Tax year: 2026/27 | Published: 21 September 2026 | Regulatory position checked: September 2026 | Written by the Epiclectic Editorial Team | Tax section reviewed by Shamayun Chowdhury

How to Start an Aesthetics Business in the UK (2026): Law, Licensing, Costs and VAT

Quick answer

To start an aesthetics business in the UK, you need accredited training for every treatment you offer, suitable insurance, premises that meet any local licensing or registration rules, and a business set up with HMRC. Prescription-only treatments such as botulinum toxin also need a prescriber who sees each client face to face. England’s national licensing scheme is planned but not yet in force; Scotland has already passed its own law.

Why trust this guide

Law and proposals are kept separate. Many pages ranking for this topic describe planned rules as if they were already law. Every regulatory point below is labelled “in force” or “proposed” and dated.
Primary sources only for regulation. Legislation, GOV.UK, the House of Commons Library, the Scottish Parliament, the Welsh Government and the professional regulators — not training providers or software vendors with something to sell.
Accountant review of the money section. Business structure, VAT and tax were reviewed by a practising UK accountant.
No clinical advice. This guide covers the business and legal side. How to perform treatments is a matter for accredited training and your professional regulator.
Independent. Epiclectic does not sell aesthetics training, products, insurance or software, and receives nothing from any organisation named here.

1. What counts as an aesthetics business

An aesthetics business provides non-surgical cosmetic treatments: procedures intended to change how someone looks without the cuts and stitches of cosmetic surgery. At one end sit skin treatments such as superficial peels and microneedling. At the other are injectables such as botulinum toxin and dermal fillers, along with thread lifts, laser resurfacing and deeper chemical peels.

That range matters more than anything else you decide, because your treatment menu sets almost every other requirement: who is allowed to perform each treatment, whether a prescriber is needed, which premises rules apply, what insurance costs, how you can advertise and how VAT works. Two businesses both calling themselves “aesthetics clinics” can face entirely different legal obligations.

A practical way to start is to write down the exact treatments you intend to offer in your first year, then check each against the rules in the next section. Adding treatments later is common, but each addition can bring new training, insurance and regulatory requirements.

2. The law right now: what’s in force vs what’s proposed (September 2026)

This is where most confusion starts. Across the UK, some rules have applied for years, one nation has passed a new law that is not yet fully in effect, and England has a detailed plan that is still not law. Treating a proposal as current law, or ignoring a rule that already applies, are both expensive mistakes.

Rules already in force in England

Rule	What it means for your business	In force since
Botulinum toxin is a prescription-only medicine	Every course of treatment needs a prescription from a qualified prescriber. Doctors, dentists and pharmacist prescribers were already barred from remote prescribing for cosmetic use; nurse and midwife prescribers must now consult each client face to face before prescribing, with no phone, video or online prescribing, including for top-ups.	Nurse and midwife face-to-face requirement: 1 June 2025
Under-18 ban on botulinum toxin and injected fillers	It is a criminal offence to give these treatments for a cosmetic purpose to anyone under 18 in England, and a separate offence for a business to arrange or book them. Limited exceptions apply where a doctor is involved.	1 October 2021
CQC registration for cosmetic surgery	The Care Quality Commission regulates cosmetic procedures where instruments are inserted into the body. It does not regulate botulinum toxin, facial dermal fillers, chemical peels or laser hair removal. It does treat large-volume filler injected into the breasts or buttocks through a cannula by a healthcare professional as a surgical procedure.	Long-standing
London special treatment licence	Most London boroughs require premises offering treatments such as lasers, IPL, electrolysis, micropigmentation or massage to hold a licence from the council. Premises where treatment is given by or under the supervision of a GMC-registered doctor, or by members of certain exempt health bodies, can be exempt.	London Local Authorities Act 1991
Skin-piercing registration outside London	Many councils require registration of the practitioner and premises for treatments such as semi-permanent make-up, acupuncture, electrolysis and cosmetic piercing. Requirements vary by council, so contact your council’s licensing or environmental health team before opening.	Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982, where adopted

England’s proposed licensing scheme: the three tiers

The Health and Care Act 2022 gave the government power to create a licensing scheme for non-surgical cosmetic procedures. The Department of Health and Social Care consulted in 2023 and published its response in August 2025, setting out a traffic-light model. None of the tiers below is law yet. The government has said it will deal with the highest-risk procedures first, and further consultation on that stage was planned for 2026. It has not given a date for the wider licensing scheme.

