Roastery premises: planning use, smoke, odor and the lease

A roastery is a small food factory that makes smoke, odor and some noise, uses gas or a lot of electricity, and stores sacks of a combustible product. The wrong unit can cost you months. Most of the risk can be removed with a few conversations before you sign.

Planning use

In England, the Town and Country Planning (Use Classes) Order sets out what a building may be used for. Light industrial processes that can be carried on in a residential area without harming its amenity fall within Class E(g)(iii); general industrial uses are Class B2. Which class your roastery falls into depends on its scale and impact, and the decision is the local planning authority's, not yours or the landlord's.

A small roaster in a unit already used for light industry may need no planning application at all. Adding a flue to the outside of a building, a roastery with a cafe open to the public, or a larger roaster near homes may need permission. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own use class rules.

Smoke and odor

Roasting smells of coffee to you and of burning to a neighbor at seven in the morning. Odor and smoke complaints are handled by the council's environmental health team under statutory nuisance law, and they can require changes or stop the activity. A unit on an industrial estate away from homes is the lowest-risk choice.

Ask environmental health whether they would expect an afterburner or catalytic unit for your roaster at that address, and how high the flue must terminate. Their answer can add five figures to your budget. See afterburners and emissions.

Environmental permits

The Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016 list the activities that need a permit. On our reading of Schedule 1, Section 6.8 (treatment of animal and vegetable matter and food industries), heat processing of vegetable matter is a Part B activity only where it is not an excluded activity, and the manufacture of food for human consumption is defined as excluded. That suggests a typical coffee roastery does not need a Part B permit. This is our reading of the legislation, not legal advice: confirm with your local authority's environmental health or pollution team before you start, and keep their answer on file.

Services: gas, power and a flue route

The lease

Tell the landlord exactly what you will do, including the flue and the roaster's heat. Get written consent for alterations before you install anything, and check the user clause allows roasting. A break clause after two or three years protects you if the business needs a bigger unit sooner than planned, or a smaller one.

Tell your insurer the activity and the fuel. Some insurers ask about chaff collection, extinguishers and how often ducts are cleaned before they quote.

Business rates

Business rates are charged on most non-domestic property. Small business rate relief in England can reduce or remove the bill on a property with a low rateable value. Check the valuation of the unit before you sign, and ask the council about relief.

Food hygiene layout

Your unit is food premises once you register. Plan a flow that keeps green coffee, roasting, cooling, packing and dispatch in a sensible order, with surfaces that can be cleaned, pest-proofing and a handwash basin. The environmental health officer will look at this on their first visit. See registering a food business.