Martyn's Law for pubs and bars

A pub or bar counts as a food and drink use, so Martyn’s Law applies to it like any other venue — the only question is size. It is in scope once 200 people could be on the premises at the same time, counting your staff and your customers, inside and out. Most quiet locals never reach that. A busy town-centre bar on a match night, a multi-floor venue or a pub built around live music can. Here is how to tell which one you are, and what the law would actually ask of you.

The short version

• A pub or bar is a qualifying use. Whether you are in scope comes down to the 200 headcount.
• Count the peak — your busiest realistic moment, staff and customers together, garden included — not an average night.
• 200 to 799 at once is the Standard Tier: simple procedures, not equipment. 800 or more is the Enhanced Tier, which is rare for a single pub.
• The responsible person is whoever controls the premises day to day — usually the licensee running it, not the pub company that owns the bricks.
• It is not in force yet. There is time to write a short plan and brief the team.

Does Martyn’s Law apply to my pub or bar?

Yes — if 200 or more people could be there at once. Pubs, bars, taprooms and nightclubs are all a food and drink use, which is one of the uses the Act covers. So scope is not really about what you are; it is about how many people you can hold. A two-room village local that tops out at 80 is almost certainly out. A town-centre bar that fills two floors on a Saturday, or a pub that puts on live bands, can be well over 200 at its peak — and that peak is what counts.

How do I count — and does the beer garden count?

Yes, the garden counts, and so do your staff. The test is the most people who could be on the premises at the same time, from time to time — not your average takings. “The premises” is the whole site you control: the bar, the function room upstairs, the beer garden and any terrace. Add your staff to your customers, then picture your busiest realistic moment — a big match on the screens, a bank holiday, a headline act, a beer festival — rather than a wet Tuesday. If that number reaches 200, you are in. Write down how you got to it; that reasoning is the record. Our guide on how to work out if you reach 200 walks through it.

What tier would we be in?

Almost always the Standard Tier. 200 to 799 people at once is the Standard Tier; 800 or more is the Enhanced Tier. Very few single pubs hold 800 at a time — that is large-club or big multi-floor territory, or a one-off event, which we come to below. The Standard Tier is deliberately light: it asks for simple public protection procedures, so far as is reasonably practicable — not CCTV, not bollards, not security guards. If you have been told your pub needs to buy equipment to comply, read what you do not have to buy.

This is Martyn’s Law, not your licence conditions

Worth being clear on, because it catches people out: Martyn’s Law and your premises licence are two separate things. Martyn’s Law comes from the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025, and at the Standard Tier it does not require you to buy CCTV, door staff or any equipment. Your premises licence is a different regime — it sits under the Licensing Act 2003, and some licensing authorities do attach conditions such as CCTV (often with 31-day retention) or SIA door supervisors, usually for later-opening or town-centre venues. Those conditions still apply and you still have to meet them, but they come from your licence and your local council, not from Martyn’s Law. So if your licence already asks for CCTV, keep it — just do not assume Martyn’s Law is the thing asking for it. And it is different people who will come knocking: Martyn’s Law is regulated by the Security Industry Authority (the SIA), while your licence conditions are enforced by your local council’s licensing team and the police. The SIA will not be checking your CCTV condition, and the council will not be checking your Martyn’s Law procedures.

Who’s responsible — the licensee or the pub company?

Whoever actually controls the premises day to day. In a managed house that is the operating company, with the manager running it on the ground. In a tenanted or leased pub it is usually the tenant or licensee — the person who holds the lease and makes the decisions about how the place is run. A pub company that owns the freehold and takes the rent, but does not run the bar, is usually not the responsible person.

If control is genuinely shared — the company fits out the building, say, and the tenant runs it — sort out between you who holds the duty, and write it down. The one thing that does not work is each of you assuming it is the other.

What would we actually do — with a small team on a busy night?

The Standard Tier is four simple procedures, built for the night you are actually working, not a paper exercise. In a pub they look like this:

• Evacuation — which exits people use, and where they go once they are out. Mind the crush at the door and the people spilling onto a busy street.
• Invacuation — if the danger is outside, where the safer place inside is, and who moves people there or brings them in from the garden.
• Lockdown — how you secure the doors and shutters to stop people entering or leaving, and who can call it in the middle of service.
• Communication — how you get one calm, clear instruction to a loud, full room and out to the garden, and how your staff know the signal.

The point is that a small team can run it: everyone knows the signal and their job, your door and bar staff have been briefed, and it works at 9pm on a Friday — not just on the page.

What about a one-off big event?

A ticketed event for 800 or more, open to the public with controlled entry behind a secure line, can be a qualifying event in its own right — separate from the pub’s everyday duties. For most pubs that never comes up; day to day it is the premises headcount that matters. If you host large ticketed events, our guide on what counts as a qualifying event covers where that line sits.

You have time — a short plan is the win

Martyn’s Law is not in force yet. The statutory guidance was published in April 2026, and commencement is expected in April 2027 at the earliest, after a minimum 24-month implementation period. The regulator’s notification system is not open yet either, so there is nothing to file today. That is time to do the useful thing once: work out your peak, write a short plan for the four procedures, and brief your team — rather than scrambling it together later. Our guide on what a finished record looks like shows the shape of one.

Where the definitive answer is

For definitive information about whether your premises or event is within scope and what is required, refer to the current statutory guidance issued under the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025.