A new law is coming for every 200+ venue. Be ready early
Martyn's Law reaches venues holding 200 or more people from around 2027 — and most owners haven't heard of it. Six plain-English questions on GigXchange give your tier, your duties, and a first-draft written-procedures document. Free with every venue profile.
Write the procedures calmly, not in a rush
Sign up free — your tier, your duties and the draft are minutes away.
Last updated: 7 July 2026
How it works
From “does this even apply to us?” to a signed-off procedures draft — in minutes.
Six quick questions
Capacity (including staff — the detail venues get wrong), venue type, who controls the premises, what's written down today.
The verdict
Out of scope, standard tier (200–799) or enhanced (800+) — with what each one actually means, in plain English, linked to the statutory guidance.
Tick off your duties
Every obligation as a tickable item with a readiness score — SIA notification, written procedures, staff briefing. Saves to your venue automatically.
Generate your procedures
Five short answers become a written-procedures PDF with a sign-off line — the core standard-tier duty, drafted for you to review, adapt and train against.
Everything in the readiness check
Built so a 250-capacity room can prepare without a security consultant.
Six questions, plain English
Capacity, venue type, who controls the premises, what you have written down today — and your tier verdict appears with the duties that actually apply.
200 is the magic number
Standard tier runs 200–799 people INCLUDING staff and performers; 800+ is enhanced. Under 200 you are out of scope — and the checker says so plainly.
A score you can move
Every duty is a tickable item — notify the SIA, written procedures, staff briefing — with a readiness ring that fills as you put things in place.
Your procedures, drafted for you
Five short answers — who leads, evacuation route, safe internal spot, staff alert method, responder info — become a written-procedures document with a sign-off line.
Two exportable PDFs
A readiness summary for the file, and the procedures draft to review, adapt and train against. Both branded, dated and stamped with the rules version.
In force around 2027
Royal Assent came on 3 April 2025 with at least 24 months to prepare. The venues that write their procedures now do it calmly; the rest will do it in a rush.
Official links only
The statutory guidance (published April 2026), ProtectUK and the Act itself — every claim links to the authority so you can verify everything.
Part of your compliance hub
Ticks and answers save to your venue record alongside the Licence Checker and Compliance Checklist — restored on any device, re-checkable any time.
The biggest venue-law change in a generation
What Martyn's Law asks of small venues, and why preparing early is the calm move.
Where the law comes from
On 22 May 2017, a bomb was detonated at Manchester Arena as an Ariana Grande concert ended, killing 22 people. One of them was Martyn Hett. His mother, Figen Murray, campaigned for years for a law requiring venues to at least plan for the possibility of an attack — and on 3 April 2025 the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025 received Royal Assent. Everyone calls it Martyn's Law.
Who it reaches
The Act turns on how many people — including staff and performers — it is reasonable to expect on the premises at once. Under 200, you're out of scope. From 200 to 799 you're standard tier: notify the regulator (the Security Industry Authority) and keep simple, documented public protection procedures. From 800 you're enhanced tier, adding protective measures and a documented assessment. That standard tier is exactly where grassroots music venues, pub back rooms and community halls live — the rooms with no security consultant on retainer.
What "procedures" really means
Four things, written down: how you'd evacuate, how you'd move people to safety inside (invacuation), how you'd lock down, and how you'd communicate during an incident. No mandated equipment, no structural works at the standard tier — the law asks that the people working your room know what to do. The Home Office published the full statutory guidance in April 2026, and it's the source our checker is built on.
Why act before 2027
The Act allows at least 24 months from Royal Assent before the duties bite — around 2027. Venues that write their procedures now do it calmly, fold it into staff onboarding, and are done; venues that wait will do it in a rush alongside everyone else. The procedures are also simply good practice from the day they exist — that's the point of them.
Where the readiness check fits
The check gives you your tier, your duties as a tickable readiness list, and a first-draft procedures document generated from five short answers — free, saved to your venue record beside the Licensing Checker and Compliance Checklist. It's guidance, not security advice: ProtectUK and the statutory guidance are the authorities, and every step links them. More on the venue side: GigXchange for venues.
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Frequently asked questions
Short answers to the usual queries.
Be the venue that was ready early
Sign up free and run the check — your tier, your duties and the procedures draft are waiting in your venue dashboard.