Most people will have come across the tantalizing words ‘Bottomless Boozy Brunch’ at some point in their dining out lives. But in Scotland these words amount to nothing more than a catchy marketing ploy as no ‘bottomless’ brunch can be truly unlimited.
This is due to legislation from 2010 which amended the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005, the main piece of legislation which governs the sale of alcohol in Scotland. These changes prohibited “irresponsible drinks promotions”.
As a result, a new mandatory condition, which can be accessed here, was applied to all Scottish licences. A drinks promotion can be considered ‘irresponsible’ for many reasons. Examples include:
- Promotions involving alcoholic drinks which are likely to appeal to under 18s
- Giving away alcoholic drinks or measures for free/at a reduced price on the purchase of one or more drinks (alcoholic or not) or measures
- Providing unlimited amounts of alcohol for a set price, including any charge for entry to the premises
- Promotions encouraging someone to buy more alcohol that they might have intended to
- Promotions based on the strength of any alcohol
- Promotions which could be seen to reward or encourage drinking alcohol quickly
- Promotions offering alcohol as a reward or price – this would only be allowed if the alcohol is in a sealed container to be consumed off the premises
‘Bottomless’ brunches clearly fall into the category of providing unlimited amounts of alcohol for a set price so, whilst premises may try to tempt people in with an egg-cellent sounding bottomless offering, in fact, all that will be bottomless is the food - the alcohol can never be endless. So, as long as premises don’t offer unlimited alcohol they can continue their brunch offerings, but would be best placed to steer clear of the word ‘bottomless’.
Contact our Licensing Lawyers
If you require advice on any promotions offered at your premises, get in touch with our expert team of licensing lawyers today. Call us on 0141 333 0636, or fill in our online enquiry form.
