Systems to have in place on day one

Even a small club needs somewhere to hold applications, member records and payment details, plus a way to bill subscriptions, check members in, record guests and take payments at the bar, whether members pay as they go, run a tab or spend prepaid credit. Each of those should read from the same member record, so reception, the bar and the membership team all see the same status. Test the full sequence with a few friendly applicants before launch: apply, get approved, pay, receive a membership card, arrive with a guest and buy a drink.

Running the club on Tiquo

Tiquo keeps member profiles, membership billing, digital membership cards in Apple Wallet and Google Wallet, front-desk check-in and payments at the bar in one system. A membership plan can be public, with a signup page embedded on your website, or kept private and assigned by staff once the committee approves an applicant, and a company membership passes to the people linked to that company. The memberships page shows how plans connect to bookings and payments.

This is general information about the law in England and Wales in May 2026. Check the current section 182 guidance and your licensing authority's policy, or take legal advice, before you apply.