# Opening a café in the UK: concept, registrations, VAT and pricing

Starting up

Editorial team tischlein · Updated on October 16, 2026

## The short answer

To open a café in England you need a clear concept, premises with passing trade, a registration as a food business with your local council at least 28 days before you open, and allergen information for everything you serve. A café that sells no alcohol and closes before 11pm does not need a premises licence. Watch the VAT rules: food and drink eaten in are standard-rated at 20 percent, and hot takeaway food is too, while cold takeaway food is generally zero-rated.

## Which café concept works?

A café lives on regulars. The concept decides whether they come: specialty coffee with a short menu, breakfast café, bakery café, lunch café or an evening café-bar. Each has its own peak hours, rooms and costs.

Write the concept on one page: guests, offer, price level, opening hours, what makes you different from the three nearest cafés. “Good coffee” is not enough, because every café says it.

A café ticket is small, so you need many guests a day. That makes the location and the opening hours more important than the size of the menu.

## Premises and location

Passing trade is the main location factor. Count passers-by at different times on a weekday and a Saturday, and look at whether offices, colleges, surgeries or housing nearby will fill your café.

Before you sign the lease, check with the planning team whether the premises can be used as a café. A change within one use class needs no application, but a hot food takeaway is a category of its own and local policy can exclude it. Also check toilets, access, ventilation and noise, and ask about outside space.

## Registrations and licences

The steps are nearly always the same. The details differ by council, so the local answer counts.

1. 1 Register your business: Self Assessment with HMRC as a sole trader, or Companies House for a limited company (£100 online).
2. 2 Register as a food business with your local council, online, at least 28 days before you open. Councils say it is free.
3. 3 Set up a documented food safety system based on HACCP and train and supervise your staff; there is no statutory certificate, but you keep training records.
4. 4 Apply for a premises licence only if you sell alcohol, play live or recorded music or serve hot food or drink between 11pm and 5am.
5. 5 If you want tables on the pavement in England, apply for a pavement licence.
6. 6 Register as an employer with HMRC before your first payday if you take on staff.

Playing live or recorded music for guests needs a music licence (TheMusicLicence from PPL PRS); royalty-free music needs none.

## Allergens and the hygiene rating

You must be able to give accurate information on the 14 allergens for every dish and drink you serve. GOV.UK advises keeping it in writing and updating it when a recipe changes. Sandwiches and other food wrapped on site and sold directly need a label with the full ingredients list and the allergens emphasised.

Your council inspects without warning and sends a rating from 0 to 5 within 14 days. Displaying it is voluntary in England and required in Wales and Northern Ireland.

## Pricing and VAT in a café

Food and drink eaten in your café are standard-rated at 20 percent VAT. Hot takeaway food is standard-rated if it is hot when you hand it over and at least one of five tests applies: heated for eating, heated to order, kept hot, in heat-retaining packaging or marketed as hot. Hot takeaway drinks are always standard-rated. Cold takeaway food and drink are generally zero-rated, except items such as crisps, confectionery and some drinks like bottled water.

That means a cold sandwich can be zero-rated to take away but is standard-rated eaten in, while a hot drink is standard-rated either way. Set the VAT rate per item and for eat-in or takeaway in your till, and ask your accountant about your case. Prices on the menu must include VAT. You register for VAT once your taxable turnover goes above £90,000.

Work out the cost of every cup and slice on its net price, not the gross one. The costing tool does it for you.

## Staff and opening hours

A café has two waves: the morning with breakfast and coffee to go, and the afternoon with cake and meeting friends. Plan your rota along the waves, not along the opening hours.

From 1 April 2026 the National Living Wage is £12.71 an hour from age 21 (£10.85 for ages 18 to 20, £8.00 under 18). Tips, gratuities and service charges must be passed on to workers under the Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act 2023. Start with opening hours you can keep and extend them later; guests check hours on Google before they set out.

## Costs

A café needs less kitchen equipment than a restaurant but good coffee and chilled equipment and a reserve for the first months. There is no official benchmark. Our guide to restaurant start-up costs collects the ranges commercial guides publish and the funding available to founders.

## Status and sources

Status 16 October 2026, not legal advice. This guide covers England first; Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland differ. Rates and rules change, so check GOV.UK and your council before you act. Sources:

- GOV.UK: Register a food business (https://www.gov.uk/food-business-registration)
- GOV.UK: Running a food business (https://www.gov.uk/running-food-business)
- GOV.UK: Allergies (running a food business) (https://www.gov.uk/running-food-business/allergies)
- GOV.UK: Food hygiene rating (https://www.gov.uk/running-food-business/food-hygiene-rating)
- GOV.UK: Premises licence (https://www.gov.uk/find-licences/premises-licence)
- GOV.UK: Pavement licences guidance (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pavement-licences-guidance/pavement-licences-guidance)
- GOV.UK: Catering, takeaway food and VAT (VAT Notice 709/1) (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/catering-takeaway-food-and-vat-notice-7091)
- GOV.UK: National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage rates (https://www.gov.uk/national-minimum-wage-rates)

## Website, menu and rota before the first guest

tischlein brings your café online before you have the keys: website with opening hours, a digital menu with allergens and a rota that checks the Working Time Regulations. You tell the chat what you need and check the preview.

New venues get a discount on the plans in the Startup Center at /gruenden.

- [Website →](https://tischlein.pro/en/products/restaurant-website)
- [Menu →](https://tischlein.pro/en/products/digital-menu)
- [Scheduling & time tracking →](https://tischlein.pro/en/products/scheduling-time-tracking)

[Try free for 14 days →](https://app.tischlein.pro/en/signup?country=GB)

## Frequently asked questions

Do I need a licence to open a café in the UK? +

You must register as a food business with your local council at least 28 days before you open. A premises licence is needed only if you sell alcohol, play live or recorded music or serve hot food or drink between 11pm and 5am.

    Is a coffee to take away subject to VAT? +

Yes. Hot takeaway drinks are always standard-rated at 20 percent, and so is a drink you have in. Cold takeaway food and drink are generally zero-rated, with exceptions such as bottled water and confectionery.

    Do I need a food hygiene certificate to run a café? +

No statutory certificate exists. You must make sure staff are trained and supervised for what they do and keep training records. A Level 2 food hygiene course is a common recommendation.

    Can I put chairs outside? +

In England a pavement licence from the council covers tables and chairs on the public pavement. The fee is capped at £500 for a new application and £350 for a renewal.

    How much does a café cost to open? +

There is no official figure, and commercial guides vary widely. Build your own plan from quotes: our guide to restaurant start-up costs lists the items and the ranges published so far.

## Keep reading

- [Startup Center →](https://tischlein.pro/en/start-up)  Starting up with tischlein: discount, tools and guides.
- [Costing for hospitality →](https://tischlein.pro/werkzeuge/kalkulation-gastronomie)  Work out food cost and selling price per cup and slice.
- [Opening a restaurant in the UK: the checklist from concept to first guest →](https://tischlein.pro/en/guides/open-a-restaurant-checklist)
- [What does it cost to open a restaurant in the UK? Start-up costs and funding →](https://tischlein.pro/en/guides/restaurant-startup-costs)
- [Premises licence: when you need one to sell alcohol, play music or serve late-night food →](https://tischlein.pro/en/guides/premises-licence)
- [Glossary: Barista →](https://tischlein.pro/lexikon/barista)
- [Glossary: Wareneinsatz →](https://tischlein.pro/lexikon/wareneinsatz)

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Source: https://tischlein.pro/en/guides/open-a-cafe