# Christmas trading checklist for a pub or restaurant: licence, bookings, set menu, rota and tips > 26 steps to get a pub or restaurant ready for December: Temporary Event Notice dates, deposits, set menu allergens, rota rest rules and tips. - Page to cite: https://aeolookup.com/hospitality/christmas-trading-checklist-pub-restaurant/ - Publisher: AEO Lookup (https://aeolookup.com/) - Section: Restaurants, pubs and small hotels, Running the venue - Published 1 October 2026 - Key fact: We wrote this list of 26 steps in 5 stages from the rules set out in 10 of our guides and the official pages each step names. Three of the 26 steps carry a fixed date. The Temporary Event Notice for a party on Saturday 12 December 2026 is due by Friday 27 November, the notice for New Year's Eve by Monday 14 December, and December's tips must reach staff by 31 January 2027. - Sources: Licensing Act 2003; GOV.UK, Temporary Events Notice (England and Wales); Licensing Act 2003, section 107; Licensing Act 2003, sections 100 and 100A; GOV.UK, Temporary Events Notice; Licensing Act 2003, section 193; GOV.UK bank holidays for England and Wales; GOV.UK, Temporary Events Notice (England and Wales); our no-show cost guide; CMA unfair contract terms guidance (CMA37, updated 22 July 2026); Consumer Rights Act 2015, Schedule 2; Consumer Rights Act 2015, Part 2; CMA unfair contract terms guidance (CMA37); CMA unfair contract terms guidance (CMA37); our function enquiry reply and quote template; Consumer Rights Act 2015, Schedule 2; CMA unfair contract terms guidance (CMA37); Zonal and CGA no-show research, September 2021; Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 Annex II as kept in UK law; Food Standards Agency best practice guidance, 24 February 2025; Food Standards Agency allergen guidance for food businesses; Food Information Regulations 2014; our function quote terms; Food Standards Agency guidance on prepacked for direct sale food; Food Standards Agency best practice guidance, 24 February 2025; GOV.UK, Rest breaks at work; GOV.UK, Rest breaks at work: young workers; Night working hours; GOV.UK, Rates and thresholds for employers 2026 to 2027; GOV.UK, Checking a job applicant's right to work; Penalties for employing illegal workers; read 1 October 2026; GOV.UK, National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage rates, read 1 October 2026; Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act 2023 and statutory code of practice; Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024; CMA guidance CMA208; each step names its source, and the linked guide shows the working. December is the month a venue takes the most bookings, runs the latest nights and employs the most temporary staff, and each of those brings a rule with a date on it. This list follows the job in the order it falls due: the licence and any Temporary Event Notice first, then deposits and party bookings, the set menu and its allergen sheet, the rota, and the tips that are paid out in January. It is written for the owner or manager of an independent pub or restaurant in England and Wales, where the Licensing Act 2003 applies. Start it in early November and tick each step as it is done. **Free tool on the page:** Christmas trading checklist for a pub or restaurant. It runs in the browser at https://aeolookup.com/hospitality/christmas-trading-checklist-pub-restaurant/#tool and asks for no sign-up. ## Licence and late nights **Check the premises licence for the hours, activities and area each December event needs.** A Temporary Event Notice covers a licensable activity outside the licence. For a pub that is usually alcohol sold after the last hour on the licence, a bar on land that is not on the plan, or hot food served between 11pm and 5am. Source: Licensing Act 2003; GOV.UK, Temporary Events Notice (England and Wales). The working is in [Temporary Event Notice for a pub](https://aeolookup.com/hospitality/temporary-event-notice-pub-cost-deadline-limits/). **Count the notices and the days already used at the premises this calendar year.** One premises may have 15 notices covering no more than 21 days in a calendar year, and an event that runs past midnight uses two days. A notice given by an outside caterer or a hirer counts against the premises too. Source: Licensing Act 2003, section 107. The working is in [Temporary Event Notice for a pub](https://aeolookup.com/hospitality/temporary-event-notice-pub-cost-deadline-limits/). **Party on Saturday 12 December 2026: give the notice by Friday 27 November.