Safety Cannot Be a Luxury

How smaller and mid-sized venues can build safer, more compliant technology infrastructure without Premier League budgets

There is a version of venue safety that is relatively straightforward. You commission a full survey. You replace the network. You modernise the control room. You upgrade CCTV, public address, radio coverage, access control and digital signage. Then you integrate everything onto one platform.

The proposal looks excellent. Unfortunately, it also costs £500,000.

For a Premier League club, national museum or major arena, that may be achievable. Many already operate within demanding frameworks shaped by governing bodies, licensing authorities and organisations such as the Sports Grounds Safety Authority, UEFA, FIFA and the British Horseracing Authority.

But most UK venues do not operate with that level of funding. What about the lower-league football club welcoming several thousand supporters on a Saturday? The regional racecourse running a handful of major meetings each year? The independent arena, theatre, conference centre or civic venue working with ageing systems and a restricted capital budget?

Their visitors still need protecting. Their teams still need to communicate. Their technology still needs to work when something goes wrong. That is the real infrastructure challenge facing a large part of the UK venue market.

Martyn’s Law Changes the Conversation

The Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025, commonly known as Martyn’s Law, received Royal Assent on 3 April 2025. The substantive duties have not yet commenced, but the implementation period is intended to give venues time to understand the requirements and prepare.

The legislation is built around proportionality. Qualifying premises and events will need to consider measures that are appropriate and reasonably practicable for their circumstances, rather than purchase a prescribed list of products. That distinction matters.

Martyn’s Law should not become another technology shopping exercise. A venue does not become safer simply because it owns more cameras, speakers, radios or screens. It becomes safer when its people, procedures and technology work together to identify an issue, make a decision and communicate an instruction clearly.

The real question is not how much equipment a venue needs to buy. It is what the venue must be able to do, what prevents it from doing that today and where investment will reduce the greatest risk.

Most Venues Are Not Starting From Nothing

Smaller venues often already have much of the technology they need. They have CCTV, a public address system, radios, displays, an IT network and somewhere from which an event is managed. The problem is that these systems have often been purchased independently, over many years, by different departments and for different purposes.

The CCTV system may provide good images but poor coverage of arrival routes. The public address system may work during a quiet test but become difficult to understand once the venue is full. Radios may operate perfectly in the stands but lose coverage in corridors, service areas or outside the ground. Digital signage may be capable of displaying an emergency message, but nobody is quite sure who can trigger it or how quickly it can be changed.

Every system technically exists. Collectively, however, the venue may still struggle to answer four basic questions. Can we see what is happening? Can the right people communicate? Can we make a coordinated decision? Can we give visitors clear instructions? That gap is not always solved by replacing everything. More often, it is solved by understanding the venue as one operational system.

Compliance Is a Capability, Not a Product

Football grounds, racecourses, rugby clubs, cricket grounds, theatres, museums and conference venues all operate in different environments. They have different governing bodies, safety requirements, visitor journeys and operational pressures. But the underlying capabilities are remarkably similar.

A venue must be able to understand what is happening, coordinate its response and communicate with the public. AV infrastructure sits at the centre of that capability. It connects CCTV images with decision-making. It links public address announcements to evacuation, invacuation and lockdown procedures. It helps distribute information to concourses, hospitality areas, entrances and external spaces. It supports communication between stewards, security, medical teams, facilities, event leadership and the emergency services.

AV is not the whole answer to compliance. But without dependable communication and situational awareness, even the strongest safety plan can quickly become a folder on a shelf.

Start With the Moments That Matter

When budgets are limited, venues cannot modernise everything equally. Nor should they try. The starting point should be the moments where delay, confusion or system failure could cause the greatest harm.

Imagine a suspicious item being reported outside the main entrance while visitors are still arriving. An incident takes place in one part of the venue and people need to be directed away from it without creating congestion elsewhere. An evacuation route becomes unavailable. The control room needs to communicate different instructions to the public, stewards and people outside the building. A radio failure means teams cannot be reached in part of the venue.

These scenarios expose the real weaknesses in the infrastructure. They also provide a much better basis for investment. Instead of asking whether the venue needs a new public address system, ask whether announcements can be heard and understood in every critical area. Instead of asking whether there are enough cameras, ask whether an incident can be identified, followed and communicated throughout the visitor journey. Instead of asking whether the digital signage is modern, ask whether authorised staff can use it quickly to reinforce a safety instruction. This is how a venue moves from owning technology to possessing operational capability.

The Challenge Is Prioritisation, Not Ambition

The people running smaller venues are not less serious about safety than those operating national stadiums and major arenas. They are simply working within a different commercial reality. They may have an ageing estate, limited capital, short installation windows and several departments competing for the same investment. They cannot always replace every legacy system. They cannot close the venue for months. They cannot resolve every weakness in one financial year. And they cannot afford to spend money in the wrong order.

A smaller venue does not need a miniature version of the solution designed for a Premier League club. It needs a plan built around its own risks, estate, people and available funding.

That requires judgement. Which weaknesses create the greatest exposure? Which existing systems can continue to be used? What needs addressing now, and what can sensibly wait? Which improvements will support future phases? Where is resilience essential? Where would investment be little more than cosmetic?

These are not primarily product questions. They are questions of risk, operational design and sequencing.

A Limited Budget Cannot Afford a Dead End

One of the greatest risks for smaller venues is the emergency purchase. A concern is identified. Funding is found. A system is bought quickly. The immediate problem appears to have been solved.

Three years later, the venue owns another isolated platform with its own software, support agreement, cabling and replacement cycle. Affordable investment does not mean buying the cheapest solution. It means avoiding expenditure that will need to be repeated.

Every project should consider whether the new system can work with the infrastructure already in place, whether it can be expanded later and whether the venue has the people and support needed to operate it properly. Good design is not a luxury for smaller venues. It is what protects the value of every pound spent.

Build the Plan Around the Venue You Actually Have

The right infrastructure plan should not begin with a manufacturer’s catalogue. It should begin with the venue. How do visitors arrive, enter, move around and leave? Where are the busiest and most vulnerable areas? Who makes decisions during an incident? Who needs information? How are instructions communicated to staff, contractors, stewards and visitors? Which systems are dependable, and which are becoming a liability?

From there, the venue can create a phased roadmap that addresses the most important risks first while ensuring each improvement contributes to the wider picture. That is far more useful than a wish list.

It gives a COO something credible to take to the board. It gives a security leader a clear operational rationale. It gives an AV lead a plan that can be delivered in sensible stages. Most importantly, it gives the venue a route forward that reflects its actual circumstances.

The Industry Needs a Different Conversation

Too much of the technology industry is built around showing customers what is possible. Smaller and mid-sized venues need partners who understand what is practical.

They do not need to be made to feel inadequate because they cannot approve a £500,000 transformation programme. They need someone willing to understand the venue they have, the risks they face and the budget available. They need someone prepared to work out what should be retained, what should change and in what order those changes should happen.

Sometimes the answer will be a major system replacement. Sometimes it will be better use of existing infrastructure, targeted upgrades, clearer procedures and more rigorous testing. Usually, it will be a combination of all four. The measure of a good plan is not how much technology it contains. It is whether the venue can see the problem, make the decision, communicate the instruction and keep people safe.

That capability should not be reserved for the wealthiest clubs, arenas and national institutions. Safety cannot become something only the biggest venues can afford.

If your venue is assessing its communication, situational awareness or control-room infrastructure, CTI can help you evaluate the systems already in place, identify the improvements that matter most and build a phased technology roadmap around your venue, budget and responsibilities.