Ticket Tailor
Independent, bootstrapped event ticketing platform founded in the UK, offering flat-fee pricing for event organizers. Certified B Corporation donating 1p per ticket to climate causes.
Score generated by AI agents based on publicly cited evidence and reviewed by the project maintainer. Not independently validated.
Score History
Timeline events are AI-curated from public reporting. Score trajectory is derived from documented events.
Jonny White coded Ticket Tailor over three months after years of freelance web development and running an events listing site. The platform launched with a simple flat-fee model that eliminated percentage-based booking fees. As a one-person operation with no formal governance, security, or environmental commitments, several dimensions carried slightly elevated baseline scores reflecting the absence of structures rather than the presence of problems.
Ticket Tailor was acquired by Time Out magazine after reaching 100,000 tickets sold. White joined Time Out as a product manager, but the planned ticketing integration never materialized. The corporate ownership introduced shareholder extraction pressure for the first time in the company's history, though the platform's user-facing model remained unchanged. Product development largely stagnated during this period.
Jonny White bought Ticket Tailor back from Time Out, restoring 100% founder ownership and eliminating corporate shareholder pressure. With the platform at roughly £8,000 MRR and a small but growing team including the first dedicated support hire, the company shifted from a stagnant corporate subsidiary back to an independent growth path. PayPal integration and embeddable widgets had been added, but the product was still relatively basic.
Ticket Tailor grew from 6 to 12+ employees, sold over 4 million tickets, and launched its free check-in app. The company went carbon neutral in 2018 and proactively built a GDPR privacy policy generator for organizers ahead of enforcement. The platform added Stripe integration and professional engineering leadership, marking the transition from lifestyle business to a growth-oriented but values-aligned operation.
The COVID-19 pandemic tested Ticket Tailor's values: the company waived fees for over 1 million virtual event tickets, offered free vaccine scheduling, and launched seating charts with social distancing. The beta API, bug bounty program, and 2FA strengthened technical capabilities. Carbon neutrality was formally achieved with Supercritical, covering all historical emissions. Revenue suffered from the events shutdown but the company's pandemic response built deep organizer loyalty.
Ticket Tailor recertified as a B Corp with an Outstanding score of 123 (up 42.5%), launched EarthInvest to fund sustainability startups in the events industry, and shipped over 150 new features in 2024 alone. Revenue reached $6.6M with a 34-person team and 30-40% profit margins. The company now serves 80,000 event creators in 184 countries, donating £180,317 to climate charities in 2024. The improving trajectory reflects a company actively strengthening its governance, environmental, and organizer-alignment practices.
Alternatives
Not-for-profit event ticketing platform that donates booking fees to children's charities, with a similar mission-driven approach to Ticket Tailor.
Largest online event ticketing marketplace with built-in event discovery, though with higher percentage-based fees and attendee data used for Eventbrite's own marketing.
Dimensional Breakdown
Summaries below were written by AI agents based on the cited evidence. They are editorial interpretations, not independent research findings.
Dimension History
Timeline (37 events)
Ticket Tailor founded by Jonny White in London
After running the events listing site 'What's On in Brum?' since 2005 and freelancing as a web developer, Jonny White coded Ticket Tailor over three months. The Brickhouse Cabaret Club became the platform's first client. White invested just $50 on a logo, building everything else through sweat equity.
Ticket Tailor becomes founder's full-time focus
Jonny White transitioned from freelance web development to working on Ticket Tailor full-time. The company won a Smarta 100 Award recognizing it as one of the UK's top 100 startups, providing early validation of the flat-fee ticketing model.
Ticket Tailor passes 100,000 tickets sold
Ticket Tailor crossed the 100,000 tickets sold milestone, approximately one year after its full-time launch. The Next Web covered the achievement, noting the platform's model of shifting costs from booking fees to predictable monthly organizer fees as a meaningful departure from industry norms.
Ticket Tailor acquired by Time Out magazine
Jonny White sold Ticket Tailor to Time Out, the global listings and media magazine, and joined as a product manager. At the time of sale, the platform had approximately £2,000 MRR. The acquisition aimed to integrate ticketing into Time Out's events listings, but the integration never materialized.
PayPal integration and embeddable widgets launched
Ticket Tailor added PayPal as a payment processor and introduced embeddable checkout widgets, allowing organizers to sell tickets directly from their own websites. These features reduced platform dependency and gave organizers more control over the buyer experience.
Founder buys Ticket Tailor back from Time Out
After 18 months at Time Out, Jonny White left and negotiated to buy Ticket Tailor back, with Time Out covering the legal fees. The planned integration of ticketing into Time Out's platform had not come to fruition. White regained 100% ownership and the platform had grown to roughly £8,000 MRR. The buyback restored full founder control and independence.
First dedicated customer support hire joins team
Lorant joined Ticket Tailor as the first dedicated customer support team member, marking the transition from a one-person operation to a growing team. This professionalized the support experience for event organizers and laid the foundation for the platform's consistently high customer satisfaction ratings.
