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Our Story

In 2007, Spektrix was conceived by Michael Nabarro and Matt Scarisbrick - two software developers with a shared passion for theatre, who'd experienced first-hand the limitations of ticketing software as it caught up with the internet age.

They believed they could do better - and today, Spektrix is leading the way in ticketing, marketing, fundraising and CRM across the cultural sector, with 600+ organisations and 16,000 users across the world.

This is our journey.

2023

New flex pass tools

The launch of Ticket Subscriptions brings ease and flexibility for organisations already selling flex passes. For others, it introduces a new way to think about loyalty, offering greater flexibility to audiences and membership teams.

600 organisations strong

The Spektrix Community exceeds 200 user organisations in the US and Canada and 400 in the UK and Ireland, as we remain the fastest-growing arts CRM solution in the regions we serve.

2022

Investment in our future

Investment from Norland Capital, and additional finance from Foresight Group - who first supported us in 2018 - accelerates the development of our system and service. Norland Capital supports only mission critical cloud-based software businesses delivering to niche industries - a perfect description of Spektrix. As such they share our commitment to the long term success of our company and our users, as well as the continual development of our product, support and values over the next decade or more. 

Unlimited solutions for success

The Spektrix Partner Directory makes it easier for users to connect with consultants, technology providers and web developers who understand and integrate with our software. A growing range of integrated partner products includes new solutions for event streaming, point of sale systems and dynamic pricing.

A growing team of experts

54 new team members join in 2022, all working to develop the system and support users worldwide. Initiatives to continue building and strengthening a strong, diverse team include a reduction in working hours, new resources to promote positive mental health, a range of employee affinity groups, and assistance with individual financial planning.

2021

 

A Certified B Corp

Spektrix becomes the first ticketing provider to be certified as a B Corp, demonstrating our commitment to using business as a force for good. As a B Corp, we join a growing international community of successful, mission-led business who voluntarily hold themselves to a higher standard than legally required, and balance the needs of all stakeholders including team members, customers, the community, shareholders and the environment.

Measuring audience demographics

Measuring the Demographics of Audience Composition is a research project designed to help the sector understand how well arts audiences represent local communities. After various experiments, it proved unrealistic to reach a truly random and representative sample with the resource available at a typical live event - so we'll adapt this approach, instead focussing on how welcome or included different audience members feel at cultural venues.

Ideas for inclusive recruitment

Rethinking Recruitment captures our learning around the recruitment process, to help other arts organisations attract a wider, more diverse pool of candidates for ticketing, marketing and fundraising-related roles.

 

Infinite server capacity

A multi-year project migrates our entire platform from our own physical infrastructure to the Microsoft Azure cloud. By passing the management of our servers onto expert providers, we gain almost infinite capacity to meet demand, and free up time for our engineering team to focus on what only they can do - developing Spektrix to meet users' needs.

2020

Rebuilding and recovery

We receive further investment from existing shareholders along with UK government-backed support through the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme, helping us resume recruitment and maintain our support for the sector despite the dramatic impact of Covid across our community.

Supporting the sector during Covid-19

The Covid-19 pandemic impacts the live events sector across the globe. It's soon clear it will be a tough time for our users and - since our revenue is largely based on ticket sales - for Spektrix as well. We hold our nerve and continue to build our system as planned, despite the challenges that face us. 

The Spektrix Ticket Converter Tool is released to our users and the wider sector within days of the first lockdowns. The tool makes it easy for organisations to ask audiences to donate all or part of the value of cancelled tickets, and to manage those donations - saving more than £1m of lost income for the sector by late spring.

We continue adapting to meet organisations' changing priorities, developing integrations with online streaming partners, creating tools to manage socially distanced seating, and offering practical and wellbeing support for stretched teams.

The furlough scheme in the UK, and the equivalent PPP in the US, helps us through periods of closure, and we're grateful to team members for their flexibility and continued commitment to our business and community.

The Barbican Centre joins Spektrix

The Barbican Centre in London - Europe's largest arts centre - sells over one million tickets each year across a theatre, concert hall, cinemas and a gallery. Their decision to move from an in-house system to Spektrix demonstrates their trust in our platform and expertise, and in true-cloud based solutions as the most secure and reliable software choice for large and complex organisations.

 

400 organisations...and counting

Despite the challenges of the pandemic, there are now 300 members of the Spektrix Community in the UK and Ireland and 100 in the US and Canada.  

Many organisations take advantage of the enforced pause to switch systems, recognising Spektrix as the right solution to help them regroup and rebuild.

London Symphony Orchestra at the Barbican Centre

Spektrix Conference 2019

The UK and Ireland conference is our largest ever, gathering almost 600 users and partners. A day of discussion about technology, audiences and agile working ends with an inspiring keynote by Jess Thom, highlighting the importance of accessibility in widening and diversifying audiences.

spektrix-story-conference-2019

2018

Delivering our ambitions

For 12 years Spektrix grew organically, with no external funding. Now Michael and the board agree that investment will help achieve our ambitions for growth and impact across the sector, and welcome investment from Foresight Group. Their evergreen funds - with no fixed timescale for a return - enable continued investment to futureproof our software and service.

