On the evening of 22 May 2017, more than 14,000 people packed Manchester Arena to see Ariana Grande. The majority were teenagers, many there with their parents. It was the kind of night that people look forward to for months. Music, excitement, the shared joy of a crowd.
At 10:31pm, as the concert ended and people began making their way out, an explosion tore through the City Room foyer. Twenty-two people were killed and more than a thousand were injured. It was the deadliest terrorist attack in the United Kingdom since the 7 July 2005 London bombings.
In the weeks and months that followed, the events and venue industry faced a question it had never been formally required to answer: what obligation do those who open their doors to thousands of people have to protect them? There was no legal requirement to have meaningful counter-terrorism plans in place. No duty to prepare. No obligation to think seriously about what a venue would do if the worst happened.
Twenty-two lives lost
Each of the 22 people killed that night had people who loved them. Parents who had dropped them off and were waiting for them to come home. Friends who had been with them in the crowd. Children who would grow up without them. Each one left behind a hole that nothing could fill.
Among them was Martyn Hett. He was 29 years old, from Stockport, and was known and loved by everyone around him.
His mother, Figen Murray, would spend the next six years making sure his name, and the names of the 21 people who died alongside him, would not be forgotten.
December 2018: The moment that started a campaign
Figen launched a petition calling for new legislation. Legislation that would require public venues to have proper security measures and emergency plans in place. She named it Martyn’s Law, in memory of her son. The petition gathered more than 23,000 signatures.
She quickly understood that a petition alone would not be enough. She worked with co-campaigners including Brendan Cox, co-founder of Survivors Against Terror, and Nick Aldworth, a former senior counter-terrorism policing lead, to develop the original proposals and move the campaign from public backing into genuine policy development. Figen also enrolled in a master’s degree in counter terrorism, channelling her grief into understanding the landscape she was trying to change.
2019- 2020: Early momentum
In 2019, Prime Minister Boris Johnson committed to introducing the legislation. Manchester City Council became the first authority in the country to voluntarily adopt early measures, a moment Figen described as ‘massive’ adding: “To me it’s massive because I have been working so hard with a lot of other wonderful people on this”
The government backed the plans publicly. Security Minister Brandon Lewis confirmed that the Prime Minister, Home Secretary, and Security Minister were “all 100% behind Figen” and committed to making Martyn’s Law a reality for all public venues across the UK.
But progress was about to be interrupted.
2020 – 2021: Covid, delays, and a public inquiry
In February 2021, the Home Office launched a public consultation on what it called the Protect Duty – the working name for what would become Martyn’s Law. The consultation sought views on whether public venues should be legally required to consider the threat of terrorism and take proportionate steps to protect people. The response was overwhelmingly supportive.
May 2022: A Queen’s Speech commitment
The Queen’s Speech in May 2022 confirmed the government’s intention to introduce a Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill. A draft Bill was subsequently published for pre-legislative scrutiny. A joint committee of MP’s and peers examined the proposals and made recommendations, including adjustments to the capacity thresholds and scope of the legislation.
May 2024: 200 miles on foot
In May 2024, Figen made one final, visible push. On 7 May she set off from the spot where Martyn died and walked 200 miles to Downing Street, arriving on 22 May, the seventh anniversary of the attack. She wanted to look the Prime Minister in the eye and call for the implementation of Martyn’s Law.
She said, “No parent should have to experience the pain and loss I’ve felt.”
April 2025: Royal Assent
On 3 April 2025, the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025 received Royal Assent and became law.
It had taken 6 years of relentless campaigning, petitions, public inquiries, consultations, draft bills, and one extraordinary 200-mile walk. When the moment finally came, Figen said, “My son Martyn Hett was murdered alongside 21 innocent victims in the Manchester Arena terror attack on 22 May 2017, and whilst nothing will bring Martyn back, I am determined to ensure nobody endures what my family has experienced. For the last six years I have campaigned to introduce measures that will improve security at public venues and how they respond to a terror attack- Martyn’s Law.”
Prime Minister Keir Starmer met with Figen at Downing Street, telling her: “To have turned Martyn’s loss into a law, I hope you feel this is a proper legacy for Martyn.”
April 2026: Guidance published
In April 2026, the Home Office published statutory guidance to help venues and organisations understand what Martyn’s Law requires of them and how to begin preparing. The Security Industry Authority continues to build its regulatory function ahead of enforcement, which is expected no earlier than April 2027.
Nine years on
Today, on the ninth anniversary of the attack, the landscape looks different to how it did that night. The law exists. The guidance has been published. The obligation — to think, to plan, to prepare — is now written into statute.
But a law is only as meaningful as what happens next. Thousands of venues across the UK are now working through what Martyn’s Law requires of them: not just putting a plan on paper, but making sure that if something were to happen, every person in the building would know where to go and what to do. That requires clear, reliable communication — something that cannot be improvised in the chaos of a critical incident.
It is worth asking honestly: if an emergency unfolded in your venue today, how would you reach everyone? Not just the people near a fire alarm, or those who happen to see a staff member. Everyone. The person in the back of the hall. The visitor who doesn’t speak English as a first language. The staff member on the far side of the building. The guest in a noisy environment who can’t hear an announcement.
That question is at the heart of what Audiebant was built to answer. Our mass communication and emergency response system is designed precisely for the moments when getting the right message to the right people — instantly, clearly, and without confusion — is the difference between a controlled response and a crisis. Audio announcements, screen alerts, and mobile notifications working together across an entire site, so that no one is left without the information they need.
Martyn’s Law doesn’t prescribe which technology venues must use. What it does require is that venues have a credible, tested plan. For many, building that plan will mean looking seriously at how they communicate in an emergency — and whether the systems they currently have are genuinely fit for that purpose.
Figen Murray has said that the law should not have needed to exist. She is right. But it does exist now, and with it comes a real opportunity: for every venue, every event, every public space to take the duty of care it owes the people who walk through its doors seriously — not because they have to, but because those people deserve nothing less.