Director of Technology hired to build engineering team
Jamie joined as Director of Technology, marking a shift from a lifestyle business toward a growth-oriented company. This hire brought professional engineering leadership and prepared the platform for its next phase of feature development and scaling.
Team doubles to 12 and free check-in app launches
Ticket Tailor's team doubled from 6 to 12 employees in 2016. The company sold over 4 million tickets, launched a free mobile check-in app for scanning attendee tickets at the door, and released multiple new features. The check-in app worked both online and offline, synchronizing across multiple devices.
Free GDPR privacy policy generator launched for event organizers
Ahead of GDPR enforcement on May 25, 2018, Ticket Tailor released a free privacy policy generator built with specialist lawyers. The tool allowed event organizers to create compliant privacy policies in minutes, helping the broader events industry meet regulatory requirements rather than just focusing on internal compliance.
Ticket Tailor goes carbon neutral
Ticket Tailor committed to carbon neutrality, offsetting its operational carbon emissions. This marked the beginning of the company's formal sustainability journey, preceding both the Penny for the Planet program and B Corp certification. The company would later backdate offsets to cover all historical emissions since founding.
Virtual event ticketing made free during COVID-19 pandemic
As the pandemic shut down in-person events globally, Ticket Tailor made all virtual event ticketing free of charge. The initial free period ran through July 2020 and was later extended through December 2020. Founder Jonny White stated the company felt confident it would survive the pandemic but many of its organizers were not feeling the same.
Seating charts with social distancing launched
Ticket Tailor launched seating charts with automated social distancing rules, allowing venues to safely reopen for in-person events under COVID-19 capacity restrictions. Organizers could build custom seating layouts and the system automatically blocked adjacent seats to maintain distancing requirements.
Beta API launched for developer integrations
Ticket Tailor launched its beta API in early 2020, giving organizers and developers programmatic access to box office data for the first time. This enabled custom integrations, automated workflows, and data export capabilities, further reducing platform lock-in and empowering organizers to build on the platform.
Bug bounty program and two-factor authentication launched
Ticket Tailor launched a bug bounty program inviting external security researchers to report vulnerabilities, increased the frequency of external penetration testing, and introduced two-factor authentication for all accounts. These security improvements strengthened the platform's overall security posture.
Church ticketing platform launched for COVID-safe worship
When churches approached Ticket Tailor for help managing COVID-safe attendance, the company launched a dedicated church ticketing product at churchticketing.com. The platform allowed congregations to register in advance and select seating, accommodating social distancing requirements for in-person worship services.
One million fee-free tickets issued during pandemic
By the end of 2020, Ticket Tailor had waived fees for over 1 million ticket sales, generating over £15 million in revenue for event organizers globally. Over 38,000 online events ran on the platform with waived fees, and over half a million virtual event tickets were sold. The company also donated £10,000 to causes supporting mental health, poverty, and the events industry.
Free vaccine scheduling offered to health organizations
Ticket Tailor offered free use of its platform for COVID-19 vaccination appointment scheduling. The time slot management, automated reminders, and QR code check-in features proved well-suited for vaccination logistics. Cloudflare Waiting Room was deployed to manage high-traffic demand for vaccine registration pages.
Recurring events and time slot ticketing shipped
Ticket Tailor launched recurring events with time slot management, allowing venues and attractions to manage capacity-limited timed entry. The feature included heat maps showing busiest and quietest time slots, seasonal pricing overrides, and attendee self-service rescheduling. This opened the platform to museums, attractions, and tour operators.
Carbon neutrality achieved with all historical emissions offset
Ticket Tailor announced it had achieved carbon neutrality across all three emission scopes, working with Supercritical to measure and offset its entire historical carbon footprint since founding. The company chose high-quality carbon removal offsets rather than conventional avoidance credits, and backdated offsets to cover all emissions since inception — a step beyond standard carbon neutrality requirements.
Climate charity donations doubled for Ukraine crisis
In response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Ticket Tailor doubled its 1p per ticket commitment in Q1 2022 and donated £19,000 to relief efforts. The company also donated £5,000 to the DEC Pakistan Floods Appeal later that year. Total charitable donations for 2022 reached £131,593, and the platform processed 9.5 million tickets.
Growth on Purpose vision formally adopted
After the pandemic, Ticket Tailor formalized its 'Growth on Purpose' vision during a leadership workshop, redefining its stance on growth. The company amended its governing documents to legally commit to a triple bottom line approach — existing not just for profit, but also for the good of society and the environment. This structural commitment preceded B Corp certification.
Stripe Terminal integration enables in-person card payments
Ticket Tailor launched Stripe Terminal integration, allowing event organizers to accept in-person card payments at the door using BBPOS WisePOS E card readers. The integration unified online and on-door sales reporting in one dashboard. Since launch, it processed over $160,000 in volume from 9,078 in-person ticket sales.