RED TIER · PROPOSED

Highest risk

Examples proposed: all thread lifts, augmenting the breasts, buttocks or genitals with fillers or the client’s own fat, and lasers targeting deeper skin layers.

Who could perform: suitably qualified regulated healthcare professionals only, working for CQC-registered providers. Outside the local licensing scheme.

AMBER TIER · PROPOSED

Medium risk

Commonly expected to include injectables such as botulinum toxin and facial dermal fillers. The final list is still to be confirmed.

Who could perform: licensed practitioners. Non-healthcare practitioners would need oversight from a named regulated healthcare professional. Licensed by local authorities.

GREEN TIER · PROPOSED

Lowest risk

Examples proposed include microneedling, superficial chemical peels, IPL and LED therapies, and non-ablative laser hair removal.

Who could perform: any licensed practitioner who meets the agreed standards. Both the practitioner and the premises would need a licence from the local authority.

The same plans include an age restriction for licensed procedures, with limited exceptions under medical oversight. Until regulations are made, the rules in the “in force” table above are the ones that apply.

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are different

Health regulation is devolved, so the rules depend on where your premises are. Two nations have moved faster than England:

SCOTLAND · LAW PASSED

New act, transition to at least September 2027

The Scottish Parliament passed the Non-surgical Procedures and Functions of Medical Reviewers (Scotland) Bill in March 2026. Procedures that pierce or penetrate the skin, including botulinum toxin and fillers, will have to take place in registered premises where services are provided or managed by specified healthcare professionals, and under-18s cannot receive them. Healthcare Improvement Scotland gains inspection powers. Businesses have at least until September 2027 to adapt.

WALES · IN FORCE

Special procedures licensing since 29 November 2024

Practitioners of acupuncture, body piercing, electrolysis and tattooing (including semi-permanent make-up and microblading) need a personal licence, and their premises or vehicles need an approval certificate. The scheme does not currently cover injectables, but it applies to many businesses that combine aesthetics with these services.

NORTHERN IRELAND · CHECK LOCALLY

Separate arrangements

Northern Ireland has its own framework and is not covered by England’s proposals or Scotland’s act. Speak to your local council’s environmental health team before opening, and follow your professional regulator’s guidance on prescribing.

Editor’s note: if you read that “the licensing scheme started in 2026”, check the source. In England, the scheme is policy, not law, as of September 2026. The two places where new rules genuinely apply are Scotland, where the law has passed with a transition period, and Wales, whose scheme covers a narrower set of procedures.

3. Who can offer which treatments

Your professional background decides which treatments you can offer, how independently you can work and how your business needs to be arranged. The law in England today is narrower than many people assume, while voluntary registers, insurers and training bodies are often stricter than the law. The three routes below reflect the position in England in September 2026. Scotland’s new act will change the picture there once it takes effect.

ROUTE 1

Healthcare professional who can prescribe

Doctors, dentists, and nurses or pharmacists with an independent prescribing qualification.

Can assess, prescribe and treat, provided each client is seen face to face
Remains bound by their own regulator’s standards in every setting, including private aesthetics work
Can later act as the prescriber for other practitioners, taking on professional responsibility for those prescribing decisions

ROUTE 2

Healthcare professional who cannot prescribe

For example, registered nurses without a prescribing qualification, or other registered clinicians.

