Founder & Principal Consultant
Chris Fry
Chris Fry is a disability access consultant, Equality Act 2010 specialist and CEDR-accredited mediator. A former practising solicitor, he is the founder of Strategic Access Consulting and advises organisations in sport, music, entertainment and live events.
Current role and areas of expertise
Chris advises organisations in sport, music, entertainment and live events on their Equality Act 2010 obligations, with a focus on the anticipatory duty, reasonable adjustments, and the operational design of accessible customer experiences. His work translates shifting caselaw into specific, measurable changes to policy, practice and staff behaviour.
His areas of expertise include disability access auditing, reasonable adjustments design, indirect discrimination risk, accessible ticketing and companion policies, AI and digital systems and disabled customers, and disability mediation. He developed the Disability Impact & Risk Assessment, a proprietary audit tool, and the Dynamic Disability Assessment, an event-specific and individual access risk tool built on 15 years of accessibility caselaw.
Strategic Access Consulting
Strategic Access Consulting is the trading name of Strategic Access Advisory Limited, a specialist accessibility consultancy registered in England & Wales. It works with organisations from Premier League stadiums to West End theatres, turning the Equality Act 2010 into a genuine operational advantage rather than a compliance burden.
Services include compliance audits, insurance-backed subscription retainers, training programmes, and the Dynamic Disability Assessment. The firm serves organisations registered or trading under the law of England and Wales.
The Access Advantage
Chris writes The Access Advantage by Strategic Access Consulting, a monthly briefing that translates the most important caselaw and regulatory developments into operational language for senior decision-makers in sport, music, entertainment and live events. It covers accessibility law, operational accessibility, customer experience and commercial risk.
Subscribers get monthly briefings, direct access to ask one question per month answered personally, and first sight of every tool and framework before public release. The first month is free.
Read more about The Access Advantage or subscribe on Substack (opens in a new tab).
Latest articles by Chris Fry
The most recent articles and briefings, newest first.
The Problem with EMMA: Crash Test your Tech
When AI can't understand the customer, and what it means for every customer-facing business. Chris Fry on the Rotherham GP AI receptionist, the revised EHRC Code, and why AI doesn't remove the reasonable-adjustments duty, it can create a new one.
Read article →Could Your Venue Send an Accessible Emergency Alert?
When the Government's national alert hit millions of phones, it gave venues a live lesson in accessible communication at scale. Chris Fry on what emergency alerts teach festivals, sports grounds and venues about dynamic disability risk.
Read article →Disability, Dignity and the New Rules on Changing Spaces
The new rules on single-sex and shared changing spaces meet a renewed focus on dignity for disabled people. Chris Fry on where the two agendas collide, and what service providers need to get right.
Read article →Failure to Make Reasonable Adjustments Compensation: What the Courts Award and Why
Reasonable adjustments failures are the most common disability discrimination claims against service providers. Chris Fry on how compensation works, what Courts award, and the patterns that show up in real cases.
Read article →Reasonable Adjustments Examples: What Works in Sport, Music, Entertainment and Live Events
Most organisations understand they have a duty. Far fewer understand what a good reasonable adjustment looks like in practice. Chris Fry sets out real examples across sport, music, entertainment and live events, and the patterns that end up in Court.
Read article →The warning period has ended. The replacement statutory Code now applies.
On 5 August 2026, the EHRC's replacement Code of Practice for Services, Public Functions and Associations became statutory and the 2011 Code was revoked. Chris Fry explains what every service provider, venue and public body needs to do now.
Read article →Are American-Style Disability Testers Coming to the UK?
Strategic litigation is changing. Campaigners are already bringing multiple Equality Act claims, publishing litigation guides, and using Courts to challenge recurring operational failures across entire sectors. Chris Fry on the risk every UK venue should be thinking about now.
Read article →Plummer, Listed Buildings, and the “Cost Excuse”
“We can't afford it” is the most common reason organisations give for not making a reasonable adjustment. The County Court decision in Plummer v Royal Herbert Freehold Ltd shows why cost alone is rarely a defence. Chris Fry on what every venue and heritage site should take from it.
Read article →I'm Self-Diagnosed. Can I Use the Sensory Room?
Self-diagnosis is an operational reality for venues, stadiums, theatres and visitor attractions. Chris Fry examines what the Equality Act actually requires when a customer requests an adjustment based on a condition they haven't had formally diagnosed.
Read article →When Accessibility Works, Everybody Wins
Two events, thousands of customers, one simple lesson. Chris Fry attends two very different events and finds that when accessibility is designed in from the start, the whole experience improves, not just for disabled customers.
