Martyn's Law: a practical checklist for hotels and venues

Martyn's Law, the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025, is tiered by how many people may be present. Standard-tier premises (200 to 799) need simple, proportionate procedures. Enhanced-tier premises and larger events (800 or more) must also reduce their vulnerability and document how they comply.

For a hotel group this often means most properties sit in the standard tier while a flagship with large event space tips into enhanced. Work this out first, because it sets how much you need to do.

Plan for four responses: evacuate the building, move people to safety inside (invacuation), lock down, and communicate clearly with staff and guests. Decide who makes the call, how the message reaches the floor, and where people go.

The hard part in a hotel is confirmation. When you tell staff to move guests, how do you know your own people are safe and acting on the plan? That is where a live staff head count, rather than a radio round-robin, earns its place.

Enhanced-tier duty holders must keep a document setting out their procedures, and every venue benefits from reviewing a drill. Aim to capture, automatically, when a response was called, which staff were clear, and how long it took.

The Salvus Network gives staff a safety tag that doubles as a discreet duress alert and produces exactly that record, so your Martyn's Law readiness is demonstrable to insurers and the regulator, not just described.