Can administer prescription-only treatments once a prescriber has assessed the client in person and prescribed for them
Needs a reliable arrangement with a prescriber, which became more demanding after remote prescribing was stopped
Eligible for the injectables sections of voluntary registers restricted to healthcare professionals

ROUTE 3

Non-medical practitioner

Beauty therapists and aesthetic practitioners without a statutory healthcare registration.

No law in England currently bars them from all injectable treatments, but prescription-only medicines still need a prescriber’s face-to-face assessment for each client
Many insurers and voluntary registers restrict injectables to healthcare professionals
Most exposed to future change: England’s amber tier would require oversight by a named healthcare professional, and Scotland’s act requires registered premises run by or with specified healthcare professionals

Voluntary registers: what they are and why they matter

Alongside the statutory regulators (the GMC for doctors, the NMC for nurses and midwives, the GDC for dental professionals and the GPhC for pharmacists), the aesthetics sector has voluntary registers accredited by the Professional Standards Authority. The two best known are the Joint Council for Cosmetic Practitioners (JCCP) and Save Face.

Joining is not a legal requirement, and the JCCP itself has said openly that no statute in the UK currently stops beauty therapists or other people from giving these treatments. Membership still carries practical weight. It signals to clients that your training and premises have been checked, some insurers look for it, and the JCCP’s register admits only healthcare professionals to its section for injectable toxins and fillers. If you are building a business meant to last beyond the next round of regulation, aligning with these standards now is likely to be cheaper than catching up later.

Training that holds its value

Short “foundation” courses are widely sold, but they are not the benchmark regulators and registers look for. For injectables, a Level 7 qualification regulated by Ofqual or the SQA and aligned with the JCCP’s competency framework is the standard most commonly referenced across the sector. For other treatments, the appropriate level depends on the procedure. Before paying for any course, check:

whether the qualification is regulated by Ofqual (England) or the SQA (Scotland), not merely “accredited” by the provider itself
whether it appears on the relevant voluntary register’s list of approved qualifications
whether your intended insurer accepts it for the treatments you plan to offer
how much supervised practice on real clients is included

4. How to start an aesthetics business: step by step

The order matters. Several steps depend on decisions made earlier, and doing them out of sequence is the most common way new owners end up paying twice for insurance, premises or training.

Decide your first-year treatment menu

List exactly what you will offer and check each treatment against Sections 2 and 3. Start narrow. A small menu delivered well is easier to insure, train for and market than a long list delivered unevenly.

Complete recognised training for every treatment

Choose regulated qualifications that your insurer and any register you intend to join will accept. Keep certificates, logbooks and evidence of supervised practice together, because insurers, councils and registers all ask for them.

Arrange your prescriber relationship (injectables only)

If you are not a prescriber yourself, agree in writing how a prescriber will see each client face to face, how prescriptions and consent will be recorded, and who handles complications. The arrangement must work in practice at your premises and in your appointment times. A prescriber who is rarely available will stall the whole business.

Put insurance in place before treating anyone

You will typically need treatment risk or medical malpractice cover naming each treatment you perform, plus public liability insurance. Employers’ liability insurance is a legal requirement once you employ staff. Check the policy wording against your exact treatment list and your qualifications, since cover that excludes a treatment you perform is worth nothing when you need it.

Secure premises and any council licence or registration

Speak to your council’s licensing or environmental health team before signing a lease. In London that may mean a special treatment licence; elsewhere it may mean skin-piercing registration; in Wales, special procedures licensing may apply. Section 5 compares the three main premises options.

Set up the business legally

Choose between sole trader and limited company, register with HMRC (and Companies House if forming a company), open a separate business bank account and decide how you will keep records. Section 6 covers structure and VAT in detail.

Source products lawfully and arrange clinical waste

Obtain medicines only through legitimate UK routes on a valid prescription, and buy devices and consumables from reputable UK suppliers. Cheap products from unverified online sellers carry both safety and legal risk. Put a contract in place with a licensed waste carrier for sharps and clinical waste before your first appointment.

