Put up everything you're legally required to display
A handful of documents have to be physically displayed, or immediately producible, from your first day trading: a summary of your premises licence (if you sell alcohol), your employers’ liability certificate (if you have staff), the HSE health and safety law poster, your food hygiene rating — mandatory display in Scotland under the Food Hygiene Information Scheme (FHIS), voluntary but strongly encouraged in England under FHRS — an allergen information notice, and a Challenge 25 notice if you sell alcohol.
A handful of documents have to be physically displayed, or immediately producible, from your first day trading: a summary of your premises licence (if you sell alcohol), your employers’ liability certificate (if you have staff), the HSE health and safety law poster, your food hygiene rating — mandatory display in Scotland under the Food Hygiene Information Scheme (FHIS), voluntary but strongly encouraged in England under FHRS — an allergen information notice, and a Challenge 25 notice if you sell alcohol. This item pulls every one of those into a single opening-week checklist so nothing gets missed in the rush.
Each of these has its own inspector and its own penalty — trading standards for Challenge 25, the EHO for the hygiene rating and allergen notice, HSE for the law poster, the licensing authority for the licence summary — and a visit in your first week is exactly when a gap gets noticed and written up.
Licence summary, EL certificate, HSE poster, hygiene rating, allergen notice, Challenge 25.
Who this is for
Every venue opening to the public.
Which notices apply depends on whether you sell alcohol, have staff, and which nation you trade in — see the individual items this depends on.
What you’ll hold
- Printed/laminated copies of each required notice, kept up to date as certificates renew
Watch out for
- Displaying an old employers’ liability certificate after renewal — swap it out the day the new one arrives.
- Treating FHIS display as optional in Scotland the way FHRS display is optional in England — in Scotland it is a legal requirement, not a choice.
- Forgetting the Challenge 25 notice because door staff know the policy verbally — inspectors look for the physical sign, not just staff knowledge.
Sources
- HSE — Health and safety law poster checked 2026-09-08
- FSA — Food Hygiene Rating Scheme checked 2026-09-02
- Food Standards Scotland — Food Hygiene Information Scheme (FHIS) business guidance checked 2026-09-08
See also
This is item 47 of 66 in the free UK Launch Checklist. See the whole list →