It depends on the licence and the council. Salons offering massage, beauty treatments, tanning or skin piercing may need a local licence, and when the business changes hands the new owner usually has to transfer or reapply for it.
In most London boroughs, premises offering treatments such as massage, manicure, beauty treatments, tanning or similar need a special treatment licence from the council. Outside London, councils register skin piercing, tattooing, electrolysis and acupuncture premises and practitioners, and some run their own schemes.
What happens on a sale
Licences belong to a named holder, so a new owner normally applies to transfer them. Southwark Council, for example, requires the new owner to apply for a transfer with a consent form from the existing holder, and charges £132.30. Other councils have their own forms and fees, and some need a fresh application.
In Wales, anyone performing tattooing, semi-permanent make-up, microblading, body or ear piercing, electrolysis or acupuncture needs their own personal special procedure licence, and the premises need an approval certificate. A personal licence stays with the practitioner, so check with the council what a new owner must apply for.
What to do
- List every licence and registration the salon holds, with renewal dates, before you go to market.
- Check your council’s transfer process early, because some decisions take weeks.
- Make the transfer a condition of completion in the sale contract if the salon cannot trade without it.
Rules for non-surgical cosmetic treatments, such as injectables, are also changing, so a buyer of a salon offering them will ask about qualifications and insurance as well as licences.
Sources
- Southwark Council, Transfer a special treatments licence southwark.gov.uk
- Welsh Government, Licensing rules for special procedures gov.wales