Martyn’s Law checklist for pubs and bars

What to think about

• Work out your realistic peak: licence capacity, door counts or your busiest predictable nights — not your average Tuesday.
• Include staff, door team and collectors in the headcount.
• Beer gardens, smoking areas and door queues can matter to your procedures.
• Door staff instructions need to sit alongside your licence conditions.
• Private hire and ticketed events may change the picture for those nights.

Procedure focus

What evacuation, invacuation, lockdown and communication tend to hinge on in pubs and bars.

• Routes from the garden, function room and toilets — not just the main bar
• Bringing garden, smoking-area and pavement customers inside quickly
• Who kills the music and screens so instructions carry over a sports crowd
• A no-PA fallback: loud-voice script and bar–kitchen–garden–door relay

Common evidence gaps

The process gaps venues in this sector most often need to close — each one fixable, and worth a dated record once it is.

• GapCapacity recorded from a quiet midweek count, not the cup-final or Christmas peak
• GapBeer garden and pavement seating missing from the count and the procedures
• GapPlans assume door staff who only work Fridays and Saturdays
• GapNobody owns killing the music and screens so instructions can be heard
• GapTicketed one-offs booked without checking the 800-or-more qualifying-event branch