London, 3rd November 2023 Tickets For Good—the leading platform providing free and heavily discounted tickets for the UK’s top live events to NHS, charity sector workers and recipients of cost-of-living benefits—announces the appointment of senior music industry executives Don Orris and Will Mills to its Advisory Board.
Orris previously served as Ticketmaster EVP and Live Nation Core Ticketing Group SVP and brings with him some 17 years at the top level of the live music business. He joins the advisory board to increase the presence and inventory of Tickets For Good in the US as it plans expansion and launch in the territory following recent investment.
Mills, a former senior executive at Shazam and LyricFind has over 20 years of experience building market-leading music and technology companies as an executive, advisor and investor at companies including Endlesss, Audoo and Musiio. At Tickets For Good, he will strengthen the company’s partnership and commercial efforts as it closes its current £2m funding round this year.
Earlier in 2023, Tickets for Good announced news of Robbie Williams and ie:ventures joining as one of its largest investors, adding to existing investors Bethnal Green Ventures and Comcast SportsTech. Business expansion followed with the launch of its nationwide Ticket Bank programme, for those in receipt of UK Government cost-of-living payments.
Tickets For Good has over 250,000 registered users and has processed over 300,000 free and discounted tickets. Its mission also helps to drive audience development, social impact and sustainable revenues across the live and nighttime industries.
Don Orris says:
As Tickets For Good prepares to launch in North America, I’m proud to contribute to this important business as a senior advisor, with this team of good people doing great things in an amazing industry.
The mission of helping clients utilise additional inventory while making a positive contribution to the community is a worthy one; putting fans in seats that are deserving recipients through deed or those in need.
Will Mills adds:
Live Music is one of the biggest and fastest-growing sectors of the global music business and Tickets For Good is solving the problem of 40% inventory going unsold and getting that inventory to those in need of a great night out through their innovative business model. I’m excited to join Tickets For Good during this key growth period to help take the business to the next level, commercially and globally.
Stephen Rimmer, Founder and CEO of Tickets For Good, comments:
Adding Don and Will to our Advisory Board underlines the strength of our mission-driven business strategy. As we close out our latest round of funding and work towards our launch in the US, their insights and experience will be indispensable.
Partnerships with over 500 live events companies enables Tickets For Good to increase the accessibility of live entertainment for its members who sign up to the platform for free and can secure tickets by paying a small booking fee.
Current partners include AEG Presents, El Dorado, Generator Live, Parklife, Strawberries & Creem and Tramlines. TfG has featured tickets for Billie Eilish, Ed Sheeran, Sam Smith, the English Chamber Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra and Regents Opera.
Sporting partners include England Rugby, PGA, and The Premier League, with TfG users already enjoying events with London Lions, international football matches, and the Women’s EURO 2022 tournament. Wider events partners take in the likes of Just For Laughs Comedy Festival and the London Craft Beer Festival.
Research published in October 2023 (commissioned by Music Venue Trust associate and mobility app FreeNow, via OnePoll) found that ‘68% of those surveyed said the cost of living had negatively impacted the number of gigs they had attended in 2023’, and that 88% noted that live music experiences positively impact their mental health. The survey also suggested that live gigs are the top leisure pursuit of choice for adults, over pub gatherings and weddings, and that ‘the typical concert buff has been to nearly four gigs this year, with three more planned for the remainder of 2023.’
ENDS
NOTES TO EDITORS
Tickets for Good initially launched the ‘Ticket Bank’ program in 2019 for charity partners, allowing venues, promoters and event organisers to upload free tickets for local charities and social groups. As the world adapted to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, they began work on a new service that would allow for tickets to be pledged directly to NHS workers.
The company now has over 250,000 registered users who have saved almost $10 million in face value fees with over 300,000 tickets processed.
Initial partners for the NHS platform included Digital Health London and NHS England & Improvement. This led to an immediate success with huge demand from NHS staff being matched by venues and promoters, who flocked to pledge tickets as soon as events could operate again.
The platform now hosts a huge range of events including high-profile live sports, music, and theatre. Internationally acclaimed festival Tramlines has pledged tickets, as has The Cambridge Club Festival which gave over 1000’s tickets to NHS staff in 2021 with an expanded programme in 2022 that has also piloted giving tickets to key workers. Tickets for Good have also made progress in the world of sport including tickets for boxing, rugby football and more. Last year, over 800 NHS staff went to watch the London Lions basketball game in a partnership that has seen thousands of new supporters for the East London-based team.
Theatre tickets are widely available on the platform with hotly demanded tickets for shows at renowned venues like The Old Vic and The National Theatre. On the music side, in addition to the many festival tickets, there are also plenty of live and electronic music gigs. A partnership with LWE (London Warehouse Events) has seen free tickets for huge dance music events at the Tobacco Dock and E1 amongst other venues.
The Tickets for Good user base, includes NHS students, NHS staff, NHS contractors, charity workers, volunteers and people affected by the Cost of Living Crisis.
Tickets for Good has received extensive industry recognition including winning the ‘Impact Award’ in 2022 from the Ticketing Business Forum and in October 2023 it was named as one of the ‘Tech Companies to Watch in 2023’ by Prolific North. CEO and Founder Steve Rimmer won the pitch competition at Wallifornia in July 2023. Steve’s pitch was judged to be the best of 12 startups by a panel of industry experts at their annual Music and Innovation Summit in Belgium.
Earlier this year, Tickets for Good triumphed over hundreds of applicants worldwide and secured a spot on the coveted SportsTech Accelerator Programme from Comcast NBCUniversal. This inclusion will help Tickets for Good move into the US market.
TicketsForGood.org
