How much does it cost to open a restaurant in the UK? No UK dataset gives one total, so this guide builds the figure line by line with the official 2026–27 rates: the lease and Stamp Duty Land Tax, planning and the fit-out, licences, staff on the National Living Wage of £12.71 an hour, card fees and software, and what a Start Up Loan can cover. The worked example is one illustrative 50-cover restaurant in England; every input about it is an assumption, so swap in your own quotes.
What the film covers
- The bill arrives before the income
- What the cost of opening a restaurant is made of
- The first-year budget, line by line
- Premises: the lease, the tax on it and the deposit
- Planning, building control and the fit-out
- Licences, registrations and safety duties
- Staff: the weeks before opening and the first full year
- Card fees and the software that runs the room
Questions the film answers
- How much does it cost to start a small restaurant?
No UK dataset gives one answer. For a small restaurant, the lines with an official rate in this guide's 50-cover example come to £7,688.85 to £11,439.23 before rent, fit-out, equipment, insurance and stock, plus year-one wages that start at £215,968.08 for eight minimum-wage staff. Fewer staff and less kit reduce that, but only quotes fix the rest.
- How much money does it take to start a restaurant in the UK?
It takes enough to cover the lease costs, the fit-out and equipment, the pre-opening payroll and a cushion of trading weeks below break-even. Published totals vary enormously and cite no dataset, so build the figure from quotes and the official rates. The Start Up Loan, at up to £25,000, funds part of an opening and not the whole.
- Do I need planning permission if the unit was already a restaurant?
A move within Class E should not need an application for the use itself, and Class E(b) covers food and drink mostly consumed on the premises. A change of use from another class is charged at £610 from 1 April 2026. Pubs and hot food takeaways are outside any class, so confirm the unit's use with the council before signing.
- What do the premises licence and personal licence cost?
The Licensing Act 2003 (Fees) Regulations 2005 give application fees from £100 to £635 and annual fees from £70 to £350, set by rateable value band. A personal licence is £37. GOV.UK still names those Regulations as the fee rules, but check the council's own fee page, and remember the licensing qualification is a separate cost.
- Do I pay stamp duty on a restaurant lease?
Possibly. SDLT applies to a new non-residential lease on any premium and on the net present value of the rent above £150,000, at 1% on the portion up to £5,000,000. The worked example's £2,500 is an upper bound on assumed rent of £40,000 a year for ten years; use HMRC's calculator for the real figure.
- Can a Start Up Loan cover the cost of opening a restaurant?
It can cover part. The scheme lends up to £25,000 at a fixed 7.5% over one to five years, subject to status, and the average loan is £10,264. On £25,000 over five years the repayment is about £500.95 a month. That is about six weeks of the example's wage floor, so most openings need other funds.