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Register a food business

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Register a food business

Who needs to register?

You must register your business if you are:

  • selling food
  • cooking food
  • storing or handling food
  • preparing food
  • distributing food

You must register:

  • any food business running for 5 or more days, over 5 consecutive weeks
  • at least 28 days before opening

Food businesses with vehicles

If your business uses vehicles and you have a permanent premises (e.g. shop or warehouse), you need to tell us the number of vehicles. You don’t need to register each vehicle separately.

If you have vehicles but no permanent premises, you must tell us where they are normally kept.

Types of premises that may be exempt

You may not have to register your premises if it's:

  • already approved to manufacture animal-based foods
  • an agricultural premises
  • a motorcar
  • a tents or marquee (not stalls) – unless part of a market or to provide food at a festival or similar event
  • domestic premises only used to make food for friends and family
  • a particular kind of village hall

If you have a question about registration, please email [email protected] 

How to register

To register a food business:

  1. Print out the register a food business form (PDF)
  2. Return the completed and signed form to:

Contact Camden
London Borough of Camden
Town Hall
Argyle Street
London
WC1H 8EQ

If you would like a receipt for your registration, include a stamped-addressed envelope.

You must register with the council where your business operates. If you use premises in various areas, you must register with each council separately:

Find your local council at gov.uk

Food safety inspection

Once we receive your registration, we will arrange a food safety inspection of your premises once you open for business. During this visit a risk assessment and rating will be completed.

When carrying out the risk assessment we consider:

  • potential hazards
  • compliance with legislation
  • confidence in management and control systems
  • the significance of risks

Potential hazards are the:

  • types of food involved and the method of handling them
  • the methods of processing and handling food
  • type and number of consumers at risk

Compliance relates to how the food operation is conducted and the physical environment that this takes place in.

All of these categories are given a score rating and this is totalled to determine how often we will inspect the premises.

Change your registration

You need to tell us if you make changes to:

  • who owns the business
  • the nature of the business
  • the address at which moveable premises are kept

We might make changes because of information from someone else. We will give you 28 days’ notice to comment on any proposed changes.

To change your registration, email [email protected]