Martyn’s Law – Changes Affecting the Marquee Industry

What is Martyn’s Law?

Martyn’s Law is set to redraw the site map of the UK’s marquee and live events industry, shifting security from an afterthought to a structural feature. Named in memory of Martyn Hett, who lost his life in the Manchester Arena attack, the legislation requires venues and event organisers to take proportionate steps to reduce the risk of terrorism. For a sector built on temporary spaces, creativity and speed, the implications are both challenging and transformative.

The law asks organisers to understand their risk profile and act on it. For the marquee industry, this reframes what a “venue” means. A field with a marquee or temporary structure becomes a regulated space once capacity thresholds are met. That change brings new duties around crowd management, access control, staff training and emergency planning.

Martyn’s Law places responsibility on those in control of a venue or event to assess terrorism risk, devise plans and put protective measures in place that are “reasonable and practicable” given the nature and size of the event.

What Is in Scope?

Under the Act’s tiered system there are standard and enhanced duties.

Standard duties apply where events or premises may reasonably expect 200–799 people present at the same time.

These duties could be as simple as locking doors, closing shutters and identifying safe routes to cover. There is no requirement to put in place physical measures in the standard tier.

Enhanced duties kick in for gatherings of 800 or more, requiring more extensive measures such as bag search policies, CCTV or other monitoring and vehicle checks.

For many marquee companies, this means rethinking how events are planned, from guest flow and access control to communication plans with local authorities and security providers.