The Thurloe Bancroft Openings Report

A weekly record of venues opening, changing hands, and changing what they are licensed for.

Drawn from the public statutory registers maintained by local authorities, weeks before the change is visible on the street. A paid subscription, sold as regional editions.

What the Openings Report is.

The Openings Report is a weekly file covering premises in a defined region that are opening, changing hands, or changing the activities they are licensed for. Every record originates in the public statutory registers maintained by local authorities.

A record reaches the Report in the weeks between an application being made and the venue trading. That is the period in which the operator is still deciding who supplies it.

It is a paid subscription, issued as regional editions. Access is arranged directly, by email, and the first edition is in preparation. There is nothing to sign up to on this page.

What each record gives you.

Every record in the Report carries the following particulars, as they appear in the register.

The premises

The name of the premises and its full address.

What has been applied for

A new licence, a transfer to a new holder, or a variation to an existing licence.

Licensable activities

The activities applied for, including whether alcohol is for consumption on or off the premises.

Proposed hours

The hours applied for, as set out in the application.

Venue type

The category the premises falls into, so a region can be read by the kind of venue rather than as one list.

The consultation deadline

The date published by the licensing authority for representations on the application.

An estimated opening window

A range rather than a single date, derived from the published consultation deadline.

The applicant

The applicant as named on the register.

Location

Coordinates for the premises, so records can be filtered by distance from a depot or a territory rather than by council boundary.

The Report is issued weekly, and each edition covers a defined region.

The weeks before a venue opens.

A premises licence application becomes public when it is submitted to the council. The venue opens some weeks later.

In between, the operator is choosing who supplies it: who fits the kitchen, who delivers the drink, who launders the linen, who insures the building, who prints the menus. Those choices are made once and are rarely revisited afterwards.

Most suppliers hear about a new venue when its doors open, which is after every one of those decisions has been taken. The Report exists to move that moment earlier.

One record, as it appears.

This is the shape of a single entry. The venue below does not exist, and neither does the address.

Illustrative example — not a published record

The Example Arms

New premises licence

Premises
The Example Arms, 14 Example Street, Manchester
Application
New premises licence
Licensable activities
Sale of alcohol for consumption on the premises; late night refreshment; recorded music
Proposed hours
Monday to Thursday 11:00–23:30 · Friday and Saturday 11:00–01:00 · Sunday 12:00–22:30
Venue type
Bar or public house
Consultation deadline
3 September 2026
Estimated opening window
Late October to mid-November 2026
Applicant
Example Hospitality
Licensing authority
Example Borough Council
Location
53.4808, −2.2426

Illustrative example — not a published record

Three things, stated here rather than left to be discovered.

No contact details

Licensing authorities do not publish a telephone number or an email address for an applicant, so the Report does not carry one. It gives the premises, the address, what has been applied for, and who has applied.

Dates are ranges, not fixed dates

Some authorities do not publish the date an application was received. Where an opening window is given it is an estimate derived from the published consultation deadline, and it is presented as a range for that reason.

Not every application becomes a venue

A proportion of applications are withdrawn, refused, or never proceed. The Report records what has been applied for, which is not the same as what will open.

Issued by region.

The Report is issued as regional editions, so that a subscriber receives the territory it serves and nothing beyond it. Further regions are added as coverage is established.

Regional editions
Region Local authorities Status
Greater Manchester Bolton, Bury, Manchester, Oldham, Rochdale, Salford, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, Wigan First edition — in preparation

We do not list a region before it exists. When a further edition is prepared it is added to the table above, and not before.

Access is arranged directly.

Write to us and the reply will set out what the edition covers, when it is issued, and what it costs. There is no form, no account, and nothing to complete online.

charlie@thurloebancroft.co.uk

Request access

There is also a free monthly figure.

The Thurloe Index reports the volume of new venue applications by region each month. It is published without charge, it may be quoted freely with attribution, and it requires nothing of you.

It is a different measure from the Report: the Index counts applications by region, while the Report names the individual premises behind them.

About the Thurloe Index