Build your records, consent and data protection

You will hold health information about every client, which UK data protection law treats as special category data. Use secure record-keeping, obtain and record informed consent, and pay the Information Commissioner’s Office data protection fee unless you qualify for an exemption. Include a cooling-off period between consultation and treatment where appropriate, and screen for age and suitability.

Plan for complications

Have a written protocol for adverse reactions and emergencies, keep appropriate emergency equipment and medicines through your prescriber, and know exactly who you will call. Insurers and registers routinely ask to see this, and it protects clients and your business alike.

Set prices, then market within the rules

Price from your real costs, including VAT where it applies, rather than copying local competitors. Then market carefully. Advertising rules for prescription-only medicines and cosmetic procedures are strict, as Section 8 explains.

Editor’s note: steps 3, 4 and 5 are where plans most often collapse. An insurer may refuse a treatment your training does not cover, a council may refuse premises that looked fine, or a prescriber arrangement may be impractical. Confirm all three in writing before paying a deposit on premises or equipment.

Empty treatment room in a small UK aesthetics clinic

5. Choosing premises: home, room rental or clinic

Where you work affects your licensing position, insurance, running costs and how clients see you. There is no single right answer, and many practitioners move through all three stages as the business grows. Whichever you choose, contact your council’s licensing or environmental health team before committing, because they decide whether the space is acceptable for the treatments you plan.

OPTION A · LOWEST COST

Treatment room at home

Works for: practitioners testing demand with a small client base and low-risk treatments.

Check first: council registration or licensing; planning permission if the use changes the character of the property; mortgage lender or landlord consent; home insurance; business rates on the part used for the business.

Watch out for: hygiene and clinical waste standards, client privacy and personal safety, and some insurers’ restrictions on home-based injectables.

OPTION B · MID-RANGE

Renting a room in a salon or clinic

Works for: building a client base in a professional setting without taking on a lease.

Check first: whether the host’s premises licence or registration covers your treatments and you personally; who provides and pays for clinical waste collection; written terms on hours, notice and exclusivity.

Watch out for: being treated as the host’s employee rather than self-employed, and depending on another business’s reputation and standards.

OPTION C · HIGHEST COMMITMENT

Your own clinic premises

Works for: established practitioners, multi-practitioner clinics, and anyone planning for tighter future regulation.

Check first: planning use class, lease terms, fit-out standards (washable surfaces, handwashing, ventilation), accessibility, and council licensing for the premises itself.

Watch out for: fixed costs arriving before income does. A lease is a long-term liability, so plan cash flow for a slow first six months.

Business rates catch many new clinic owners by surprise. In England, a property used only for business is assessed for rates, but small premises may qualify for small business rate relief, which can reduce the bill substantially or remove it altogether. Check your property’s rateable value and ask your council about relief before budgeting. If you are weighing up the home option in more depth, our guide to running a business from home covers the wider practical and legal points.

6. Business structure, tax and VAT (2026/27)

This section was reviewed for technical accuracy by Shamayun Chowdhury, Senior Accountant at Major Accountancy, Leicester. Figures apply to the 2026/27 tax year (6 April 2026 to 5 April 2027).

Sole trader or limited company?

Most practitioners start as sole traders. It is quick to set up: you register for Self Assessment with HMRC, keep records and pay Income Tax and National Insurance on your profits. A limited company separates the business from you legally, which can help with credibility, contracts and some types of risk, but brings more administration: annual accounts, a confirmation statement, a Corporation Tax return and payroll if you pay yourself a salary.

The tax case for incorporating is weaker than it used to be. From 6 April 2026, the basic and higher rates of tax on dividends each rose by two percentage points, to 10.75% and 35.75%, with the additional rate staying at 39.35% and the dividend allowance held at £500. Company profits are taxed at 19% up to £50,000, rising to 25% above £250,000, with marginal relief between those levels. For an owner who takes out all the profit each year, a company no longer produces the automatic saving many people assume. The balance tends to favour a company where profits are retained in the business, where there are several owners or investors, or where liability protection matters. Model your own figures before deciding. Our guide to business structures in the UK compares the options in more detail.

