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Do I Need a Separate Council Permit for Every Event I Trade At?

by Fay
(Bucks)

Orange catering trailer with side serving hatch at a UK outdoor sporting event

Orange catering trailer with side serving hatch at a UK outdoor sporting event

Hello,

Thank you for letting me use this to ask questions on a pending idea we have to start up a health food mobile unit to go to sporting events, so we will not always be in the same location, it will change the time will change depending on the event, but the one thing I am struggling with is the licences/permits.

From what I have researched and understood I will speak to the council who will come and check the premises (home) where food will be made, and then the vehicle we have to store/sell from.

My only other question is then to be able to turn up at certain events do we need to speak to the council and pay a permit each time as it may only be something every sat or sunday we do at different places. Or once we have a licence from the council that says we are safe to make/produce/sell food/drink from our home and mobile vehicle we are then able to start speaking to individual event companies to see about turning up and having a space for a few hours to give this a go and see the items.

Does anyone know if this sounds about right or am I missing anything on the permit side?

We would be more on events in fields and places like that than on the side of a road if that makes sense and we don't want a permanent pitch.

Any help would be most appreciated,

Thanks
Fay

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Aug 10, 2026
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by: MobCater

Fay, you have got the bones of this right, and the bit that is confusing you catches nearly everyone out, because two completely different things end up getting called the same word.

The first is registration. You register your food business once, with the council where the business is based, which in your case is home. It is free, you do it at least 28 days before you start trading, and they will want to know about your home kitchen, your menu and the unit itself. An EHO will usually come and look at both. That registration is national. You do not re-register every time you cross a county boundary, so you are not ringing round councils before every Saturday.

The second is a street trading licence, and that is where the confusion sits. It only applies when you are trading on a public highway or on land the council controls. Laybys, high streets, seafronts, that sort of thing. If you are in a field at a sporting fixture or on a private showground, you are on private land, and the event organiser's permission is what covers you, not a council consent. So no, you are not paying a fresh permit fee to a different council every weekend.

Where it does come back is when the event itself sits on council owned land, a park or a town square for example. Then the council usually charges a day rate rather than an annual licence, often somewhere between £25 and £60 a day depending on the area. Worth asking the organiser who actually owns the ground before you commit.

What organisers will want is the paperwork, and they ask for the same pack every single time. Public liability insurance, usually £5 million of cover, your gas safety certificate, Level 2 food hygiene certificates, a written risk assessment and your hygiene rating. Scan the lot into one folder on your phone and you can answer an organiser in ten minutes instead of two days. That on its own wins pitches, because organisers book the caterer who replies first.

One caution. Approach organisers six months ahead for anything worth having, and be wary of any event asking for a pitch fee up front from a company you have never heard of. Fake events that take deposits and disappear are a real thing.

Health food at sporting events is a genuinely good niche, Fay. Standard burger vans are fifty to one at events. You are not.

Best wishes

David

Disclaimer: This is general advice for UK mobile catering. Licensing rules vary between councils, so always check with your local authority before you start trading.

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