Exclusive: UK reseller site Twickets launching in Aus

Twickets, the UK fan-to-fan ticket resale platform that operates with a face-value policy, is launching in Australia in Autumn.

It has announced Danny Hannaford as Head of Australia, ahead of setting up a local website and app. He was previously Global Live’s Head of Ticketing. Hannaford relocates from the UK to Melbourne with a brief to forge partnerships with Australian promoters, artist managers and venues.

Launched in the UK six years ago in response to the huge market for unused tickets, Twickets has generated more than £2.7 million (AU$4.45 million) in ticket sales and 240,000 mobile app downloads since. It has over 500,000 users in the UK and is available on web, mobile and social.

Its ticket resale partners have included Adele, Mumford & Sons, One Direction, 5 Seconds of Summer, The 1975, and Catfish and The Bottlemen, as well as a number of UK festivals.

The company states, “Twickets fully protects its users with a guarantee against fraud and overpricing and serves to steer fans away from the exploitative secondary ticketing platforms.”

Australia is the first step in the company’s plans for international development, with additional launches in Spain and New York expected later this year.

This comes in the wake of Twickets raising over £1.2 million (AU$1.98 million) on equity crowdfunding platform Seedrs, from 900 new investors earlier this month.

Since its launch, Twickets has had a number of investors from across the entertainment and sport spheres including Bay and George Ezra, tennis champion Andy Murray, Chrysalis Records founder Chris Wright, Crystal Palace football club Chairman Steve Parish, former EMI Chairman Tony Wadsworth and the founders of artist management companies Ignite, Modest! and Wildlife.

Other strategies for 2017 include deals to integrate with myticket.co.uk and ticket agency Gigantic.

Its entry to Australia comes at a time when promoters Michael Chugg and Michael Gudinski have signalled their plans to approach the Government about protecting music fans from inflated prices and fraud from tickets posted on unauthorised resellers.

Chugg recently revealed 50 fans were turned away from a UB0 show in Fremantle because they had unauthorised tickets.

Hannaford has eight years experience in the live business. He set up the ticketing department at Global Live while running his own management company Don’t Sleep Management. Previously, he had assumed the position of ticketing manager at primary ticketing company AXS and box office manager at London’s Eventim Apollo.

Twickets founder Richard Davies said: “We are very excited about the launch in Australia and to welcome Danny to the team.

“Having someone as experienced in the ticketing market as him to head up the Australian operation is a big step towards Twickets’ goals for international development in 2017.”

Hannaford added: “Richard and I, along with the whole Twickets team, are looking forward to launching this new venture and helping event organisers, artists and fans exchange tickets fairly and safely.

“It’s an honour to be part of something truly changing the industry for the better and we are already having exciting conversations with some of Australia’s leading industry figures.”