** The council must have the notice at least 10 clear working days before the event, and the fee is £21. A late notice can go in from Monday 30 November to Friday 4 December, but an objection to a late notice ends it with no hearing. Source: Licensing Act 2003, sections 100 and 100A; GOV.UK, Temporary Events Notice. The working is in [Temporary Event Notice for a pub](https://aeolookup.com/hospitality/temporary-event-notice-pub-cost-deadline-limits/). **New Year's Eve: give the notice by Monday 14 December 2026.** Christmas Day and the substitute bank holiday on Monday 28 December are not working days, so the notice has to be in 17 days before the event. An event that ends on 1 January 2027 uses one notice and one day in each year's limit. Source: Licensing Act 2003, section 193; GOV.UK bank holidays for England and Wales. The working is in [Temporary Event Notice for a pub](https://aeolookup.com/hospitality/temporary-event-notice-pub-cost-deadline-limits/). **Keep each notice at the premises during the event and display a copy where it can be seen.** Running the event without a notice is an offence. GOV.UK gives the penalty as a fine, up to 6 months in prison, or both. Source: GOV.UK, Temporary Events Notice (England and Wales). The working is in [Temporary Event Notice for a pub](https://aeolookup.com/hospitality/temporary-event-notice-pub-cost-deadline-limits/). ## Bookings, deposits and no-shows **Write the December deposit list: which party sizes and which nights are asked for a deposit.** Parties of six and up, Friday and Saturday nights, December and set-menu events are where a no-show costs most and where diners expect to be asked. A deposit on a Tuesday table for two costs more in bookings not made than it saves. Source: our no-show cost guide. The working is in [No-show cost calculator](https://aeolookup.com/hospitality/no-show-cost-calculator-restaurant/). **Set the deposit for each head at or below your gross profit for each head.** A fair charge should not exceed what the venue loses. On our example of £32 a head at 65% gross profit, a £10-a-head deposit covers 48% of the loss on a table and stays under the gross profit per head. Source: CMA unfair contract terms guidance (CMA37, updated 22 July 2026); Consumer Rights Act 2015, Schedule 2. The working is in [No-show cost calculator](https://aeolookup.com/hospitality/no-show-cost-calculator-restaurant/). **Show the no-show charge, the amount and when it applies before the booking is made.** A policy the diner was not shown is not agreed. A charge disputed with the card issuer is decided on whether the diner was clearly told, so the booking confirmation that states the policy is the evidence. Source: Consumer Rights Act 2015, Part 2; CMA unfair contract terms guidance (CMA37). The working is in [Can a restaurant charge a no-show fee? What UK law allows, and the four rules that keep the charge](https://aeolookup.com/hospitality/no-show-fee-restaurant-law-uk/). **Waive the charge when the table is re-let, and scale it by how much notice was given.** If the table was filled from the walk-in queue the venue lost nothing to charge for. A sliding scale, nothing with reasonable notice and the full charge on the night, is easier to defend than one flat fee. Source: CMA unfair contract terms guidance (CMA37). The working is in [Can a restaurant charge a no-show fee? What UK law allows, and the four rules that keep the charge](https://aeolookup.com/hospitality/no-show-fee-restaurant-law-uk/). **Answer each party enquiry with a price, the deposit, how long the date is held and the final-numbers date.** Our template holds the date for 7 days and confirms it on deposit. The final-numbers date and the balance date are the same date on purpose, 14 days before the event by default, because one date is kept and two are confused. Source: our function enquiry reply and quote template. The working is in [Function enquiry reply and quote template](https://aeolookup.com/hospitality/function-enquiry-reply-quote-template-venue/). **Write into the party terms that the deposit is returned if the date is re-booked.** A term that lets the trader keep sums paid when the consumer cancels, without the trader having lost anything, is on the Consumer Rights Act list of terms likely to be unfair. The CMA added examples on deposits on 22 July 2026. Source: Consumer Rights Act 2015, Schedule 2; CMA unfair contract terms guidance (CMA37). The working is in [Function enquiry reply and quote template](https://aeolookup.com/hospitality/function-enquiry-reply-quote-template-venue/). **Send a reminder the day before each booking and chase the tables that have not confirmed.