Hi, is it possible to be an entirely mobile tattooist in England, visiting clients in their homes? All equipment used would be single use and disposed by an appropriately licensed waste disposal company. Having worked in health care I already have multiple certificates in the health and safety side of things that I will obviously renew. I’m hoping to become a tattoo artist in the future, I’m currently an artist and with a hope to get an apprenticeship. Don’t worry I’m not just running around with a biro and a sewing pin! I’m aware of the seriousness of complications from tattoos and it’s not my intention to be a kitchen scratcher. But long term I would love the freedom of travelling wherever my work takes me. Having the independence to work for myself, I move about a lot and I’m struggling to find anything that specifically forbids being a mobile tattooist not having a guest spot in a shop. Thank you for your time.

Hi Clu,
unfortunately it’s not possible at all to be a mobile tattooist in the UK. The tattoo artist would have to be a registered artist in every town they work in.
Also, to work as a registered artist, you need to be in a registered tattoo studio.The catch-22 is, that if you don’t have a studio, you cannot be a registered tattoo artist. Furthermore, it’s not possible to make sure that every place you tattoo at meets the requirements set out by the council EHO. 
Regardless from the qualifications you may have, you cannot be certain that the environment you tattoo in is safe and clean. Another impediment would be insurance, as you will not get public liability insurance or treatment cover if you are tattooing from peoples homes.
So, in conclusion, if you want to work legally as a tattoo artist in the UK, you need to work in a registered tattoo shop. 
Barber DTS

The license people have been around to my studio today as the apprentice was applying for her license.
The guy from the council said it is legal to do mobile tattooing if you have a personal license. I disagreed with him on this. Who is right,? It makes no sense to me that you could go to someone’s home and legally tattoo them, without that location being assessed and passed by a orofessional