Check your alcohol wholesalers are AWRS approved
Any wholesaler you buy alcohol from for onward sale must be registered under HMRC's Alcohol Wholesaler Registration Scheme (AWRS).
Any wholesaler you buy alcohol from for onward sale must be registered under HMRC's Alcohol Wholesaler Registration Scheme (AWRS). Before you place your first order, and then periodically as suppliers change, check each wholesaler's AWRS registration using their Unique Reference Number (URN), which should be shown on their invoices.
It is a criminal offence to buy alcohol for resale from an unregistered wholesaler, and HMRC can seize the stock even if you genuinely didn't know the supplier wasn't approved. This sits on you as the buyer, not just the wholesaler.
Free. You'll need the wholesaler's URN from their invoice or paperwork.
Who this is for
Any venue selling alcohol that buys stock from wholesalers rather than directly from a brewery, retailer, or under a producer's own registration.
Applies to purchases from wholesalers; buying retail quantities from a supermarket or through a producer's own sales isn't covered by AWRS in the same way.
What you’ll hold
- Record of each wholesaler's AWRS URN and the date it was checked
Watch out for
- Checking a new supplier once at the start and never again — registrations can be revoked, so a periodic re-check (e.g. every few months, or whenever an invoice looks different) matters.
- Only checking the "big" suppliers and assuming smaller or one-off wholesalers are fine — the obligation applies regardless of order size.
- Not keeping a record of the check — if HMRC ever asks, being able to show when and how you verified a supplier is your protection.
Sources
- GOV.UK — Check a UK alcohol wholesaler is registered checked 2026-09-02
- GOV.UK — Alcohol Wholesaler Registration Scheme (AWRS) guidance checked 2026-09-02
See also
This is item 5 of 66 in the free UK Launch Checklist. See the whole list →