Original article published on The Guardian (08/26/18) by Rob Davies

Viagogo is preparing to relocate a large portion of its U.K. workforce to New York as it faces multiple regulatory probes into its practices in Europe. In April, the U.K. Competition and Markets Authority warned Viagogo it was in danger of litigation for suspected breaches of consumer law, while National Trading Standards launched an independent investigation into "misleading" pricing soon after. In addition, Viagogo has been charged with withholding refunds from consumers, and a Guardian investigation determined that scalpers were using the site to unlawfully resell football tickets. A source says the company started notifying London senior staff of relocation plans in May. "Several senior developers have already relocated, but they're mostly people that have been at Viagogo since nearly day one and so are probably invested in the company," the source notes. Meanwhile, sources in the secondary ticketing sector say Viagogo has started paying them for their sales through a U.S. company rather than via its Swiss head office. Although the relocation is not expected to significantly impact the investigations' progress, Members of Parliament could have a harder time convincing Viagogo executives to attend a select committee hearing next month.

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