The Government has legislation in place which allows eligible on-licence and club-licence premises to extend their trading hours using a streamlined process when televising live Rugby World Cup matches from France.
An online form is now available on Business Connect for businesses or clubs to apply to extend their opening hours. The government platform pre-populates the match game times and primary business information. Once the form has been filled in, a notification is automatically directed to the council and local police contact. If licence holders change their plans and decide not to open after having their extended hours approved, they are provided with the relevant police contact details to do so.
The service was set up by the Ministry of Justice and Business Connect with support from Taituarā. We are delighted to see a national process be put in place to streamline and support a council application process.
The Rugby World Cup kicks off on 9 September 2023 and applications need to be sent seven days prior to the game, so the automated process supports the short turnaround time. We encourage councils to put the process up on their websites to direct applicants to this method of filing their application.
Process for applicants using the Business Connect form
- Click Business Connect
- Log in using their RealMe login.
- If they don’t have a RealMe login or if it’s their first time logging onto Business Connect, they will need to verify their email address.
- From the Business Connect dashboard, click the Hospitality tab.
- Click on Rugby World Cup extended trading hours tile and begin the form.
Find out more
More information about the legislation and application requirements from the Ministry of Justice is available below.