Industry Press / 07.16.18
STAR Appoints Richard Brundle as New Chairman
The Society of Ticket Agents and Retailers (STAR) is very pleased to announce the appointment of Richard Brundle as its new Chairman. Brundle was approved unanimously at STAR’s recent AGM and takes over from Adrian Sanders who has retired after two and a half years in the role.
As Managing Director of the ticket agency Edwards and Edwards, Richard Brundle was part of the original team that created STAR in the mid-1990s and was a STAR council member from 1997–2001. He was a board member of INTIX (International Ticketing association) 1997-2000 and he, along with colleagues, managed the INTIX offshoot ETT (Europe Talks Tickets) from 2003 to 2009.
Richard is a qualified accountant who has specialised in the theatre, entertainment, and hospitality industries, and who has a particular knowledge and passion for ticketing. He has held numerous senior and board level positions in the commercial theatre and entertainmentindustries for 30 years.
Through his consultancy, RCNA Partnership, Richard has supported well-known clients such as the Society of London Theatres’ (SOLT), where he initiated and ran the first four of their Get Into London Theatre campaigns; Ambassador Theatre Group, the largest European theatre group; Fiery Angel, producers of West End and touring hits; The Art of the Brick temporary art exhibition; and many others.
He has spoken at conferences and seminars on entertainment issues extensively in the UK, the US and Europe and is a board member of London Welsh Amateur Rugby Club.
Speaking to STAR’s members at the AGM, Brundle said, “Many splinter groups have come into existence to put their own version of what ticketing should look like in 2018. Some have their own agendas to promote and validate their own business model, others seem to be on a crusade and we have still more groups trying to bring order in a
commercial world which has many different levels of complexity to it.
“STAR needs to unify where it can, lead the ticketing charter, and to make a difference in how people choose to buy their tickets.
“STAR ‘s role must be to help to ensure that the public are well informed and clear before they purchase a ticket. The public need to know that whoever they buy their ticket from is it a legal transaction or not, and where to turn to if something goes wrong.”
One of Richard’s immediate aims is for the ticketing and wider entertainment industry to meet the challenges set out in Attitude is Everything’s recent State of Access Report. He said, “We need to bring together as many parties as possible to make tickets available to all, including those with access issues. Great strides have started on that and one of my goals is bring an industry wide standard in this area.”
STAR members include all the biggest names in entertainment ticketing and the organisation is committed to high standards of service and information for ticket buyers.
Jonathan Brown, Chief Executive of STAR said, “It’s great to have Richard on board again. He knows the ticketing industry inside-out and, as a founder of STAR, he has great clarity and vision about strengthening and extending STAR’s role in safeguarding the interests of the ticket-buying public and the industry its members serve. He has
tremendous support from the membership and I know that the STAR Council are looking forward very much to working under Richard’s leadership.”
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press@star.org.uk / 07870 728 156
NOTES TO EDITORS
The Society of Ticket Agents and Retailers (STAR) is the self-regulatory body for the entertainment ticket industry. Charged with promoting excellent service and improving standards across the entertainment industry, STAR members work to a strict Code of Practice and a dispute conciliation service operates to help customers resolve outstanding complaints.
STAR is approved as a consumer ADR body for the purposes of the Alternative Dispute Resolution for Consumer Disputes (Competent Authorities and Information) Regulations 2015. This approval is granted by the Chartered Trading Standards Institute under arrangementsdelegated to them by the of State for the Department of
Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.
Model Terms and Conditions for the Sale of Entertainment Tickets were drafted in consultation with the Office of Fair Trading and published in 2009.
The Society’s many members include all the UK’s major authorised ticket agents as well as arenas, theatres, producers and promoters throughout London and the UK. Between them, members of STAR sell more than 50
million tickets a year.
Membership of STAR can be recognised by the use of the STAR logo and a full list of members is available at www.star.org.uk
STAR is dedicated to ensuring high levels of customer service and ticket buyers who experience a problem with their purchase from a STAR member can contact the STAR helpline on 01904 234737, e-mail info@star.org.uk or write to STAR, PO Box 708, St Leonard’s Place, York, YO1 0GT.
The Attitude is Everything State of Access Report 2018 can be found at:
http://www.attitudeiseverything.org.uk/news/state-of-access-report-2018-ticketing-without-barriers
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