EXPLAINER · FOR VENUES & EVENTS
Martyn’s Law for venues and events
By Erik Endress, Founder, OnScene Technologies. Last reviewed: August 2026
A plain-English summary from the team that has built emergency communication systems since 2013 — not legal advice. Confirm specifics against the official sources linked on this page.
If 200 or more people could be on your premises at the same time — or 800 or more at an event — Martyn’s Law applies to you. Here is what the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025 actually asks of venues and event organisers, in plain English, and the part most operators underestimate.
Does Martyn’s Law apply to your venue?
The test is capacity, not ticket sales: how many people — public and staff together — could reasonably be expected to be present at the same time?
200 to 799 — standard tier: public protection procedures.
800 or more — enhanced tier: procedures plus public protection measures. Events with 800 or more people qualify on the same basis.
Count the realistic maximum, not the average night. That means the sold-out show, the festival at peak, the match day when the concourse, bars, car parks and queues are full at once.
Standard tier or enhanced tier?
Premises expecting 200 to 799 people sit in the standard tier and must have public protection procedures — what people would do if an attack happened at or near the premises. Premises expecting 800 or more sit in the enhanced tier and must also have public protection measures, which go further: reducing how vulnerable the site is in the first place, not only how people react.
Events are treated separately. One of the conditions for a qualifying event is that 800 or more people may reasonably be expected to be present at some point during it — so an event that qualifies is dealing with the enhanced end of the regime, even if the site itself is ordinarily quieter.
What venues have to do
Once the duty is in force, a responsible person for each qualifying premises or event will need to:
Notify the SIA that the premises or event is in scope.
Have public protection procedures ready — what staff and the public would do to evacuate, move to safety inside (invacuation), lock down, and communicate during an incident. At enhanced tier, add measures that reduce the vulnerability of the site itself.
There is no product you are required to buy, and neither the Home Office nor the SIA endorse any. The duty is about procedures, and for larger sites, measures. What a system can do is make the communication part of those procedures actually work under pressure.
The hard part: reaching everyone, at once
Across a venue — stands, concourse, bars, back of house, loading bays, car parks and the queue outside — the hard part is not deciding to act. It is getting that instruction to every steward, every bar, every gate and every attendee at the same moment, then keeping them updated as the picture changes.
That is what Share999 is built for: one trigger reaches everyone on site in seconds, with two-way updates — so a steward on a far gate knows as fast as control does, and control hears back. It supports your procedures; it does not replace them.
It matters most when someone is on their own. A steward on a perimeter gate, a bar supervisor, a lone member of security in a car park can raise a silent alert from where they stand — no radio net to break into, no leaving the post — and control and the responding agencies know in the same second.
When does it start?
Royal Assent was 3 April 2025, with an implementation period of at least 24 months. The duty is expected to take effect around spring 2027 — enough time to fold this into existing event safety and crowd management planning rather than scramble for it in the last season before it lands.
Common questions
Which venues are covered by Martyn’s Law?
Any premises where 200 or more people, including staff, could reasonably be expected to be present at the same time. Below that threshold you are not in scope, though the same planning is still sensible.
What tier is my venue in?
200 to 799 is standard tier: public protection procedures. 800 or more is enhanced tier, which adds public protection measures to reduce the vulnerability of the site itself. Count your realistic peak, not your typical night.
What counts as a qualifying event?
One of the conditions is that 800 or more people, including staff, may reasonably be expected to be present at some point during the event. That captures most festivals, large outdoor events and temporary sites — including places that are not otherwise qualifying premises the rest of the year.
Do we have to buy a system to comply?
No. There is no product you are required to buy, and neither the Home Office nor the SIA endorse any. The duty is about procedures and, at enhanced tier, measures. That said, reaching everyone across a large site at once is the hardest part to deliver — which is where a tool like Share999 helps.
When do we need to be ready?
The duty is expected to come into force around spring 2027, following Royal Assent in April 2025. Statutory guidance has since been published, so the detail is firming up — check GOV.UK for the current position before you plan against a date.