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Glossary
Glossary for restaurants, pubs and small hotels: 14 terms in plain English
Each definition is taken from one of our guides, which gives the rule in full and where it comes from. The terms are in alphabetical order.
All-in rota cost
What a rota costs once employer National Insurance, pension and holiday accrual are added to the hourly pay. A 310-hour rota at the £12.71 National Living Wage costs £3,940 gross and £4,906 all-in, 24% on top of the hourly rate.
Source: Our own arithmetic, in tests/covers/tools-check.txt; GOV.UK rates and thresholds for employers 2026 to 2027
Daily rest
The 11 hours' rest an adult worker is entitled to between working days. Bar staff who finish a close at 12:30am should not start again before 11:30am. A worker aged 16 or 17 gets 12 hours between shifts.
Source: GOV.UK, Rest breaks at work
Final-numbers date
The date in a function booking by which the customer confirms how many guests are coming. In our template numbers may fall 10% before that date without charge, and a late cancellation is charged at confirmed numbers less the food and drink not bought.
Source: Our own template, written against the CMA's unfair contract terms guidance
Food hygiene rating appeal
A written challenge to a food hygiene rating that was wrong on the day. It must be made within 21 days of being told the rating, weekends and public holidays included, and the result comes within 21 days from an officer who did not give the rating.
Source: Food Standards Agency, Food Hygiene Rating Scheme guidance for businesses (updated 30 June 2026)
Gross profit (GP) on a dish
What is left of the menu price after VAT and ingredients, as a percentage of the price without VAT. A dish with £4.20 of ingredients at £16.50 leaves £13.75 after 20% VAT and makes £9.55, which is 69.5%. Leaving the VAT in gives 74.5%, which is wrong.
Free tool: Menu GP calculator: gross profit on a dish after VAT, and the price that hits your target
Source: Our own arithmetic, in tests/covers/tools-check.txt
Late Temporary Event Notice
A Temporary Event Notice given between 9 and 5 clear working days before the event. The fee is the same £21. The difference is what follows an objection: a standard notice gets a council hearing, but an objection to a late notice from the police or environmental health ends it and the event cannot go ahead.
Source: GOV.UK, Temporary Events Notice
No-show
A booked table whose party does not arrive or cancel. For a venue taking 180 bookings a week with an 8% no-show rate, parties of three spending £32 a head at 65% gross profit and a quarter of tables re-filled, the lost gross profit is £35,044 a year.
Source: Our own arithmetic, in tests/covers/tools-check.txt
No-show fee
A charge for a booking that is not kept. The CMA's unfair contract terms guidance, updated on 22 July 2026, tests whether the charge reflects the trader's actual loss and was agreed before the booking. A £10-a-head deposit that stays under the gross profit per head respects that ceiling.
Source: CMA unfair contract terms guidance (updated 22 July 2026); Consumer Rights Act 2015
Prepacked for direct sale (PPDS)
Food packed on the same premises it is sold from, before the customer asks for it, such as the sandwiches in the chiller. Since 1 October 2021 it must carry a label with the name of the food and a full ingredients list, with each of the 14 allergens emphasised. A plate cooked to order is not PPDS.
Source: Food Standards Agency allergen labelling guidance for prepacked for direct sale food
Qualifying tips
The tips, gratuities and service charges an employer receives or controls, including card tips and service charges added to the bill. The employer must pass on 100% of them with no deductions but tax, by the end of the month after the month they were received. Cash a waiter is handed and keeps is outside the Act.
Source: Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act 2023; statutory code of practice
Re-rating inspection
A fresh inspection a food business can ask for once it accepts its rating and has made every improvement asked for. The new rating can be higher, lower or the same. It is the route when the faults were real and are now fixed; an appeal is for a rating that was wrong.
Source: Food Standards Agency, Food Hygiene Rating Scheme guidance for businesses (updated 30 June 2026)
Small business hospitality multiplier
The lower business rates multiplier for smaller retail, hospitality and leisure properties in England, 38.2p in 2026/27. It replaced the 40% relief that ended on 1 April 2026. A pub with a £40,000 rateable value pays £15,280 before other reliefs, £3,304 more than the year before.
Source: Billing authorities' 2026/27 multiplier pages; GOV.UK business rates guidance
Temporary Event Notice (TEN)
The notice a venue gives the council to hold a licensable event its premises licence does not cover. It costs £21 and must arrive at least 10 clear working days before the event. One premises may have 15 notices covering no more than 21 days in a calendar year, and the longest single event is 168 hours.
Source: GOV.UK, Temporary Events Notice; Licensing Act 2003
Tronc
An arrangement in which someone other than the employer, the troncmaster, decides how tips are shared. The Tips Act allows an employer to meet its duties through an independent tronc operator, provided the arrangement is fair and the operator is independent in fact. The written policy and the records stay with the employer.
Source: Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act 2023; statutory Code of Practice on Fair and Transparent Distribution of Tips
AEO Lookup editorial team
We write practical guides for people who run small UK firms, and we check every fact against its source on the date shown. Read how we review, or tell us if something has changed.