Do You Need Security Guards or Door Staff for Martyn's Law?

Does Martyn's Law Require Security Guards?

No. Under the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025, a standard tier venue doesn't have to employ security guards, door supervisors, or bouncers. Standard tier covers venues expecting between 200 and 799 people at once, including staff and volunteers, and it has exactly two duties.

1. Notify the Security Industry Authority (SIA) that you're responsible for the premises.
2. Have public protection procedures in place, so far as is reasonably practicable, for evacuation, invacuation (bringing people inside, or to safer parts of the building), lockdown, and communication.

That's the whole list. Standard tier doesn't require bag searches, vehicle checks, or monitoring. It doesn't require CCTV, barriers, metal detectors, or changes to the building. And there's no mandatory training course or qualification for your team. The Home Office standard duty factsheet says compliance needs 'neither particular expertise nor the use of third-party products or services'.

Above 799 a venue is enhanced tier, which carries heavier duties and is outside the scope of this guide. If you're not sure which side of the line you're on, the capacity calculator will tell you.

Is SIA Door Supervisor Licensing Part of Martyn's Law?

No. Door supervisor licensing comes from the Private Security Industry Act 2001, and it's a separate regime from Martyn's Law. The confusion is understandable, because the same regulator runs both. The SIA has licensed door supervisors for years, and Martyn's Law gives it a second, unrelated job as regulator of venues.

Two things follow. Martyn's Law doesn't make you employ anyone who holds an SIA licence. And if you already do, those licences don't meet either of your duties by themselves. You still have to notify the SIA as the venue's responsible person, and you still need procedures that fit your building. Six licensed door supervisors with no plan between them isn't compliance.

What About the Martyn's Law Security Packages?

You don't need one to comply. Plenty of security companies now sell guarding and training under a Martyn's Law banner, and some of that is useful to some venues. But for a standard tier venue, none of it is a legal requirement.

A useful test is what an SIA inspector is expected to look at. From the guidance published so far, an inspection of a standard tier venue should centre on whether you've notified the SIA, whether procedures exist for all four areas, whether they make sense for your building, and whether your staff and volunteers can explain them. Physical security measures, bought-in products, and consultancy reports aren't on that list. The SIA's own guidance on how it will inspect isn't final yet, so treat this as the current expectation rather than a promise.

So if a sales pitch says a venue your size must have guards on the door to be compliant, that isn't what the Act says. Paying for security can still make sense for reasons of your own, like crowd management or a condition on your licence. Just don't buy it because you think Martyn's Law demands it. We've set out what the law does and doesn't ask you to spend money on in what Martyn's Law compliance costs.

We Already Have Door Staff. How Do They Fit In?

If you already use door supervisors, they're probably the best-prepared people in your building for this. To renew a door supervisor licence, the SIA requires refresher training that includes terror threat awareness, plus ACT Awareness and ACT Security e-learning certificates completed within the past year. That's counter-terrorism training you didn't have to organise.

Their usual job also lines up with your procedures. They control the entrances, which makes them the obvious people to lock them. Door teams are often on radios already, so you have a way to start the response without alarming the room.

And they watch the queue. Hostile reconnaissance is the information-gathering someone does before an attack, and spotting it is the best chance to disrupt one. The SCaN training on ProtectUK teaches the 'Power of Hello': approach, make eye contact, ask if you can help. If the person is innocent, that's just good service. If they aren't, they now know they've been noticed.

Your procedures also have to cover the area just outside the doors. The Act applies them to incidents at the premises or in its 'immediate vicinity', so a queue or a smoking area on the pavement is part of the picture, and door staff are the people standing in it.

None of this happens by default, though. Their licence training covers the threat in general. It says nothing about your building. Write each door supervisor's role into your procedures (who secures which entrance, who brings the queue inside, who meets the police) and brief them on it like everyone else. That matters most with agency door staff, who may never have seen your fire exits. Your procedures have to reach the people who'd carry them out, and agency and contract staff count.

One more thing: write the plan for your quietest staffed night, not your busiest. A lockdown that needs four door supervisors falls apart on a Tuesday with one. If the small version works, the Saturday version is the same plan with more people.

What Should Venues Without Door Staff Do Instead?

Nominate people you already have. Every job a door supervisor would do in an incident can be given to a named staff member or volunteer on shift: usually the duty manager, someone behind the bar, a front-of-house lead, or a keyholder. The duty is to do what's reasonably practicable for your venue, and that takes account of how your venue is staffed.

For each of the four procedures, decide who does what:

• Evacuation: who decides to get people out, and who guides them to exits away from the danger. That may not be your fire assembly point.
• Invacuation: who brings people inside, or into a safer room, if the threat is outside.
• Lockdown: who secures each entrance, by name or by role, and how. The Act doesn't require new equipment, so start with the locks, bolts, and shutters you already have.
• Communication: who raises the alert, how staff and volunteers hear about it (a code word, a group chat, a radio, the PA), and who calls 999.

Then make sure each of those people knows their part. That doesn't need a course. A briefing at the start of a shift and a walk round the building will do more than a certificate. If you want some background training on top, the government's ACT Awareness e-learning is free and takes about 45 minutes. Our ACT training guide explains how to fit it in, and is there an official Martyn's Law course covers what's optional and what isn't.

What If My Premises Licence Requires Door Staff?

Then you still need them, for the licence. Conditions on a premises licence under the Licensing Act 2003 are a separate obligation from Martyn's Law, and this guide doesn't touch them. If you're unsure what your licence asks for, check it with your licensing authority.

Licensed venues often have a head start, though. The Licensing Act already makes you think about crime and disorder and public safety, so you may already have fire procedures and occupancy limits in place. What Martyn's Law adds is usually the part those don't cover: keeping people inside when the danger is outside (invacuation), and securing the doors (lockdown).

Door Staff by Venue Type

How much this matters depends on the venue. Our guide for nightclubs and late-night bars works through a full example with a door team on radios. The music venues guide covers venues with and without door supervisors, and the pubs guide covers busy weekend nights and beer gardens.

When Do I Need to Have This Sorted?

Martyn's Law isn't in force yet. Commencement is expected Spring 2027, and the government hasn't announced a date. Once the notification duty starts, a standard tier venue has three months from that day to notify the SIA. The notification portal isn't open yet, so nobody can do that for you now.

Deciding who on your team does what doesn't need to wait, though. It's the slowest part to get right, because it depends on rotas, and it's the part an inspector is expected to check by asking your staff and volunteers.

Writing Door Staff Into Your Procedures

Standard Tier drafts your procedures document from your answers in 10 minutes. It then gives your staff and volunteers, door team included, a training portal that works on their phones, and keeps a record of who's completed it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Official Sources

• Standard duty requirements factsheet (Home Office)
• Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025: statutory guidance (Home Office, April 2026)
• Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025, section 5
• Changes to SIA licence-linked training (SIA)
• Understanding Martyn's Law and the SIA's role as regulator
• ProtectUK training catalogue (ACT and SCaN)

Related Guides

• Write your public protection procedures
• See what Martyn's Law actually costs
• Read the nightclubs and late-night bars guide