Lloyd Webber theatres to tackle touts in landmark partnership with secondary site Twickets

Andrew Lloyd Webber’s LW Theatres has partnered with ethical secondary ticketing site Twickets, in a move that promises a “safer and more affordable” way for theatregoers to resell unwanted seats.

The partnership is being billed as the first of its kind in the industry and aims to tackle the issue of ticket touts in the sector.

Under the tie-up, tickets purchased through LW Theatres’ box offices can be sold by customers no longer needing them, via the Twickets website or app for no more than the price originally paid.

LW Theatres said the move would provide a “safer and more affordable” alternative to more controversial ticketing platforms that have “historically dominated this market”.

The deal makes LW Theatres the first UK theatre group to link up with Twickets. It covers all seven theatres it owns, including the London Palladium and the Gillian Lynne Theatre.

LW Theatres chief executive Rebecca Kane Burton said: “We continue to strive to not only offer our customers an incredible experience, but to help them when things don’t go to plan. Providing a safe, secure and easy way to sell tickets is best practice and yet another step LW Theatres is taking to innovate and improve theatregoing.”

The partnership comes amid an ongoing crackdown on exploitative sites in the secondary ticketing market.

In September, court action was dropped against Viagogo, after it addressed concerns around transparency on its site.

The secondary ticketing site had faced intense pressure to change the way it presents information to customers and bring its operation into line with consumer rights legislation.

Other major sites operating in the secondary ticketing arena include StubHub, owned by eBay. Two run by Ticketmaster, Get Me In! and Seatwave, were closed down last year.

Earlier this week, producers of Hamilton announced they were ending paperless ticketing because of improvements in the fight against touts.

According to Twickets, touts are prevented from using its site by a “dedicated moderation team”, which checks every ticket put up for sale.