The Skiddle investment announced on 5 November marks a shift for one of the UK’s best-known independent ticketing platforms. Preston-based Skiddle has taken outside capital for the first time in its 25-year history. London firm Soho Square Capital has bought a minority equity stake, and co-founders Ben Sebborn and Richard Dyer keep control of the company. The amount was not disclosed.
Inside the Skiddle investment deal
Soho Square Capital invests in founder-owned, mid-sized businesses in the UK and Northern Europe. It usually combines senior or preferred capital with a minority equity stake. This is the second deal from its Soho Square Partnership Capital Fund II. Director Joe Tebbutt led the deal team and joins Skiddle’s board. Sebborn and Dyer will keep running the business with CFO Peter Hinnigan. KPMG advised Skiddle’s shareholders.
Tebbutt said the structure is the kind of transaction his firm was set up to do: the founders keep control and get capital to grow. Sebborn and Dyer said taking investment for the first time was a big decision, and that the deal lets them stay in charge of a business they have built over 25 years.
The numbers behind the deal
Skiddle started in 2001 as a “What’s On” guide and began selling tickets in 2006. The company says it handled £178 million in face-value ticket sales across 180,000 listed events in 2025 and kept 98% of its promoters. It also says revenue has grown by more than 20% a year on average over the past two years.
The money will go into an existing five-year growth plan. The first priority is lifestyle events, beyond Skiddle’s core of music, festivals and nightlife. More spending on technology, marketing and business development is also planned. Expansion into new European markets is a medium-term goal.
What it means for the industry
Investors have been backing away from event tech. Figures from the data provider Beauhurst show UK investment in the sector dropped from a peak of £111 million in 2021 to £15.3 million in 2025. Against that background, the deal suggests investors still want ticketing businesses with proven revenue, but not every founder wants to sell control to get it. Minority structures like this one give independent platforms a way to fund growth without being sold.
Promoters and labels also gain from this. A stronger independent ticketer gives them more choice outside the major platforms. A move into lifestyle events and Europe would mean Skiddle competes with more rivals than before. Over the next few years, the industry will see whether a 98% promoter retention rate can be repeated outside the UK nightlife market.
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