** Zonal and CGA found that 36% of diners said a reminder by text, email or app would make them more likely to honour a booking. A reminder costs pennies a booking and is cheaper than any deposit. Source: Zonal and CGA no-show research, September 2021. The working is in [No-show cost calculator](https://aeolookup.com/hospitality/no-show-cost-calculator-restaurant/). ## The set menu and allergens **Make a dated allergen matrix for the Christmas set menu and have the chef sign it.** The matrix has one row for each dish and one column for each of the 14 allergens. Fill every cell from the pack or the supplier's specification sheet, never from memory, and write the name of the cereal or nut in the cell. Source: Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 Annex II as kept in UK law; Food Standards Agency best practice guidance, 24 February 2025. The working is in [Allergen matrix template for a restaurant or pub](https://aeolookup.com/hospitality/allergen-matrix-template-restaurant-pub-14-allergens/). **Put every special and every substitution on the matrix before it goes on the board.** Reported allergen fines of £44,000 to £45,000 in 2025 followed a document that was right once and wrong later, after a supplier or a brand changed. A matrix that was never written was not the pattern. Source: Food Standards Agency allergen guidance for food businesses. The working is in [Natasha's Law for restaurants and pubs](https://aeolookup.com/hospitality/natashas-law-allergen-labelling-restaurants-pubs/). **Ask each party for allergen requirements with the final numbers and confirm in writing what the kitchen can provide.** Allergens at a function are the venue's legal responsibility whatever the host says. Asking with the final numbers makes the information arrive while the kitchen can still act on it, and the written reply is the record. Source: Food Information Regulations 2014; our function quote terms. The working is in [Function enquiry reply and quote template](https://aeolookup.com/hospitality/function-enquiry-reply-quote-template-venue/). **Food packed on site before it is ordered, such as boxed mince pies: label it with full ingredients.** Since 1 October 2021 food packed on the premises before the customer asks for it must carry the name of the food and a full ingredients list with each of the 14 allergens emphasised. Food packed after the order is outside that rule. Source: Food Standards Agency guidance on prepacked for direct sale food. The working is in [Natasha's Law for restaurants and pubs](https://aeolookup.com/hospitality/natashas-law-allergen-labelling-restaurants-pubs/). **Replace every copy of the matrix at once: the pass, the bar, the function folder and the website.** The copy at the pass, the one at the bar and the one on the website must be the same dated document. Copies kept up separately drift apart, and an old version left in a folder is the one a new starter will read from. Source: Food Standards Agency best practice guidance, 24 February 2025. The working is in [Allergen matrix template for a restaurant or pub](https://aeolookup.com/hospitality/allergen-matrix-template-restaurant-pub-14-allergens/). ## Rota and seasonal staff **Check every close-then-open row on the December rota for 11 hours' rest.** An adult who finishes a close at 12:30am should not start again before 11:30am. A late finish under a Temporary Event Notice moves the close, and with it the earliest start next day. Rest that is missed may be owed back as compensatory rest. Source: GOV.UK, Rest breaks at work. The working is in [Pub and bar staff rota template](https://aeolookup.com/hospitality/bar-staff-rota-template-rest-breaks-clopen/). **Staff aged 16 or 17: no work between midnight and 4am, and no more than 8 hours a day or 40 a week.** A worker aged 16 or 17 also gets 12 hours between shifts and a 30-minute break in any shift over 4.5 hours. The daily and weekly limits cannot be averaged, so a long party night cannot be made up later. Source: GOV.UK, Rest breaks at work: young workers; Night working hours. The working is in [Pub and bar staff rota template](https://aeolookup.com/hospitality/bar-staff-rota-template-rest-breaks-clopen/). **Cost the December rota with employer National Insurance, pension and holiday pay added.