Health and fashion businesses must comply with the following legislation. This is not an exhaustive list, and legal advice should always be taken before making any business decisions.

Licensing consents

  • The Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982 provides local authorities outside London with the power to create by-laws requiring hairdressers and providers of certain beauty and health treatments to apply for ‘massage and special treatments’ licences. In London, this is covered by the London Local Authorities Act 1991; in Scotland, by the Local Government in Scotland Act 2003; and in Northern Ireland, by the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Northern Ireland) Order 1985.

See also: Keeping your leisure and sport business legal


  • The Copyright, Design and Patents Act 1988 requires business owners to obtain consent before playing copyright-protected music in public, for example, background music during a wellbeing class. In practice, this means obtaining licences from collecting societies PRS for Music and PPL.
  • The Town and Country Planning Act 1990 and the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) Order 2015 set out which ‘changes of use’ of property require planning permission.

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