Ticket Tailor becomes first independent ticketing B Corp
Ticket Tailor achieved B Corporation certification with a score of 86.3, becoming the first independent ticketing platform worldwide to earn the designation. The certification validated the company's commitment to social and environmental performance. B Corp requires a minimum score of 80; the average business scores below 60.
Stripe Link one-click payment integration launched
Ticket Tailor integrated Stripe Link, enabling returning buyers to complete checkout with a single click using saved payment details. The integration improved conversion rates and reduced friction for repeat ticket purchasers across all events on the platform.
Heal Rewilding added as fourth climate charity partner
Ticket Tailor welcomed Heal Rewilding as its fourth Penny for the Planet charity partner, joining Ocean Conservation Trust, Cumbria Wildlife Trust, and Rainforest Foundation UK. The addition reflected growing donation volumes requiring broader charitable distribution. Total 2023 donations reached £166,245 from 18.5 million tickets processed.
Square payment processing integration added
Ticket Tailor integrated Square as a third payment processor alongside Stripe and PayPal, debuting in beta in June 2023. The addition gave organizers a third major payment option with next-day payout defaults, further reducing payment processor dependency and supporting expansion into markets where Square has strong presence.
Local payment methods doubled sign-ups in new markets
Using Stripe's Optimized Checkout Suite, Ticket Tailor activated 40 local payment methods including iDEAL (Netherlands), giropay (Germany), EPS (Austria), and Bancontact (Belgium) without additional engineering effort. After launching local payment methods in Belgium and the Netherlands, sign-ups doubled within twelve months.
Revenue reaches $6.6M with 34-person team
Ticket Tailor hit $6.6M in annual revenue, up from $5M in 2023, representing 32% year-over-year growth. The company maintained 30-40% profit margins with a 34-person team in London plus 13 remote support staff globally. In 2022, the platform had processed $264M in Connect volume through Stripe.
Climate Impact Tracker launched for 70,000+ event creators
Ticket Tailor unveiled a Climate Impact Tracker integrated into the event creators' dashboard, providing real-time visibility into carbon emissions per ticket (averaging 0.006kg CO2 in 2023) and charitable donations generated by their ticket sales. The tool aimed to inspire further climate action across the platform's global community of over 70,000 event creators.
EarthInvest fund awards £62,500 to sustainability startups
Ticket Tailor launched EarthInvest, a dedicated environmental impact fund investing in sustainability-focused startups in the events industry. The inaugural fund distributed £62,500 across five climate-conscious startups. A subsequent £40,000 pledge supported the Association of Independent Festivals' Sustainability Step Change Fund.
CRM integrations launched with HubSpot, Constant Contact, and ActiveCampaign
Ticket Tailor released native CRM integrations with HubSpot, Constant Contact, ActiveCampaign, and Blackbaud Raiser's Edge NXT. These integrations automatically synced ticket buyer data to marketing platforms, enabling targeted email campaigns and audience segmentation without requiring Zapier workarounds.
Apple Wallet ticket integration and Google sign-in added
As part of over 150 new features shipped in 2024, Ticket Tailor launched Apple Wallet integration allowing ticket buyers to add tickets directly to their digital wallet for faster check-in. Google sign-in was also added to streamline account creation. Other 2024 additions included partial refunds, product discounts, and revenue reports.
Penny for the Planet raises £180,317 in 2024
Ticket Tailor's Penny for the Planet initiative donated £180,317 to its four climate charity partners (Ocean Conservation Trust, Cumbria Wildlife Trust, Rainforest Foundation UK, and Heal Rewilding) in 2024, up from £166,245 in 2023. All-time charitable donations through the program exceeded £500,000.
B Corp recertified with Outstanding score of 123
Ticket Tailor recertified as a B Corporation with a score of 123, a 42.5% increase from its initial 2022 certification score of 86.3. The Outstanding rating reflected improvements in governance, environmental practices, and community engagement since initial certification. The recertification validated the company's Growth on Purpose philosophy.
AIF Sustainability Step Change Fund backed with £40,000
Ticket Tailor's EarthInvest fund pledged £40,000 to the Association of Independent Festivals' new Sustainability Step Change Fund. The fund provides capital and structured support to help member festivals implement climate transition plans based on the '30 Climate Actions For Events' framework.
Apple Wallet membership passes and API access for memberships
Ticket Tailor expanded its Apple Wallet integration to support membership passes, allowing members to save digital passes directly to their wallets for seamless check-in. The company also opened API access to issued memberships and membership types, enabling third-party integrations for managing membership products at scale.
Evidence (43 citations)
D1: User Value Erosion
D2: Business Customer Exploitation
D3: Shareholder Extraction
D4: Lock-in & Switching Costs
D5: Twiddling & Algorithmic Opacity
D6: Dark Patterns
D7: Advertising & Monetization Pressure
D8: Competitive Conduct
D9: Labor & Governance
D10: Regulatory & Legal Posture
Scoring Log (4 entries)
Stripped for Phase 2 re-enrichment