** Employer National Insurance is 15% of pay above £96 a week, pension 3% of qualifying earnings and holiday accrual 12.07% for irregular hours. Our example rota of 310 hours at £12.71 costs £3,940 gross and £4,906 all-in. Source: GOV.UK, Rates and thresholds for employers 2026 to 2027. The working is in [Rota cost calculator](https://aeolookup.com/hospitality/rota-cost-calculator-hospitality-employer-ni/). **Check each temporary worker's right to work before their first shift and keep a dated copy.** The check must be done before you employ someone. The civil penalty is up to £60,000 for each illegal worker where no correct check was made, and copies are kept during employment and for 2 years after. Source: GOV.UK, Checking a job applicant's right to work; Penalties for employing illegal workers; read 1 October 2026. **Pay every temporary worker at least the minimum wage for their age.** From 1 April 2026 the rates are £12.71 an hour for staff aged 21 and over, £10.85 for 18 to 20 and £8.00 for under 18s. Tips sit outside wages and must not be used to top pay up to the minimum. Source: GOV.UK, National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage rates, read 1 October 2026. The working is in [Rota cost calculator](https://aeolookup.com/hospitality/rota-cost-calculator-hospitality-employer-ni/). ## Tips, reviews and January **Include agency and temporary workers in the tips allocation on the same basis as other staff.** Agency workers are inside the tips law and must be included on the same basis as directly employed staff doing the same work. The written tips policy must be available to them too. Source: Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act 2023 and statutory code of practice. The working is in [The tips law for restaurants and pubs](https://aeolookup.com/hospitality/tips-act-tronc-restaurants-pubs/). **Pay December's tips and service charge to staff in full by 31 January 2027.** Tips must be paid by the end of the month after the month they were received, with no deductions other than tax. Card processing fees, breakages and till shortages cannot come out of them. Source: Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act 2023 and statutory code of practice. The working is in [The tips law for restaurants and pubs](https://aeolookup.com/hospitality/tips-act-tronc-restaurants-pubs/). **Record every tip received in December and how it was allocated to each worker.** The record must be kept for three years from the date the tip was received. A worker may ask to see their own record once in any three-month period and must be given it within four weeks. Source: Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act 2023 and statutory code of practice. The working is in [The tips law for restaurants and pubs](https://aeolookup.com/hospitality/tips-act-tronc-restaurants-pubs/). **Reply to December's reviews without offering anything in return for a changed review.** A discount, free meal or voucher offered in exchange for editing or removing a review makes it an incentivised review, banned under the fake-review rules in force since 6 April 2025, with penalties of up to 10% of global turnover. Source: Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024; CMA guidance CMA208. The working is in [Review reply writer](https://aeolookup.com/hospitality/review-reply-writer-restaurant-google-tripadvisor/). ## How to use the list Keep the finished list with the December file, dated, beside the notices, the signed allergen matrix and the rota as posted. Steps that did not apply this year, such as a Temporary Event Notice when every event sat inside the licence, can be ticked once somebody has checked. In January, add the count of notices and days used in 2026 and the no-show rate for the month, because both are the first things next year's list will ask for. A ticked list is a record that the steps were done, not proof that each was done properly. The list covers the points our guides and the official pages named above set out; it is not every duty a firm has. This page is general information, not legal advice. Overlyft ![](https://aeolookup.com/img/d/ours-badge.png) sets up AI assistants for restaurants, pubs and small hotels: they prepare drafts for a person to approve. They do not tick off any of these steps for you, and you can do every one without them. --- ![](https://aeolookup.com/img/d/owner-line.png) Overlyft: https://overlyft.com/ General information for UK small firms, not legal, tax or financial advice.