# Business continuity plan template for small venues > Build a business continuity plan for a small venue. Use a template covering key services, contacts, temporary arrangements, communication and recovery. A business continuity plan template records how your venue will maintain or restore essential activities during disruption, including who leads, what resources are needed and how people receive updates. This small-venue outline draws on Cabinet Office and ProtectUK guidance. Adapt it to your services, people and premises. ## At a glance - **Purpose**: Maintain essential activities and support recovery - **Plan for losing**: Premises, people, systems, utilities or suppliers - **Start with**: Your most important services - **Martyn’s Law**: Connect response procedures with recovery ## Template section: purpose, ownership and activation ProtectUK distinguishes the immediate response to an incident from arrangements for continuing essential work and recovering afterwards. Life safety comes first; continuity planning helps decide what happens to activities once the immediate response is under way. The following headings are an adaptable template outline, not a requirement to create a large manual. A hall, worship venue or small hospitality business can begin with a short document that its team can use. - Organisation and premises covered by the plan. - Plan owner, deputy, version and review date. - Who can activate the plan and the circumstances that would prompt it. - How the lead and deputy are contacted if the building is unavailable. - Who can authorise urgent spending or temporary operating arrangements. - Where an accessible copy is held away from the main premises. [How to prepare for Martyn’s Law](https://wardcote.co.uk/martyns-law/how-to-comply) · [What Martyn’s Law covers](https://wardcote.co.uk/martyns-law) ## Template section: essential activities and recovery priorities The Cabinet Office toolkit starts by identifying important activities and the resources supporting them. For each activity, decide how disruption would affect people and the organisation, then choose a realistic recovery priority. For a small venue, possible activities include contacting hirers, maintaining essential support services, dealing with bookings and paying staff or suppliers. Your own services determine the priorities. - Activity or service and the person responsible for it. - People who depend on it and the impact of interruption. - How long it could be unavailable before the impact becomes unacceptable. - The minimum level of service you would aim to maintain. - People, skills, premises, information and equipment needed. - Dependencies on utilities, technology, suppliers and other organisations. ## Template section: disruption scenarios and temporary arrangements Consider the loss of access to the building, key people, systems, utilities or suppliers. Record workable alternatives rather than assuming another venue, volunteer or contractor will be available. Check important arrangements with the people or organisations you would rely on. A proposed alternative is not an agreed arrangement until its availability and limitations have been established. - Building unavailable: which activities stop, move or continue another way. - Key person absent: deputies, essential skills and access to necessary information. - Booking or payment system unavailable: the temporary process and later reconciliation. - Power, water or communications disrupted: activities that can safely continue and those that cannot. - Supplier unavailable: alternatives and how they will be contacted. - Alternative premises: access, suitability and any safety or permission checks needed. ## Template section: contacts, information and communication Keep contact information usable if the normal office or computer is unavailable. Give access to the people who need it and handle personal and sensitive information appropriately. Agree who gives updates so that staff, volunteers and customers do not receive conflicting messages. Use verified information and explain what is known, what has changed and when another update is expected. - Staff, volunteer and trustee contacts, with deputies for key roles. - Venue operator, landlord, suppliers, insurers and relevant authority contacts. - A way to identify affected hirers, bookings or service users. - Fallback communication methods if the main phone or system fails. - Who updates the website, social media, telephone message or booking notices. - Access to essential records and arrangements for restoring information from backups. ## Template section: incident recovery and the Martyn’s Law connection After an incident, record who leads recovery, which services restart first and what must be checked before activities resume. ProtectUK recommends connecting response, continuity and recovery rather than treating them as unrelated documents. Martyn’s Law procedures concern reducing physical harm when terrorism is suspected on the premises or