Factor	Sole trader	Limited company
Set-up	Register with HMRC for Self Assessment	Incorporate at Companies House, then register for Corporation Tax
Liability	Unlimited — you and the business are the same	Generally limited to the company, though professional liability stays personal
Tax on profits	Income Tax and Class 4 National Insurance	Corporation Tax, then tax on salary and dividends you take out
Admin	Lower; annual tax return, plus Making Tax Digital once your income passes the threshold	Higher; statutory accounts, filings and payroll
Privacy	Accounts are not public	Company details and accounts are on the public register

Making Tax Digital for Income Tax. Sole traders and landlords with qualifying income above £50,000 have had to keep digital records and send quarterly updates to HMRC since April 2026. The threshold is due to fall to £30,000 from April 2027 and £20,000 from April 2028, so a growing aesthetics business should choose compatible software from the start rather than switch later.

VAT: why “done by a nurse” does not mean exempt

This is the most misunderstood tax point in the sector. Medical care provided by registered health professionals can be exempt from VAT, and many practitioners assume that covers everything they do. It does not. HMRC’s position, set out in its VAT guidance on health professionals, is that the exemption depends on the purpose of the treatment, not on who performs it. Services carried out primarily to protect, maintain or restore health can be exempt. Treatments carried out purely for cosmetic reasons are standard-rated at 20%, even when a doctor or nurse performs them.

The point was tested at tribunal in Skin Rich Ltd v HMRC (2019). A clinic providing botulinum toxin and filler treatments argued they were exempt medical care; the tribunal disagreed, because it could not show the treatments were given to protect, maintain or restore health. The practical lessons:

Assume cosmetic treatments are taxable. Only treat a service as exempt where it genuinely meets the health-purpose test and your records show why.
Watch the threshold. You must register for VAT once your taxable turnover passes £90,000 in any rolling 12-month period. The threshold stays at £90,000 in 2026/27, and exempt income does not count towards it, but standard-rated cosmetic income does.
Price with VAT in mind. A clinic close to the threshold that has priced without VAT can lose a sixth of its income overnight on registration. Build this into your pricing plan from the start.
Keep evidence for mixed services. If you provide both genuinely medical and cosmetic treatments, record the clinical reason for each treatment you treat as exempt, and take advice on recovering VAT on costs.

Reviewer’s note: VAT errors in this sector are usually discovered late, when HMRC reviews several years at once, and the resulting bill can include interest and penalties. If you are approaching £90,000 or are unsure how your treatments should be classified, speak to a qualified accountant before you register, not after.

7. What it costs to start: the categories to budget for

Start-up costs vary too widely to give a single honest figure. A home-based practitioner offering skin treatments and a multi-room injectables clinic face costs that differ by tens of thousands of pounds. Rather than quoting averages that may not fit your plans, the cards below list what to budget for. Get written quotes for each line before committing.

TIER 1

One-off set-up costs

Accredited training and qualifications
Treatment couch, lighting, storage and fit-out
Council licence or registration fees
Website, booking system and branding
Company formation, if incorporating

TIER 2

Fixed running costs

Rent or room hire
Insurance renewals
Clinical waste collection contract
Software subscriptions
Voluntary register and professional fees
Accountancy

TIER 3

Per-treatment costs

Products, via prescription where required
Needles, cannulas and consumables
Prescriber fees, if you are not a prescriber
Card processing fees
VAT, once registered

TIER 4

Reserves people forget

Tax set aside from every payment
Complications and emergency kit
Continuing training and CPD
Compliance changes when new licensing arrives
Three to six months of running costs

Tier 4 decides whether a new business survives its first year. Setting aside a fixed percentage of every payment for tax, in a separate account, prevents the most common shock: a Self Assessment bill in January that the business spent months ago.

