Skiddle is a

primary ticket outlet A primary ticket outlet is an organization that contracts directly with venues and promoters to sell event tickets on its behalf. Primary ticket outlets have a direct relationship with the owner of a venue or event. They will often use software to ...

and online events guide based in the UK, with offices in

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and Preston dealing with event bookings, registrations, promotion and online ticket sales. It concentrates its core business in the three main areas of gigs, clubs and festivals, plus lifestyle events such as food and drink, sports, days out and entertainment. The company has a gross turnover in excess of £100 million and over 70 employees.

History

Skiddle was launched in May 2001 initially as a ''What's on Guide'' for Preston in

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

. It was incorporated as Skiddle Ltd in January 2006. In February 2014, Skiddle acquired new premises in

Longridge Longridge is a market town and civil parish in the borough of Ribble Valley in Lancashire, England. It is situated north-east of the city of Preston, at the western end of Longridge Fell, a long ridge above the River Ribble. The nearest vi ...

to support expansion. In August 2015, Skiddle launched an

iOS Ios, Io or Nio (, ; ; locally Nios, Νιός) is a Greek island in the Cyclades group in the Aegean Sea. Ios is a hilly island with cliffs down to the sea on most sides. It is situated halfway between Naxos and Santorini. It is about long an ...

app with mobile '

box office A box office or ticket office is a place where ticket (admission), tickets are sold to the public for admission to an event. Patrons may perform the transaction at a countertop, through a hole in a wall or window, or at a Wicket gate, wicket. ...

' functionality. The app works with Bluetooth printers and iZettle card-readers, allowing tickets to be purchased and printed closer to gig start times. In November 2015, the firm announced an intern program with the

University of Salford The University of Salford is a Public university, public research university in Salford, Greater Manchester, Salford, Greater Manchester, England, west of Manchester city centre. The Royal Technical Institute, Salford, which opened in 1896, be ...

, with the aim of giving students insights into the industry and to develop journalism skills. Skiddle Bus

Industry involvement

In 2013, Skiddle announced its white-label ticket shop, already in use by ''

Mixmag ''Mixmag'' is a British electronic dance and clubbing magazine published in London. Launched in 1983 as a print magazine, it has branched into dance events, including festivals and club nights. History The first issue of ''Mixmag'' was printe ...

'', would also be powering

Debenhams Debenhams plc was a British department store chain that operated in the United Kingdom, Ireland and Denmark, as well as franchised locations across Europe and the Asia Pacific. The company was founded in 1778 as a single store in London and gr ...

' Box Office. During October 2015, Skiddle was chosen as the official ticket website for the

BBC Radio 1Xtra BBC Radio 1Xtra is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It broadcasts Black music and urban music, including hip hop and R&B and is a sister station to Radio 1. Launching at 18:00 on 16 August 2002, it had been ...

Live event in

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

. Skiddle has sponsored a range of festivals, tents and gigs mainly in the UK. * In 2005, the firm sponsored its first dance tent at The Wickerman Festival. * At the 2010 RockNess Festival, the firm introduced the ''SKIDDLEBUS'', a multimedia broadcast bus for live coverage allowing festival-goers to upload their content. The bus is now a regular feature at UK festivals as well as being used by the BBC. * Skiddle sponsored the Bass Music Awards in 2013, its inaugural year, and continued this sponsorship through 2015. * In 2015, Skiddle attended the

Isle of Wight Festival The Isle of Wight Festival is a British music festival which takes place annually in Newport, Isle of Wight, Newport on the Isle of Wight, England. It was originally a Counterculture of the 1960s, counterculture event held from 1968 to 1970. Th ...

Reading and Leeds Festivals The Reading and Leeds Festivals are a pair of annual music festivals that take place in Reading and Leeds in England. The events take place simultaneously on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the August bank holiday weekend. The Reading Fest ...

and Creamfields, providing up to 10,000 pairs of

3D-printed 3D printing, or additive manufacturing, is the Manufacturing, construction of a three-dimensional object from a computer-aided design, CAD model or a digital 3D modeling, 3D model. It can be done in a variety of processes in which material i ...

Wellington boots to attendees.

Charity work

In 2011, Skiddle announced its sponsorship of the charity

Campaign Against Living Miserably Campaign Against Living Miserably, or CALM, is a registered charity based in England. CALM runs a free, confidential and anonymous helpline as well as a web chat service, offering help, advice and information to anyone who is struggling or in c ...

(C.A.L.M). A checkout donation scheme on the Skiddle website has helped to raise money for several UK charities. A donation in 2015 for over £15,000 was presented to the

Anthony Nolan Anthony Nolan is a UK charity that works in the areas of leukaemia and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. It manages and recruits donors to the Anthony Nolan Register, which is part of an aligned registry that also includes the ''Welsh Bon ...

trust, with previous benefactors including Macmillan and the Disasters Emergency Committee. In 2016, Skiddle announced it would be aiming to raise £100,000 for Macmillan Cancer Support in memory of a colleague who died from cancer. This target was later increased to £300,000. The total raised to date for charities is over £300,000.

Awards

Skiddle has received a

Hitwise Hitwise is a division of Connexity, that measures behavior across desktop, tablet and smartphone devices. The service provides data on trends in visitor and search behavior, visitor and website profiling and measures website market share. I ...

Top 10 Award every month since 2008 and in August 2011 Skiddle was awarded the Hitwise Top 6 Award, making it one of the most viewed websites in the UK within its category. In March 2012, Skiddle was awarded 'Online Business of The Year' by the Lancashire Business Review's "Red Rose Awards". In February 2016, Skiddle won 'Best Ticketing Company' at the Event Production Awards in London. In April 2017, Skiddle was awarded with two Ticketing Technology Awards, for Customer Service and Moving On Up, recognising recent innovation and focus on customer satisfaction.

References

External links

* {{City of Preston culture Music magazines published in the United Kingdom Companies based in the City of Preston Entertainment companies established in 2001 Listings magazines Online retailers of the United Kingdom Ticket sales companies Magazines established in 2001