Read article →Passenger Assistance Isn't Delivered Until the Adjustment Actually Works
Recording a reasonable adjustment isn't the same as delivering it. Chris Fry examines Doug Paulley's GTR disability discrimination settlements and the operational lessons every service provider should take from them.
Read article →How to Audit Your Companion Ticket Policy
A practical review framework for sport, music, entertainment and live events organisations. Eight audit areas, specific review questions, common failures, and practical steps to fix them.
Read article →Notable cases and legal work
Chris has acted in reported cases before the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court, including cases that shaped disability rights law in England and Wales.
Disability, Judicial Review
| Case | Citation |
|---|---|
| R (Katherine Rowley) v Minister for the Cabinet Office | [2021] |
| Leighton v The Lord Chancellor | [2020] EWHC 336 (Admin) |
| Conway v Secretary of State for Justice | [2018] EWCA Civ 16 |
| Hamnett v Essex County Council | [2017] EWCA Civ 6 |
Disability, Private Law
| Case | Citation |
|---|---|
| Paulley v FirstGroup plc | [2017] UKSC 4 |
| Edwards v Flamingo Land Ltd | [2013] EWCA Civ 801 |
Parliamentary contributions
- ▸Bus Services Bill written evidence (BSB 14) — co-authored with Catherine Casserley, House of Commons, March 2017.
- ▸“Unequal impact? Coronavirus, disability and access to services” — Fry Law, April 2020.
Publications
- ▸Contributing author, Blackstone’s Guide to the Equality Act, Blackstone Publishing, 2021.
- ▸Contributing author, Disability Rights Handbook, Disability Rights UK, 2024.
Media coverage
Chris has been cited as a legal commentator on disability rights in national media. He was profiled in The Times as “Lawyer of the Week” on 9 February 2017, following the Supreme Court judgment in Paulley v FirstGroup plc.
ITV News · 2022
Man sues Sainsbury's for banning his assistance cat
BBC News · 2019
Royal Opera House loses appeal over viola player's hearing
BBC News · 2017
'Wheelchair v buggy': Disabled man wins Supreme Court case
BBC News · 2018
Deaf mum sues Little Mix promoter in sign language row
BBC News · 2018
Scouts pay out £42,000 over 11-year-old's autism claim
BBC News · 2018
One-legged golfer sues council-run course for discrimination
BBC News · 2016
Wheelchair dancer sues company over dance floor ban
BBC News · 2015
Halt city 'shared spaces', says report by Lord Holmes
Mediation qualifications
Chris is a CEDR-accredited mediator (Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution). He holds postgraduate legal practice qualifications and brings a mediation-led approach to resolving disability access disputes without recourse to litigation where possible.
Professional history
Chris is a former practising solicitor. Across his legal career he trained seven legal professionals who went on to qualify and practise, and qualified as a CEDR-accredited mediator. Former professional memberships and fellowships include Regional Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine, Fellow of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL), member of the American Bar Association, and member of the Clinical Practice Board at the University of Sheffield.
Early career
Wake Smith Solicitors
Became the firm's youngest ever partner.
2010/11
Sheffield Law Society, President
Youngest ever President. Developed the Next Generation diversity initiative. Hosted a Cutlers' Hall dinner attended by Lord Justice Leveson, the largest civic event the society has hosted, with 350 guests. Trebled membership.
2010
Unity Law, Co-founder
Co-founded to make legal services more accessible and straightforward for clients.
2017
Fry Law, Founder
Focused on disability rights and equality law. Direct precursor to Strategic Access Advisory Limited.
At a glance
- Based inSheffield, England
- FirmStrategic Access Consulting
- Legal entityStrategic Access Advisory Limited
- QualifiedCEDR-accredited Mediator
- CourtsCourt of Appeal, Supreme Court
- Former PresidentSheffield Law Society 2010/11
Sailing
Away from professional life, Chris is a national-level competitive sailor in the Enterprise dinghy class and holds an RYA Instructor qualification. He raced as part of the Hallamshire Sailing Club team and was sponsored by McNamara Sails, Speed Sails, JJ Boats, Oakley, and Ronstan.
He holds multiple wins at the Southport 24-Hour Race and competed in the 2010 Endeavour Trophy, the UK’s premier inter-class sailing championship. He is Enterprise Fleet Captain at Ogston Sailing Club, Derbyshire, and leads the club’s 24-hour race team. He is also the founder of Advanced Race Coaching Limited.
He held membership at the Royal Windermere Yacht Club, where he sailed an RS100 and crewed in a Flying Fifteen.
Enterprise GBR 20900 at Ogston Reservoir
Work with Chris
Strategic Access Consulting works with organisations in sport, music, entertainment and live events to turn Equality Act compliance into genuine operational advantage. A 20-minute discovery call is the fastest way to find out whether it’s the right fit for your organisation.
Book a discovery call