Martyn’s Law: What this means for hospitality businesses

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A landmark ruling is poised to reshape safety regulations for hospitality venues throughout the UK.

Martyn’s Law, or the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025, received royal assent in April. It will introduce new safety measures and preparedness requirements for any premises capable of holding over 200 individuals at a time.

The bill has been championed by Figen Murray in memory of her 29-year-old son, Martyn Hett, who was tragically killed alongside 21 others in the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing. After six and a half years of campaigning, the bill has been reviewed by the Public Bill Committee and the King and will now come into full effect after a 24-month implementation period.

The main aim of the Bill is to protect members of the public from terrorist attacks and to prevent physical harm. It comes after the terror threat to leisure venues in the UK has been described as ‘substantial’ by officials, who have reported 43 foiled terrorist plots since 2017.

The bill will have a significant impact on many hospitality venues in the UK, including restaurants, hotels, bars, pubs and leisure venues with a capacity of 200 or more.

What will the law do?

The Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025 requires managers/business owners who oversee venues and events to review their response to a possible terrorist attack. In order to protect these venues and the public, the law will enforce practical and actionable safety measures for two different tiers of premises: Standard tier (200-799 capacity) and Enhanced tier (800+ capacity).

What are the requirements?

Standard Duty Premises

Hotels, restaurants, bars and pubs will be most impacted by the requirements for ‘Standard Duty’ venues that hold between 200 – 799 individuals at any given time.

For hospitality professionals, the emphasis will be on practical safety training to prepare for a terrorist event and to ensure clarity on action plans for all staff. This will involve regular practice runs of safety procedures to prepare for: evacuation, invacuation and lockdown.

Individuals in charge of these Standard Duty hospitality venues will be expected to have clear action plans in place to effectively communicate with staff and customers in the event of a terrorist attack. Comprehensive training for new starters and regular ‘refresher’ courses will also be mandatory.

The hope for Standard Duty venues is that these requirements are simple, low-cost, actionable and customisable – allowing hospitality professionals to tailor their measures to suit their own operational needs, dependent on the nature of their business.

Enhanced Duty Premises

Enhanced Duty Premises with a capacity of over 800 individuals will be expected to implement more rigorous safety measures to protect the public from a potential terrorist attack within the venue or its surrounding vicinity. Theatres, large hotels, stadiums, shopping centres, sporting venues and theme parks will all be affected by the legislation under the Enhanced Tier.

The same safety training and actionable public safety measures apply here as for Standard Duty venues; however, those in charge of Enhanced Duty premises will need to ensure a rigorous documentation process to prove safety compliance and undertake regular assessments of the procedures in place.

Monitoring of the venue and its surrounding area will be mandatory. This means that additional staff, CCTV and other measures will need to be implemented to monitor suspicious activity.

How will the law be enforced?  

A 24-month implementation period is now expected while the government support hospitality venues to impose their new safety measures and procedures.

A regulatory body, part of the Security Industry Authority (SIA), will be set up to provide advice for these venues and produce the home-office-approved official statutory guidance on implementing Martyn’s Law.

Failure to comply with the new act will carry criminal charges, and the SIA will have the power to take enforcement actions to ensure that every venue in the UK with a capacity of over 200 complies with the legislation.

These enforcement actions may include compliance notices, measures to restrict venues’ operations and financial penalties of up to 5% of worldwide revenue (AEO) for those who don’t comply. This figure could be in the millions for multi-site hotel chains or venues.

So, although the consequences of non-compliance could be severe, it looks like hospitality bosses will be given a huge amount of advice, support and importantly, time, to understand the implications of the new legislation for their business and get their safety affairs in order.

With these changes on the horizon, it has never been more important to assess your current safety procedures and prepare accordingly to stay compliant and keep customers safe.

To find out more about Martyn’s Law and its requirements, visit: https://homeofficemedia.blog.gov.uk/2025/04/03/martyns-law-factsheet/