By Allan Bullock, Director of Solutions Engineering, Genasys Inc.
Most UK venues can evacuate a building for a fire. Far fewer can coordinate a lockdown, direct thousands of people without confusion, or communicate clearly across teams when an attack unfolds. These are the gaps terrorists look to exploit.
Martyn’s Law, the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025, forces venues to confront these weaknesses head-on. It moves counter-terrorism preparedness out of the “we’ll get to it later” category and embeds it into normal operations for any organisation that manages publicly accessible space.
What the Law Responds To
The Act is named for Martyn Hett, one of the 22 people killed at the Manchester Arena bombing in 2017. Investigations revealed deep procedural failures: unclear responsibilities, inconsistent communication, and staff who had never been trained for a major incident of this kind.
The threat landscape today is no less severe. Since 2017, the UK has faced multiple attacks and dozens of disrupted plots, with thousands of individuals under investigation across extremist networks. This is a sustained and evolving threat, and many venues still operate with outdated or untested procedures that would not hold up under real pressure.
Martyn’s Law provides that baseline.
The Operational Gaps Venues Must Now Address
Before this legislation, terrorism readiness varied sharply across industries. Even well-run venues often struggled with issues such as:
- Unclear decision-making during an unfolding threat
- Staff unaware of when to initiate evacuation, invacuation, or lockdown
- Patchy communication tools that fail under pressure
- Crowds moving without direction, creating choke points
- Multi-agency responses hampered by inconsistent information
These are not edge cases. They appear in after-action reviews across the UK and abroad. They’re the same patterns that recur in training exercises and real incidents, regardless of sector or venue type. Martyn’s Law is designed to close precisely these gaps.
What the Act Actually Requires
The law introduces two tiers of responsibility, based on the number of people a venue or event can accommodate.
Standard Tier (200–799 persons)
Premises must develop simple, workable public protection procedures and ensure staff are trained to carry them out.
This focuses on procedural readiness: knowing who does what, how instructions are given, and how people will move.
Enhanced Tier (800+ persons or qualifying events)
Larger venues must go further. Requirements include:
- Documented risk assessments
- Measures to reduce vulnerabilities
- Stronger physical security and access control
- Defined accountability at senior levels
These measures address the challenges seen most often in large-crowd environments, where the consequences of confusion or delay are far more severe.
Who Regulates the Act
The Security Industry Authority (SIA) serves as the regulator, overseeing compliance, issuing guidance, and supporting organisations through the 24-month implementation period. Enforcement tools include compliance notices and financial penalties, though early emphasis is on helping venues meet standards rather than punishing missteps.
Why the Act Has Broad Support
Public consultation showed strong support for proportionate measures to improve venue security. Smaller premises benefit from procedural improvements that cost little but close meaningful gaps. Larger venues adopt more robust measures only where reasonably practicable.
The overarching principle is balanced with practical steps that provide real public protection without overwhelming organisations.
Where Venues Are Likely to Struggle
Martyn’s Law will reveal issues that many venues have quietly lived with for years. Among the most common:
- Staff know fire procedures but not terrorism procedures
- Roles and responsibilities are undocumented or unclear
- Communication systems don’t hold up under strain
- Lockdown and invacuation routes are improvised rather than planned
- Contractors and temporary staff lack consistent instruction
- Partner agencies (police, local authorities, event operators) work from different information
Addressing these issues takes planning, training, and tools that won’t fail when systems are under stress. Many venues already have pieces of what they need; the challenge is integrating these parts into a coherent, tested response.
How Genasys Supports Compliance and Operational Readiness
Communication that works in the moment, especially when other systems falter, is one of the biggest determinants of preparedness.
Genasys supports the operational intent of Martyn’s Law through:
Multi-channel alerting
Enables venues to issue evacuation, invacuation, or lockdown instructions quickly, even when one communication route is compromised.
On-site voice notification
LRAD and Acoustic systems provide clear, intelligible instructions across large areas or noisy environments: critical when digital channels slow, fail, or cannot reach people already in motion.
Coordinated messaging for teams and partners
Evertel and other Genasys tools help venues, security teams, and local authorities maintain a consistent picture, reducing the conflicting messages that often appear in high-stress incidents.
Targeted and flexible communication groups
Dynamic grouping allows venues to reach staff, contractors, or event attendees with tailored instructions without rebuilding contact lists.
Clear audit trails and documentation
Supports compliance, debriefing, and accountability, key components of the Act’s expectations for duty-holders.
Preparing for Martyn’s Law Starts Now
For UK venues, the message is clear. Terrorism preparedness is a defined responsibility with clear expectations. Success under this framework depends on having plans that work both on paper and in fast-moving, high-pressure situations. The organisations that succeed under this new framework will be those that treat communication, coordination, and staff readiness as core operational functions.
If you want guidance on strengthening your venue’s communication and response capabilities ahead of the Act’s full implementation, our team at Genasys can help.
