The Society of Ticket Agents and Retailers (STAR) has appointed 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.
STAR is the self-regulatory body for the UK entertainment ticket industry. Its members include ticket agents, arenas, theatres, music venues, producers and promoters throughout London and the UK.
Previously, Brundle worked as managing director of the ticketing agency Edwards and Edwards and was part of the original team that created STAR in the mid-1990s.
In addition, Brundle was a STAR council member from 1997 to 2001, as well as a board member of INTIX from 1997-2000. He also managed the INTIX offshoot ETT (Europe Talks Tickets) from 2003 to 2009.
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 Brundle’s immediate aims is for the ticketing and wider entertainment industry is to meet the challenges set out in Attitude is Everything’s recent State of Access Report.
Brundle 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.”
Jonathan Brown, chief executive of STAR added: “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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