Matt moves on

Matt Scarisbrick decides to step aside from Spektrix to pursue his work as a software engineer, whilst co-founder Michael Nabarro remains as CEO to continue building their shared vision.

 

Boldly Compliant

GDPR comes into effect across the UK and Europe. Realising the scale and challenge this presents, our toolkit for the sector leads the way in advocating for legitimate interest as the basis for data processing. Our resource and events support numerous professionals across the sector as they adapt their working practices to safeguard customer data.

2017

Now we are 10!

Cake and bubbles mark ten years of Spektrix, with celebrations across our three home cities.

Large 3 tiered green and white cake with travel lanes and chevrons surrounded by cupcakes

2016

Expanding across the UK

200 organisations are now using Spektrix across the UK and Ireland. A few recent adopters include the Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh, Sheffield Theatres in South Yorkshire, and Opera North in Leeds, one of the first in a new trend of touring companies looking to manage their own ticketing.

Exterior of Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh

2015

Benchmarks for ticketing

The first Spektrix Benchmark Report helps track trends in ticket sales across the sector. Three editions, published from 2015 - 2019, highlight the huge growth in online ticket sales, point of sale donations and mobile device adoption across our expanding user base. Sector-wide interest in this data inspires us to ensure that these reports, and future resources, are made widely available to cultural organisations, no matter what system they're using."

2014

Spektrix USA!

We open our first US office in midtown Manhattan, creating a base for our first two team members west of the Atlantic.  Our earliest users include Actor's Express, Georgia; New York Theatre Workshop; and Factory Theatre, Ontario. 

In the time since, we've learned a lot about establishing shared values with team mates 3,000 miles apart, and the differing priorities of venues and teams - from flex passes to fundraising needs. Ever-closer connections between both teams and users have helped to exchange ideas and business practices, share knowledge and build an increasingly global view of success.

 

Dedicated fundraising features

The Opportunities interface introduces a whole new section of Spektrix, with powerful, integrated development tools added to existing marketing and ticketing features. This joined up approach becomes central to our offer, giving organisations a single, 360-degree view of all customer behaviours and removing the labour, cost and risk of running multiple CRM systems.

 

UK expansion

We open a second UK office in Manchester, making it easier to connect with users across Scotland and northern England.

Spektrix opportunities interface on laptop

2013

100-user milestone

100 organisations are now using Spektrix across the UK and Ireland - including ARC in Stockton-on-Tees, Clwyd Theatre Cymru in Wales, and Derry Playhouse in Northern Ireland. B: Music in Birmingham is our largest user organisation so far, selling half a million tickets each year across an exciting, multi-venue programme.

Choruses and dancers perform at Symphony Hall during Community Spirit, a program of B: Music.

2012

Fully integrated emails

Dotdigital - then known as Dotmailer - becomes our fully integrated email marketing partner. It's a hit with users from day one thanks to its user-friendly design tools, and provides a huge increase in the efficiency and security of mailings - rather than downloading and uploading lists between systems, it becomes possible to segment and send campaigns within Spektrix at the click of a button.

spektrix-story-dude-sweatshirt

The Dude is born! 

We know that some of our longstanding users and team members still have a special affection for early branding - so here's the Dude, an early brand motif designed to represent our users, for one last visit.

illuminated lightbulb

2011

Acknowledged for innovation

Within five years of its launch, Spektrix is increasingly recognised as an innovator and influencer in the ticketing market. New, user-friendly solutions for segmentation, offers, reporting and web integration, as well as extensions to our API, are transforming box office practices. This growing feature set attracts increasingly influential users including the Royal Court Theatre and Battersea Arts Centre in London.

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2010

First user conference

Spektrix users assemble at the Bush Theatre in London to talk about best practice, technology and innovation in ticketing and marketing - the first of many in-person gatherings and conferences that continue in our thriving events programme today.

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2009

Taking responsibility for users' data

We complete our first live data migration for Sutton Theatres. This becomes a core element of our offer - rather than asking organisations to take on the cost and risk of migrating their data to Spektrix, we've developed our own set of tools to seamlessly migrate data from any previous system, with minimum downtime and no need to run both systems in parallel.

2008

Our first home

The first 'proper' Spektrix office opens in Highbury, London. It's just 200 sq ft - a tight squeeze, even for a team of five!

An extraordinarily large bottle of champagne is opened on the floor of the first Spektrix office. Green walls abound.

2007

Spektrix begins!

Co-founders Michael Nabarro and Matt Scarisbrick met at university, where Michael was studying computer science and Matt engineering. They soon realised that they were both spending more of their time on amateur drama than on their academic studies, with Michael working as a lighting designer and Matt in sound. 

After graduation, Michael spent three years running the university theatre. In that role he experienced first-hand the challenge of finding good software for ticket sales and marketing, and the seeds of an idea were born. Perhaps naively, he and Matt assumed that theatres' needs wouldn't prove too complicated - but they made a more accurate guess when they decided that the future lay in cloud-based software, and decided to build their platform without the need for in-venue servers.

The first, basic version of the Spektrix system took two years to build, and the company was founded in 2007. Michael persuaded his former college, the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London, to become the first users - they sold their first tickets in 2008, and were followed in the same year by two more adventurous organisations - Cambridge Junction and Derby Theatre joined RADA as founder members of the Spektrix Community.