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Steve Bell Pierce
Martin Emmott Rosebud
Ben Sebborn and Rich Dyer 25 YEARS OF BIG NIGHTS OUT
For 25 years Skiddle has been a true headline act – putting customers at the heart of a business that delivers pure joy and entertainment.
Derry Green Secret Garden Glamping Ben Smith Kingsley Asset Finance
Date: 17 June 2026 Time: 08.30-11.00 Venue: Village Hotel Blackpool
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The Lancashire headquartered ticketing platform and online events guide proudly shares its philosophy on its website, declaring: ‘We believe true fans deserve a fairer and smarter way to discover events they love.’
It has been that way since 2001, when Ben Sebborn and Rich Dyer first came together to create Skiddle.
As they and their team celebrate a quarter- of-a-century in events, the list of their achievements to date is impressive.
Skiddle has sold a staggering 49 million tickets to events and counting. It has more than 10 million satisfied customers and 260,000 event promotors use its services.
The business has grown from a simple what’s-on guide into one of the UK’s go-to platforms for discovering events. It has also shown great resilience – overcoming the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic to emerge even stronger.
Today Skiddle employs more than 100 staff from its head office in Longridge. It offers tickets for events that range from large- scale festivals and stadium tours to small gatherings in village halls.
The wide variety of entertainment on offer to its customer base continues to evolve and also includes DJ and dance events and lower league football. Lifestyle events are a recent growth area.
As Rich says: “If we can sell a ticket for it, we’ll sell a ticket for it.” And all from a business that began, as he explains, “as a bit of a hobby project.”
That pipedream between two friends, shared over a couple of pints in a now-defunct Preston nightclub, is now one of the UK’s most trusted independent ticketing platforms and What’s On guides.
Rich and Ben met as students. Ben, originally from Colchester, was at university in Preston, and Rich, brought up in north Lancashire, was in Cumbria, at Carlisle’s art school.
They both had a love of music and Skiddle began life in 2001, initially as a local ‘what’s on’ guide. It was born out of frustration that there was not enough online information for the events they loved to go to.
Throughout its evolution Skiddle has looked to lead the industry, proudly introducing an impressive number of ‘firsts’ along the way.
These include creating the first online feature to allow buyers to sell-on unwanted tickets for
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