Martyn's Law: what it actually means for your venue

In May 2022, Figen Murray walked 22 miles to Downing Street. She did it to push for a law named after her son Martyn — killed in the Manchester Arena bombing in 2017. Three years later, it passed.

Martyn's Law — officially the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025 — is now on the books. Enforcement starts in 2027. If you run a venue or organise events, you need to understand what it asks of you.

Who does it apply to?

Any venue or event that can hold 200 or more people. That's a lot of places — pubs, restaurants, theatres, conference rooms, sports clubs, festival sites, wedding venues, nightclubs. If your capacity is 200+, you're in scope.

There are two tiers:

• Standard tier (200–799 capacity): you need documented procedures and staff who know what to do if something happens. No formal security plan required — but you need to have thought about it and written it down.
• Enhanced tier (800+ capacity): a full security plan, more formal training, and a designated senior person responsible for it.

What does it actually require you to do?

At the standard tier, the core ask is simple: train your staff to protect the public. Not to be counter-terrorism experts — just to know the basics. What to do if there's an incident. How to move people out safely. Who to call and how to communicate.

At the enhanced tier, you add a written security plan, regular reviews, and a named responsible person with the authority to act.

When does it come into force?

The enforcement date is 2027 — but the expectation is that venues prepare now, not at the last minute. The Security Industry Authority (SIA) will be the regulator. Fines for non-compliance can reach £10,000 for the standard tier and £18,000 for enhanced — or up to 5% of global turnover for organisations.

The honest truth about crowd safety training

Most crowd incidents aren't caused by terrorism. They're caused by too many people in one place, exits that aren't clear, staff who didn't know what to look for. Martyn's Law is about terrorism preparedness — but the training that gets you there also covers the stuff that's far more likely to happen: a crowd surge, a medical emergency, a blocked exit at 2am.

Good training covers both. That's the point.

What's the simplest way to get compliant?

Start with your staff. A trained team — people who know the signs of dangerous crowd density, who know the evacuation routes, who know how to communicate in an emergency — is the foundation of Martyn's Law compliance at both tiers.

Our Festival & Crowd Safety certificate covers exactly this. It takes 15 minutes, costs €19, and gives each staff member a verifiable certificate they can show you and you can show a regulator. If you want to train a whole crew at once, the CrowdCert Teams tool lets you do it from one dashboard.

You've got until 2027. But every event you run before then still needs prepared staff.