Martyn’s Law Where Small & Mid-Size Venues Stand

Martyn's Law — the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025 — is the biggest single change to the security obligations of UK venues in a generation. Named after Martyn Hett, one of the twenty-two people killed in the 2017 Manchester Arena attack, the law was campaigned for by his mother Figen Murray over more than seven years. It received Royal Assent on 3rd April 2025 and is now in its implementation period, with enforcement expected from April 2027 at the earliest.

For most small and mid-size venues across the UK, the question right now isn't if Martyn's Law affects them — it's which tier they fall into, what they need to have in place by the time it bites, and what to start doing now so the deadline isn't a scramble. This guide walks through where the law sits as of mid-2026, the practical differences between the Standard and Enhanced tiers, and what venue managers, event organisers and trustees can do in the months between now and enforcement.

This article is general information, not legal advice. Venues, event organisers and responsible persons should consult official Home Office and SIA guidance — and where required, qualified legal advice — to confirm how the Act applies to their specific premises.

What Martyn's Law Is — And Why It Exists

The Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025 places a legal duty on those responsible for certain UK premises and events to take steps to keep the public safer from terrorist attack. It's the first time UK law has placed a positive, named duty of this kind on a broad range of premises — and it draws directly on the lessons of the 2017 Manchester Arena Inquiry, which highlighted significant gaps in the way mass-gathering venues were prepared.

The law sits on top of, not in place of, the existing obligations venues already have under health and safety law, licensing, fire safety, and any premises licence conditions. The Security Industry Authority (SIA) has been confirmed as the regulator, and will publish detailed guidance during the implementation window.

Three principles run through the Act:

Proportionate. The duties scale with the size of the venue and the expected attendance — small venues are not expected to do the same as arenas.
Preparedness, not prediction. The aim is readiness — staff who know what to do — rather than asking venues to predict specific threats.
Public-facing. The Act covers premises that the public can access, not back-of-house workplaces or private settings.

"Martyn's Law isn't about turning every village hall into an airport. It's about making sure that on the worst day a venue ever has, the people running it have already thought about what to do."

The Two Tiers — Standard And Enhanced

The Act splits qualifying premises and events into two tiers, with the threshold based on the maximum number of people reasonably expected to be present at the same time.

Standard tier — 200 to 799 attendees

The vast majority of small and mid-size UK venues fall here. Standard tier premises are required to put in place "public protection procedures" — simple, low-cost, proportionate measures designed to reduce harm if an attack happens. There is no expectation of physical building works or expensive equipment at this tier. The focus is procedural: what your team would do, in what order, if the worst happened.

Enhanced tier — 800 attendees and over

Larger venues and qualifying events — bigger conference centres, larger live-music venues, sports grounds and similar — are subject to additional duties. They must also implement "public protection measures": more substantive arrangements covering monitoring, physical security, training and resourcing. They must document a "public protection plan" and have a designated senior individual responsible for compliance.

Sectors covered

The Act applies broadly across publicly-accessible premises — including entertainment and live-event venues, sports grounds, conference and exhibition centres, hospitality (hotels, larger bars and restaurants), retail at scale, museums and galleries, heritage and visitor sites, places of worship, libraries, hospitals and education premises. The threshold test — capacity and attendance — determines which tier, and many smaller premises fall below the thresholds altogether.

The Four Procedures Every Standard-Tier Venue Should Be Building

The Act centres on four "public protection procedures" — the things a venue's staff should know how to do if an incident unfolds. Standard-tier venues are expected to have these in place; Enhanced-tier venues do these plus additional measures.

Common Misconceptions Small And Mid-Size Venues Have

In the months since Royal Assent, the same handful of misunderstandings have shown up across UK venue managers, parish councils, trustees and event organisers. Worth clearing up.

"We're too small."

If a venue or event regularly attracts 200 or more people in a single open-access setting, it is in scope. That covers a huge number of community halls, churches, mid-size pubs and bars, small conference rooms, and seasonal events that don't think of themselves as "venues" at all.

"It's just about door staff and bag-checking."

It isn't. The Standard tier is procedural — about how your team responds, not about physical search regimes. You don't need a bag-search policy to comply with the Standard tier.

"We've got a fire evacuation plan, we're fine."

A fire evacuation plan is a starting point, but it's not the same plan. A terrorism response often requires the opposite reaction — staying inside, locking down, holding people in place. The Act explicitly expects venues to have thought about both scenarios.

"It hasn't been enforced yet, so we'll wait."

The implementation window exists for a reason — to give venues time to build, train and test. The venues that wait until enforcement begins will find themselves building from scratch with no margin for error. The ones using 2026 to prepare will be ready.

Standard Tier vs Enhanced Tier — A Side-By-Side

Here's how the duties compare at a glance.

Six Layers Of Preparedness For A Small Or Mid-Size Venue

Whether you fall into Standard or Enhanced, the building blocks are the same. These are the components we help venues put in place as part of our event security and venue support work.

A Practical Checklist For 2026

If your venue or event is in scope, the months between now and enforcement are the work window. Here's the order to tackle it in.

1 · Work out your tier honestly

Look at peak attendance — not average. A village hall that fits 180 most weekends but hosts a 220-person summer event is potentially in scope on those dates. The tier is determined by what your premises can be expected to host.

2 · Appoint a named responsible person

One named individual with the authority and remit to drive compliance — not "the committee", not "the manager on duty". Make sure they have the time and backing to actually do it.

3 · Document your four procedures

Evacuation, invacuation, lockdown and communication — written down, building-specific, and short enough that staff can actually remember them.

4 · Train your team

Counter Terrorism Policing's ACT (Action Counters Terrorism) and ACT for Security e-learning are free, well-built and the right starting point. Pair them with on-site walk-throughs for the people who'd be on the floor on the day.

5 · Test the plan in walk-through

Once or twice a year, walk the procedures through with the team. Tabletop exercises are cheap, effective and exactly the kind of preparedness the Act expects to see.

6 · Coordinate with your existing partners

Premises licence holder, fire risk assessor, insurer, neighbourhood policing team, security provider — these plans don't work in isolation. The strongest venues are the ones where these conversations have already happened.

7 · Build security cover around your highest-risk dates

If your venue mostly sits below the threshold but tips above on certain dates, that's where to focus your professional security cover — supported by SIA-licensed officers with the right training for the audience and event type.

8 · Keep the documentation alive

The procedures, the training log, the test exercises, any incident reports — this is the evidence trail the regulator will want to see. It's also the trail that protects you commercially if anything ever does happen.

How Advance Guarding Helps Venues Prepare

We work with venues and event organisers across Sussex and the wider UK to translate Martyn's Law from a 60-page Act into something a real venue team can actually put into practice. That means proportionate, building-specific procedures rather than off-the-shelf templates, ACT-aware training for staff, and trained SIA officers on the dates that warrant it.

Our background in festival and event security, supported by manned guarding, mobile patrols and key holding and alarm response, means we cover the full picture — from the planning room to the door on the night.

The two years between Royal Assent and enforcement are not slack — they're the work window. Venues that use 2026 to plan, document and train will walk into enforcement with confidence. The ones that wait will be doing in a fortnight what should have taken a year.