# Martyn’s Law for pubs and hospitality venues > Count people across your pub, bar, restaurant or café, including staff and the beer garden. Check your tier and prepare your next steps. Pubs, bars, restaurants and cafés can qualify because selling food or drink for consumption on the premises is a qualifying use. Subject to the other premises tests, expected peaks of 200–799 people mean standard tier and 800 or more mean enhanced tier. Count staff and relevant outdoor areas as well as customers. The aim of the law is that, if there were ever an attack during a busy service, your team would know how to help customers to safety. ## At a glance - **Likely tier**: Depends on the greatest reasonably expected number present together. - **Outdoor areas**: Land used with the building, such as a beer garden, counts. - **Capacity**: Licence restrictions are one possible counting method, not an automatic answer. - **When**: Expected in spring 2027; the exact date is not set. ## Check the whole premises Qualifying premises must include a building, be wholly or mainly used for a qualifying activity, reasonably expect 200 or more people at once from time to time, and not be excluded. A venue below that expected threshold falls outside scope. Include land used with the building. A beer garden or dining terrace can change your total, even when the indoor area holds fewer than 200. Establish the premises boundary before comparing your number with a threshold. [Check your tier](https://wardcote.co.uk/check-your-tier) ## Count busy shifts and predictable event nights Look at bank holidays, summer weekends, booked functions and other predictable peaks. Count employees, contractors and volunteers in the qualifying use areas alongside customers. Use people present together, not the number of covers served across a shift. Licence capacity restrictions are one possible method. Other examples include safe occupancy, attendance records, seating and ticket information. Choose a reasonable, evidenced approach and add staff where the method excludes them. Do not simply copy a customer capacity into your notification. - Check whether indoor and outdoor customers are present at the same time. - Include bar, kitchen and other staff in the qualifying use areas. - Explain how expected event-night numbers compare with ordinary trading. [Compare counting methods](https://wardcote.co.uk/martyns-law/counting-people) ## Identify the operator behind the venue The responsible person is whoever controls the premises in connection with their qualifying use. Do not assume the licence holder or shift manager is automatically the responsible person: look at the organisation and actual control arrangements. Where landlords, tenants or different operators have roles, establish who controls the relevant use and who needs to co-operate. More than one responsible person can exist and must co-ordinate. Delegating work to a manager or adviser does not transfer legal responsibility. [Understand the responsible person](https://wardcote.co.uk/martyns-law/responsible-person) ## Prepare procedures for a busy service At standard tier, the duties are SIA notification and appropriate procedures, so far as reasonably practicable, for evacuation, moving people to a safer place inside, preventing entry or exit, and communication when terrorism is suspected. Walk through a busy service with the people who would act. Consider customers spread between the bar, dining room and garden, music that makes speech difficult, and shifts with different staff. Identify who can operate doors and how instructions would reach the outdoor area. Standard tier requires neither a formal risk assessment nor a written plan, and does not require CCTV or searches. Documenting procedures is recommended. Staff with roles must know them and have the tools to act; paid third-party training is not mandatory. [Prepare the four procedures](https://wardcote.co.uk/martyns-law/public-protection-procedures) · [Read the standard-tier checklist](https://wardcote.co.uk/martyns-law/standard-tier-checklist) ## Distinguish occasional large nights from one-off events If 800 or more people are reasonably expected from time to time, the premises are enhanced tier. A few predictable large nights can matter; ordinary quieter trading does not cancel out those peaks. A genuine one-off event at standard-tier or out-of-scope premises may instead be a qualifying event, but only if every event criterion is met. Public access and 800 people are not enough on their own. Checks on payment, tickets, passes or membership or guest status are also required. Enhanced duties add assessed public protection measures and a required written document. Where the responsible person is an organisation, a designated senior individual is also required. [Read the event criteria](https://wardcote.co.uk/martyns-law/events) · [Understand enhanced tier](https://wardcote.co.uk/martyns-law/enhanced-tier) ## Start with numbers, then choose support Core duties are not yet enforceable. Commencement is expected in spring 2027, with no exact date set. Gather your counting evidence, operator details and relevant licence information for notification preparation. The law does not require software or specialist services. Wardcote helps standard-tier venues prepare procedures, staff briefings, records and notification. For enhanced-tier venues and qualifying events, Wardcote arranges support from an experienced team it works with. [Wardcote’s standard-tier software](https://wardcote.co.uk/pricing) · [Enhanced tier support](https://wardcote.co.uk/enhanced-tier-assessment) ## Questions ### Does the beer garden count towards Martyn’s Law? Yes, land used with the building counts. Assess how many people are reasonably expected across the premises at once. ### Can we use our licence capacity to decide our tier? Licence restrictions are one possible counting method. The method must be reasonable and evidenced, and you need to include staff where the figure excludes them. ### Do kitchen and bar staff count? Staff in the qualifying use areas count, including employees, contractors and volunteers. Do not count customers alone. ### Does every ticketed pub event need separate notification? No. Only qualifying events are notified, and an event must meet every qualifying-event criterion. Events at enhanced-tier premises do not need individual event notification. ## Sources - [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) - [Home Office: methods for counting people](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-terrorism-protection-of-premises-act-2025/non-statutory-supplementary-document-a-methods-for-assessing-the-reasonable-expectation-of-individuals-present-at-the-premises-and-events-accessible) - [Home Office myth buster](https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/69281f35b3b9afff34e960f0/martyns-law-mythbuster.pdf) - [SIA: implementation and regulator role](https://www.gov.uk/guidance/understanding-martyns-law-and-the-sias-role-as-regulator) ## Related - [How to count people for Martyn’s Law](https://wardcote.co.uk/martyns-law/counting-people) - [Martyn’s Law standard tier: what you need to do](https://wardcote.co.uk/martyns-law/standard-tier) - [Martyn’s Law enhanced tier: requirements](https://wardcote.co.uk/martyns-law/enhanced-tier) - [Martyn’s Law crowd management and event security](https://wardcote.co.uk/martyns-law/events) --- Source: https://wardcote.co.uk/martyns-law/pubs-and-hospitality · Last reviewed 2026-10-16 · Wardcote, venue and event security. General guidance, not legal advice.