8. Marketing an aesthetics business within the rules

Aesthetics businesses win most clients through social media, and that is where the most rule-breaking happens. The key restriction is simple but strict: botulinum toxin is a prescription-only medicine, and prescription-only medicines cannot be advertised to the public. This comes from the Human Medicines Regulations 2012 and Rule 12.12 of the CAP Code, which the Advertising Standards Authority enforces. It applies even when the treatment is given by a registered healthcare professional, and it covers paid ads, ordinary posts on your own pages and influencer content.

In practice, that means:

Do not name or allude to the medicine in promotional posts, hashtags or offers. That includes brand names and nicknames, and euphemisms that clearly refer to it.
Promote the consultation, not the medicine. Advertising a consultation to discuss treatment options for lines and wrinkles is generally acceptable. Pairing a named injectable with a price or discount is not.
Be careful with before-and-after images. They must be genuine, unedited and representative, and must not imply a prescription-only medicine was used.
Avoid pressure tactics. Time-limited deals on cosmetic procedures, prizes and “bring a friend” offers can breach advertising rules and your professional regulator’s standards.
Do not target under-18s. Beyond the treatment ban, marketing that appeals to young people draws regulatory attention quickly.

Dermal fillers are not prescription-only medicines, so the specific ban above does not apply to them. General advertising rules on honesty, evidence and social responsibility still do. The safest long-term marketing for this sector is reputation-led: detailed reviews, visible qualifications and register membership, and clear information about consultations and aftercare.

9. Common mistakes new aesthetics businesses make

Treating proposals as law, or law as optional. Some owners delay sensible steps because England’s scheme “isn’t law yet”; others pay for licences that do not exist. Work from the in-force rules and plan for the proposed ones.
Signing a lease before checking with the council. Premises that fail licensing or registration requirements can leave you paying rent on a space you cannot use.
Insurance that does not match the treatment list. Adding a new treatment without telling your insurer can leave it uncovered.
A prescriber arrangement that only exists on paper. Since remote prescribing ended for all prescriber groups, the prescriber must genuinely see each client. Plan appointments around that.
Assuming treatments are VAT-exempt. Purely cosmetic treatments are standard-rated regardless of who provides them. Discovering this after passing £90,000 is expensive.
Naming Botox in social media posts. It is the most common advertising breach in the sector and is actively monitored.
Buying cheap training. Unregulated certificates may not satisfy insurers or registers, and may lose value when licensing arrives.
No tax reserve. Spending everything that comes in, then facing a Self Assessment bill with nothing set aside.

10. Case study: a nurse prescriber’s first year

This is an illustrative scenario created for this guide. It is not a real person or business, and the figures are simplified examples, not typical earnings.

The starting point. A registered nurse in the East Midlands with an independent prescribing qualification wants to leave NHS shift work gradually and build an aesthetics business. She holds a Level 7 injectables qualification and plans to start with botulinum toxin, facial fillers and skin boosters.

The decisions she makes:

Structure: sole trader. Profits in year one are uncertain, and after the April 2026 dividend changes a company offers little tax advantage if she takes out all the profit.
Premises: a treatment room rented two days a week in an established beauty clinic. Before signing, she confirms with the council that the premises are suitable and checks who handles clinical waste.
Insurance: a treatment-risk policy naming each treatment, plus public liability, checked against her qualification certificates.
Registers: she joins a PSA-accredited voluntary register in her first month, partly for client trust and partly because it prepares her for future licensing.
Marketing: her Instagram promotes “consultations for lines and wrinkles” and never names the medicine.

The problem she spots early. By month eight her monthly takings are rising towards £8,000. Her accountant points out that almost all her treatments are cosmetic, so they count towards the £90,000 VAT threshold, and on current growth she will cross it within the next year. Her prices were set without VAT.

What she does. Rather than wait, she reprices new treatment plans so that, once registered, VAT can be absorbed without cutting her margin sharply. She moves to MTD-compatible bookkeeping software now, since her income will pass the Making Tax Digital threshold soon, and sets aside a fixed share of every payment for tax in a separate account.

