Guide · New business · FHRS
A new kitchen does not ease in. Register, and your first inspection and published rating can land within weeks of opening - to the same standard as anyone else. Here is what it checks.
The short answer
A new food business does not ease in. Register with your local authority, and your first inspection - and your first published hygiene rating - can come within weeks of opening, often unannounced. The standard expected is the same as for an established kitchen.
The good news is that the officer is there to help you get it right, and every business can reach a 5. But the first visit sets the rating customers and delivery platforms see, so it pays to be ready from the day you open rather than treating the inspection as a later milestone.
Before you open
You must register your food business with the local authority at least 28 days before you start trading. Registration is free, cannot be refused, and only needs doing once unless the business changes. You can begin trading as soon as you are registered - you do not have to wait for the inspection - but failing to register at all is itself a mark against you, because it lowers confidence in management before the officer has even seen the kitchen.
For premises open to the public, the first inspection is unannounced and can come from your first day of trading to roughly a month in. Home-based businesses are different - the officer arranges an appointment because they cannot turn up to a private home unannounced. Either way, the visit assesses the same three areas and assigns your first rating based on what is found on the day.
On the day
The officer checks the same three areas as any inspection: how hygienically you handle food, the cleanliness and condition of the premises and equipment, and your confidence in management - your documented system, records and trained staff. On a brand-new fit-out the structure should be in good order, so the early marks are often lost on the things a busy opening overlooks: a food safety system that is registered but not yet personalised and in use, thin training records, no temperature logs yet, or a kitchen already gathering grease and soil because cleaning routines have not bedded in.
A new kitchen is also the best possible moment to set a cleaning baseline you can hold. Starting from a professionally cleaned, documented baseline - canopy and extraction included, with the certificate on file - means your first rating is built on a kitchen that is genuinely in control, and your records have something real to track from day one. It is far easier to maintain a 5 from a clean start than to claw one back after a soft opening. Get registered, get your system in use, and open from a baseline you can prove.
Questions
At least 28 days before you start trading. Registration with your local authority is free, cannot be refused, and only needs doing once unless the business changes. You can trade once registered, without waiting for the inspection.
For premises open to the public it is unannounced and can come from your first day of trading to roughly a month in. Home-based businesses get an appointment instead, because an officer cannot visit a private home unannounced.
Yes. Not registering is itself a mark against confidence in management, before the officer has even inspected the kitchen. Register first - it is both the law and the first thing that builds confidence.
The same three areas as any inspection: hygienic food handling, the cleanliness and condition of the premises, and confidence in management - your documented system, records and trained staff. Your first rating is based on what is found on the day.
On a new fit-out the structure is usually sound, so early marks tend to go on a food safety system that is registered but not yet in use, thin training records, missing temperature logs, or grease and soil building up before cleaning routines have bedded in.
Setting a professional baseline - extraction and canopy included, with the certificate on file - means your first inspection starts from a kitchen that is genuinely in control, and gives your records something real to track from day one.
Phoenix Duct Clean · by the numbers
Start from a documented deep-clean baseline - extraction and canopy included, certificate on file - so your first inspection begins from a kitchen in control. Ask for a quote.