UK event and venue operators have a clearer preparation path for the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025, commonly known as Martyn's Law. The Security Industry Authority said on 11 September 2026 that organisations should first establish whether their premises or event is in scope, while further support and notification resources are being developed. For venue teams, that makes the immediate job one of careful scope checking, ownership and operational preparation rather than inventing requirements ahead of official guidance. The SIA's September update on scope, support and notification is a useful current starting point.
Start by deciding what is actually in scope
A venue should not assume that every event, room or site is treated identically. Official guidance distinguishes premises from qualifying events and includes rules for determining principal use in certain multi-use premises. A venue group may therefore need to examine each location and event arrangement rather than applying one label across an entire portfolio. The practical first record is a documented scope assessment: what premises or event has been considered, which official guidance was used, who reviewed it and when that review took place.
Separate venue responsibility from organiser responsibility
Events often involve several parties: the venue operator, event organiser, production company, security contractor and suppliers. Preparation becomes fragile if each assumes another party owns a requirement. Booking and operational workflows should make responsibility visible. This does not mean a commercial booking form should attempt to interpret the law; it means the venue should know who is responsible for the premises or event, who owns relevant procedures and which questions must be escalated to competent staff.
Do not confuse preparation with premature compliance claims
The SIA has said it is developing support for organisations as commencement approaches, including the notification process. Venues should avoid telling clients that a future process has already been completed or that a particular measure automatically makes an event compliant. Instead, teams can prepare the information and internal ownership needed to respond to confirmed requirements. This is particularly important in sales conversations, where confident but inaccurate assurances can quickly become part of a client's planning assumptions.
Map security planning into the event lifecycle
Protective security should not sit in a disconnected folder that the booking team never sees. A venue can identify points in its normal event lifecycle where relevant information needs to surface: initial enquiry, capacity discussion, contracting, final details, supplier coordination, event-day briefing and post-event review. The aim is not to turn sales staff into security specialists. It is to make sure information that could materially change the event plan reaches the right person before the event is already being delivered.
Prepare records that can support future notification
The SIA says its notification portal will be accessible through GOV.UK and is being designed for organisations ranging from individual venues to complex portfolios. While venues should wait for confirmed instructions before submitting anything, multi-site operators can already improve the quality of their underlying records. Consistent premises names, addresses, responsible contacts and clear ownership reduce the risk of hurried reconciliation later. The value is operational as well as regulatory: clean venue records make handovers and portfolio oversight easier.
Make procedures usable by the people on shift
A policy has limited operational value if event-day staff cannot act on it. Venue preparation should therefore connect written procedures to briefings, escalation routes and role clarity. The government's wider Martyn's Law guidance collection should remain the reference point as requirements and supporting material develop. Internal instructions should record the source and review date so an old note is not mistaken for current official guidance.
Handle multi-use venues carefully
Hotels, conference centres, hospitality sites and other venues may contain spaces used in different ways. The government's September material on principal use exists because classification can require more care than simply choosing the activity that happens to be taking place on one date. Teams managing mixed-use premises should resist creating their own shorthand rules. Where the position is unclear, the sensible workflow is to record the question, consult the official scope guidance and obtain appropriate professional or regulatory clarification where necessary.
Turn regulatory preparation into controlled venue operations
The strongest preparation is not a last-minute compliance project. It is a controlled way of knowing which premises and events need attention, who owns each decision, which version of guidance staff are following and how important information reaches event-day teams. GloryDreamTech's event and venue audience can treat the current SIA update as a prompt to improve those foundations now, while continuing to check official guidance as the notification system and commencement arrangements develop. That approach helps venues prepare responsibly without guessing at obligations that have not yet been confirmed for their particular circumstances.