The complete checklist before opening a food business in the UK

Opening a food business in the UK is exciting, expensive, and unforgiving. The kitchen gets built last; the paperwork gets ignored first. That's the order most people regret. This guide is the checklist we wish every new operator had stuck on the wall four weeks before opening day.

Work top-to-bottom. None of it is optional.

1. Register the food business — at least 28 days before opening

You must register with your local authority at least 28 days before you start trading. It's free, it's done online via your council's website, and it's the single most-forgotten step. No registration means no opening — even if the kitchen is finished and the staff are trained.

If you're operating from more than one site (a kitchen plus a stall, a café plus a delivery hub), each site needs its own registration.

2. Choose and document your food safety management system

Every UK food business must have a written, documented food safety management system. For most small operators that means Safer Food, Better Business (SFBB), the Food Standards Agency's pack for caterers and retailers. Larger or more complex kitchens move to a full HACCP plan.

Either way you need:

• A written plan covering cross-contamination, cleaning, chilling, and cooking.
• Daily diary records — fridge temperatures, deliveries, cleaning sign-offs.
• A way to prove corrective action when something goes wrong.

Paper works. Digital is faster and easier to audit. Whichever you choose, the EHO will ask to see it on day one.

3. Allergen management and Natasha's Law

Since October 2021, any food pre-packed for direct sale (PPDS) — a sandwich made in the morning and sold from a fridge — must carry a full ingredient list with the 14 allergens emphasised. Food made-to-order at the counter has different rules but still needs allergen information available in writing.

Practically:

• Build an allergen matrix for every dish on your menu before you open.
• Train every member of staff to answer "is there nuts in this?" without guessing.
• Print or display allergen information clearly. Verbal-only is not compliant for PPDS.

4. Staff hygiene training

You don't legally need a certificate to work in food, but you do need to be "instructed and supervised commensurate with your work activity." In practice that means every food handler should hold at least Level 2 Food Hygiene before they touch food unsupervised. Supervisors and chefs should hold Level 3.

Online courses are inexpensive and take a few hours. Build a record of who's trained and when — the EHO will ask.

5. Health & safety, fire, and insurance

• Employer's liability insurance — legally required from the moment you hire your first employee. Minimum £5m cover.
• Public liability insurance — not legally required, but no landlord, supplier, or marketplace will work with you without it.
• Fire risk assessment — written, on file, reviewed annually. The fire service can ask to see it.
• Gas safety certificate — every gas appliance, every year, by a Gas Safe engineer.
• PAT testing — electrical equipment, annually for high-use items.

6. Council, planning and licensing

Depending on what you're selling, you may also need:

• Premises licence — if you're selling alcohol, hot food after 11pm, or providing regulated entertainment.
• Personal licence — at least one person on site needs one if you serve alcohol.
• Pavement licence — if you want tables outside.
• Change of use planning permission — if the unit wasn't previously food (A3/A5 in old planning terms, now Class E and sui generis).

Apply for these the day you sign the lease. Some take months.

7. Suppliers, traceability and labelling

Every ingredient that enters your kitchen needs to be traceable to a supplier. Keep delivery notes for 12 months minimum. If something goes wrong with a batch of chicken, you need to know which Tuesday it came in and which dishes it ended up in. This is what saves you in a recall.

8. The day-one EHO inspection

You will not be inspected before you open. You'll be inspected six to twelve weeks after, unannounced. They'll look at:

• Your food safety records (SFBB or HACCP).
• Fridge and freezer temperatures, real-time and logged.
• Hand-washing facilities (separate from prep sinks, soap, towels).
• Pest control records.
• Allergen procedures.
• Staff training records.

Score 5 and put the sticker in the window. Score 2 or below and they'll be back in weeks.

The simplest way to run all of this

Most of this checklist is paperwork — and most of it falls through the cracks because it lives on five different clipboards. A single app for temperature logs, opening checklists, allergen matrices and staff training records means your due diligence is always one tap away when the EHO walks in. That's the whole pitch of Dilagee. Open your business properly, and you only have to do this once.