Our Story

Doug (Hunt) and Phil (Pethybridge) have worked in events for over 20 years; Phil starting out running small shows in basements and doing student radio and Doug building PA in his student digs and engineering for new bands on their first ever tours. Over the next couple of decades, they have produced and delivered small and large events for Music, Motorsport, Festivals, Corporate, Outdoor and Educational events – supporting small to large clients, worldwide.

Every event is unique and there is never a solution you can apply for all events but, regardless of the event, the aim was always to deliver the best outcome for the organiser and the attendees. Many events will be smooth and calm out front, hiding the frantic activity needed backstage to make everything happen.

 

In 2021, a solution was needed to sell tickets and offer accreditation for attendees, crew and performers to a brand-new independent festival in the UK. Doug identified plenty of ticket sellers on the market who sell tickets for you and in return take a percentage fee, building their own marketing lists at the same time. If you are a new or small event, it’s unlikely these sellers would provide you with the ticket money until just before (or even after) the event , which was undoubtably a problem for cash flow.

This particular festival wanted to make the best event happen while still keeping costs (very) low for customers and, for the organisers, knowing that they were able to protect customer data and still have consistent cash flow. To be able to make the entry process for everyone as smooth as possible was, however, another task…

 

So, Doug decided that rather than finding a partner to sell tickets for the event resulting in additional costs and risk, why not provide the tools so the event becomes the direct ticket seller?

Offbeat Tickets was born.

 

Offbeat does not sell tickets – it’s a digital platform where the event organiser is the ticket seller and the data controller, stripping back all the additions to reduce ticketing costs, help cash flow, and protect data.

 

For the customer, Offbeat offers a direct relationship with the event organiser, reduced data sharing and a clearer understanding of where their money goes.

 

As offbeat has evolved to work on music festivals, club nights, venues and with independent promoters, we have developed additional offers for some customers who may need an extra hand with: 

 

– Providing a customer service support email.

– The initial ticketing setup.

– Accreditation services at events (people and equipment).

 

Offbeat continues to develop but not at the expense of being affordable for our customers. If Offbeat can help small events grow through low costs and better cash flow, then that is good for the whole sector.