Shetland Islands Council and Shetland Arts have agreed that on 28th November 2016 the Shetland Box Office Partnership will come to an end.
Originally set up in 2006, the Shetland Box Office was envisioned as an island-wide hub for all ticketing and booking requirements. However, with developments in online booking and ticketing, and changes in the demands and priorities of individual organisations over the last decade, most of the partners have drifted away from the partnership, leaving only the Council and Shetland Arts.
As a consequence of this the Shetland Box Office will cease to operate from Islesburgh Community Centre on 28th November.
Shetland Arts will migrate to a new box office system on that date, and will continue to offer a paid box office provision to promoters wishing to use such a service. All tickets for events bought through the Shetland Box Office will remain valid, although, due to the change of systems, customers will be required to re-register for an account with the new system to ensure security of personal data.
Graeme Howell, General Manager of Shetland Arts, said: ‘The Shetland Box Office was an innovative partnership at its inception, but for some time now has only been operating at a fraction of its intended capacity. The website and ticketing system are sorely in need of a refresh, and both Shetland Arts and Shetland Islands Council feel that this is the right time to move on and conclude the partnership. We’re very excited about the launch of our new service; it’s a very simple, user-friendly system, and we’re confident that customers will find it much easier to find and book tickets for events.’
Neil Watt, Executive Manager, Sport and Leisure with Shetland Islands Council said: “I would like to thank everyone who has used the service over the past 10 years. The box office has provided a great service to both customers and promoters of local events. However, with Shetland Arts launching their new box office service and other promoters finding alternative options for the sale of their tickets then the time seems right to end the partnership”.
For more information please contact:
Lauren Doughton – Marketing Manager
Shetland Arts Development Agency
01595 743742
OR
Neil Watt
Executive Manager, Sport and Leisure
Shetland Islands Council
01595 744046.