nearby. The continuity plan can pick up communication, disrupted bookings, temporary arrangements and recovery after that immediate response. A business continuity plan does not replace the four public protection procedures or the document required for enhanced-tier premises and qualifying events. At standard tier, Martyn’s Law does not require a written continuity plan. - How the recovery lead receives information from the incident lead. - Who confirms access arrangements and any restrictions on returning to the premises. - What checks are needed before each service restarts. - How affected people receive updates and support. - How decisions, costs and outstanding actions are recorded. - How the team decides that temporary arrangements can end. [The four public protection procedures](https://wardcote.co.uk/martyns-law/public-protection-procedures) · [Martyn’s Law for events](https://wardcote.co.uk/martyns-law/events) · [An event safety plan template](https://wardcote.co.uk/martyns-law/event-safety-plan-template) ## Template section: test, review and keep the plan usable Talk through a realistic disruption with the people who would respond. Try finding contacts and essential records without using the main office. Check a proposed workaround before relying on it during an incident. Give each gap an owner and a follow-up action. Update the plan when contacts, services, suppliers, systems or premises change, and review lessons after an exercise or real disruption. Martyn’s Law duties are not yet in force. The SIA expects spring 2027, with no exact date confirmed. This template supports wider preparation; it is not legal advice. [The standard-tier preparation checklist](https://wardcote.co.uk/martyns-law/standard-tier-checklist) · [An emergency evacuation plan template](https://wardcote.co.uk/martyns-law/evacuation-plan-template) · [Check your venue’s tier](https://wardcote.co.uk/check-your-tier) ## Questions ### What should a small-venue business continuity plan include? Identify essential activities, who leads, the resources needed, temporary arrangements, contacts, communication and recovery priorities. Keep the detail proportionate to the organisation. ### Is business continuity the same as an emergency evacuation plan? No. Evacuation arrangements address getting people away from danger. Continuity planning addresses maintaining or restoring important activities during the resulting disruption. The documents should connect. ### Does Martyn’s Law require a business continuity plan? Standard tier does not require a written business continuity plan. Its duties concern appropriate public protection procedures and SIA notification. Wider continuity planning can support the organisation’s response and recovery. ### Can a village hall or volunteer organisation use this template? Yes. The Cabinet Office toolkit is intended to help commercial and voluntary organisations. Adapt the outline to the services, people and resources on which your venue depends. ### How do we know whether the plan will work? Exercise the important arrangements, check contact details and test access to essential information. Record gaps and improvements, then update the plan when circumstances change. ## Sources - [Cabinet Office: business continuity management toolkit](https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a7b283de5274a34770e9d01/Business_Continuity_Managment_Toolkit.pdf) - [ProtectUK: emergency and business continuity checklist](https://www.protectuk.police.uk/advice-and-guidance/risk/emergency-and-business-continuity-checklist) - [ProtectUK: managing risk and business continuity](https://www.protectuk.police.uk/advice-and-guidance/risk/managing-risk-and-business-continuity) - [Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025: official text](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2025/10/pdfs/ukpga_20250010_en.pdf) - [Home Office statutory guidance](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-terrorism-protection-of-premises-act-2025/terrorism-protection-of-premises-act-2025-statutory-guidance) - [SIA: regulatory role and implementation timetable](https://www.gov.uk/guidance/understanding-martyns-law-and-the-sias-role-as-regulator) ## Related - [How to comply with Martyn’s Law](https://wardcote.co.uk/martyns-law/how-to-comply) - [Martyn’s Law crowd management and event security](https://wardcote.co.uk/martyns-law/events) - [The four public protection procedures](https://wardcote.co.uk/martyns-law/public-protection-procedures) - [Event safety plan template](https://wardcote.co.uk/martyns-law/event-safety-plan-template) - [Emergency evacuation plan template](https://wardcote.co.uk/martyns-law/evacuation-plan-template) - [Martyn’s Law compliance checklist for standard-tier venues](https://wardcote.co.uk/martyns-law/standard-tier-checklist) --- Source: https://wardcote.co.uk/martyns-law/business-continuity-plan-template · Last reviewed 2026-10-16 · Wardcote, venue and event security. General guidance, not legal advice.