What made the difference: checking premises, insurance and prescribing arrangements before spending money, and treating VAT as a planning issue in month eight rather than a crisis in month fifteen.

11. Launch checklist

☐ Written first-year treatment menu, checked against current law in your nation
☐ Regulated qualifications for every treatment, with certificates filed
☐ Written prescriber arrangement with face-to-face consultations (injectables)
☐ Treatment-risk, public liability and (if employing) employers’ liability insurance
☐ Council confirmation on licensing or registration before signing for premises
☐ HMRC registration, business bank account and record-keeping system
☐ Licensed clinical waste contract in place
☐ Consent forms, secure records and ICO data protection fee
☐ Written complications and emergency protocol
☐ Pricing that allows for VAT as you approach £90,000
☐ Social media checked for any mention of prescription-only medicines
☐ Calendar reminder to check for new DHSC announcements on licensing

12. Frequently asked questions

Do I need a licence to do aesthetics in the UK?

It depends on where you work and what you offer. England has no national aesthetics licence yet, although one is planned. You may still need council licensing or registration for your premises, such as a special treatment licence in most London boroughs. Wales licenses certain procedures, and Scotland has passed a law requiring registered premises for skin-piercing treatments.

Can I do Botox without being a nurse or doctor?

In England, no law currently bans non-medical practitioners from administering botulinum toxin, but it is a prescription-only medicine, so a qualified prescriber must assess each client face to face and prescribe for them. Many insurers and voluntary registers limit injectables to healthcare professionals, and Scotland’s new law will require registered premises run by or with specified healthcare professionals.

Can I run an aesthetics business from home?

Often, yes, but check with your council about licensing or registration first, and confirm planning, mortgage or tenancy, insurance and business rates. The room must meet hygiene and clinical waste standards, and some insurers restrict home-based injectable treatments.

Do aesthetics businesses charge VAT?

Once VAT-registered, yes, for most treatments. HMRC treats services carried out purely for cosmetic reasons as standard-rated, even when a doctor or nurse performs them. You must register once your taxable turnover passes £90,000 in any 12-month period.

Should I be a sole trader or a limited company?

Most practitioners start as sole traders because it is simpler. After dividend tax rose in April 2026, a limited company offers less automatic tax saving if you take out all the profit each year. It can suit owners who keep profits in the business, want investors or need liability protection. Model your own figures with an accountant.

When will England’s licensing scheme start?

The government has not set a date. It published its consultation response in August 2025 and said it would prioritise the highest-risk procedures first, with further consultation planned. Until regulations are made, existing rules on prescribing, age limits, CQC registration and local licensing apply.

Can I advertise Botox on Instagram?

No. Botulinum toxin is a prescription-only medicine, and these cannot be advertised to the public in the UK, including in unpaid social media posts and influencer content. You can promote consultations for treatment of lines and wrinkles, as long as you do not name or clearly allude to the medicine.

13. Sources

About the author and reviewer

Written by the Epiclectic Editorial Team. Epiclectic is an independent UK publication owned by Eternity Accountants Limited, publishing practical, fact-checked guides across accounting, business, home & living, gardening, travel, sustainability and wellness. Our editorial standards: original research, verification against primary and official sources, clear separation of current law from proposals, and scheduled review.

Tax and business structure section reviewed by Shamayun Chowdhury, Senior Accountant at Major Accountancy, Leicester, and Lecturer in Accounting at Nottingham Trent University, with more than 15 years in UK accounting practice. His review covers Section 6 only; he has not reviewed the clinical or regulatory content.

Last reviewed: September 2026. Regulatory position checked: September 2026. We will update this guide when the Department of Health and Social Care announces the next stage of England’s licensing scheme.

This guide is general information about starting a business in the UK. It is not medical, legal or tax advice. Clinical questions belong with your professional regulator and accredited trainers; take professional advice on your own legal and tax position.

How to Start an Aesthetics Business in the UK (2026)