Appendix D

Clarification Note

Premises Licence Variation – 83A Montgomery Street, Hove BN3 5BD
Madame Jennifer Distillery
This note is intended to clarify the existing licensed position at 83A Montgomery Street and to explain the scope of the premises licence variation application submitted on 29 January 2026.

1. Licensing history – existing position

The premises at 83A Montgomery Street, Hove BN3 5BD has been licensed by Brighton & Hove City Council since May 2018. In October 2020, the premises licence was varied to allow the inclusion of pre-booked distillery tours, with alcohol consumption permitted only as part of those tours and subject to strict conditions.

The premises has been operating under a premises licence since 2018, and distillery tours have been taking place since 2020. Tours have operated within the terms of the licence and within the existing controls, without any known complaints or enforcement action relating to noise, nuisance, or disruption to neighbouring properties.

2. Current licence permissions

Under the current premises licence, the following activities are authorised.

Sale of alcohol (on and off the premises)

• Monday: 09:00 – 17:00
• Tuesday to Saturday: 09:00 – 21:30
• Sunday: 12:00 – 16:00

Hours the premises are open to the public

• Tuesday to Friday: 14:00 – 21:30
• Saturday to Sunday: 10:00 – 18:00

Nature of on-site alcohol consumption

• Alcohol may be supplied for consumption on the premises only to customers attending a pre-booked distillery tour
• Alcohol is included as part of the tour experience and the ticket price
• There is no bar service, no walk-in drinking, and no pay-as-you-go alcohol consumption

Scale and controls

• A maximum of 10 customers per tour
• No more than one tour taking place at any one time
• All tours and tastings take place entirely inside the distillery premises, within the Poets Corner House building

The licensed operation is therefore small-scale, supervised, and tightly controlled.

3. Application to vary premises licence variation

The application submitted on 29 January 2026 is a variation to the existing premises licence, not a new licence application. The variation seeks to make specific and limited changes, which fall into two main areas:

a) Simplification and alignment of licensed hours

The current licence contains two different sets of hours:

• one for the sale of alcohol, and
• one for hours the premises are open to the public.

The variation seeks to simplify and align these hours, so there is a single, clear and consistent set of permitted hours.

The proposed hours under the variation are:

• Sunday to Thursday: 09:00 – 21:30
• Friday and Saturday: 09:00 – 22:00

These hours would apply to both:

• the sale of alcohol, and
• the premises being open to the public.

This change is intended to improve clarity and consistency, rather than to introduce a new style of operation.

b) Minor amendments to existing licence conditions

The variation also proposes minor wording amendments to existing licence conditions in Annex 2 (General), to clarify the scope of permitted activities.

These amendments relate to:

• the range of alcohol products that may be sold, and
• the inclusion of pre-booked tasting events alongside pre-booked distillery tours.

A table setting out the current wording and proposed wording for each affected condition is provided below for ease of reference.

No other licence conditions are proposed to be changed.

Condition	Current wording	Proposed wording
Annex 2 – General, Condition 1	Sales of alcohol will be limited to Madame Jennifer Distillery Ltd’s own distilled products, exceptions for alcohol as part of a gift set or cocktail-making set.	Sales of alcohol will predominantly be limited to Madame Jennifer Distillery Ltd’s own distilled products, with other independent producers’ products being ancillary to this.
Annex 2 – General, Condition 2	Sale of alcohol for consumption on the premises will only be permitted to customers attending a pre-booked distillery tour.	Sale of alcohol for consumption on the premises will only be permitted to customers attending a pre-booked distillery tour or pre-booked tasting event.
Annex 2 – General, Condition 3	Alcohol provided for consumption on the premises must be included as part of a tour only and included in the price of the tour.	Alcohol provided for consumption on the premises must be included as part of a pre-booked distillery tour or pre-booked tasting event, and included in the price of that tour or tasting event.
Annex 2 – General, Condition 4	There will be no more than 10 customers per tour, and no more than one tour will take place at any one time.	There will be no more than 10 customers per pre-booked distillery tour or pre-booked tasting event, and no more than one such tour or tasting event will take place at any one time.