Case study

Sep 14, 2026

How Ipswich Theatres Powers Multi-Venue Operations with Ticketsolve

Managing multi-venue ticketing and high-volume on-sales doesn't require complex workarounds. Learn how Ipswich Theatres uses Ticketsolve to unify reporting, simplify third-party agency scanning, and build long-term in-house capability.

Managing box office operations for a growing cultural programme across multiple venues requires clear data, efficient systems, and minimal overhead. Ipswich Borough Council operates two venues in Suffolk: the historic 1,539-seat Ipswich Regent Theatre and the nearby Ipswich Corn Exchange. Together, they welcome over 190,000 audience members every year to a programme that spans music, comedy, pantomime, dance, and classical performances.

Their operation extends beyond Ipswich Theatres, too. Local community groups and external promoters regularly hire the box office team as a ticketing agent. During peak periods, the team, led by Box Office Operations Lead Emma Filby, manages box office sales, booking fees, and customer service for three or four venues simultaneously, all via Ticketsolve.

"The reporting allows us to filter down and see really clear data around how venues are achieving income, gaps and possibilities and where we could build." - Emma Filby, Shows, Programming and Finance Manager, Ipswich Theatres

The team have called out the main areas where Ticketsolve has helped them streamline operations over the past year or so, tackling the specific challenges they face as a large organisation with multiple venues, as well as their plans for the coming months.

Streamlining Third-Party Agency Allocations

Around half of the seats for major performances at Ipswich Theatre venues are allocated for external sales, but managing those allocations at the door at the door created specific operational challenges:

Manual Workarounds: Front-of-house staff were required to check those who’d booked externally against spreadsheets saved in Microsoft Teams. Searching for up-to-date spreadsheets whilst checking customers in caused delays at the door.
Data Compliance Risks: Storing customer names and seating arrangements on shared spreadsheets raised GDPR concerns.
No overview of external brokers: The venue lacked real-time visibility into who was actually in the room.

The friction was resolved with the introduction of Ticketsolve’s agency allocation scanning setup, which works for major providers, including Ticketmaster and See Tickets. Reports detailing all external bookings can now be uploaded directly into Ticketsolve, allowing the team to scan third-party tickets at the door alongside venue bookings, and gain full visibility of who is in the room.

With better knowledge of how third-party bookings were performing, Emma made the strategic decision to cap third-party agency allocations between 25% and 30%. Across the entire programme, agency sales dropped from 15.1% to 11.7%, while direct online bookings rose to a record 82.7%. Prioritising direct sales allowed the organisation to preserve higher profit margins and grow valuable customer relationships.

Technical Support That Builds In-House Capability

For busy teams like that at Ipswich Theatres, features and functionality are just one half of the equation - the partnership behind the platform is also key to driving operational success. Ticketsolve’s support model works well for the team, focusing on empowering venue staff, optimising workflows, and taking heavy operational pressure off their shoulders when it matters most.

On-Sale Support & Traffic Management

High-demand on-sales are a prime example of this support model in action. Many of Ipswich’s shows sell out in minutes, requiring specialised technical oversight to prevent strain on servers and ensure friction-free customer journeys.

Ahead of high-volume drops, Team Ticketsolve works directly with the Ipswich team to review event setups, configure custom conversion settings, and route traffic to a customised waiting room via a unique URL. Once the on-sale opens, traffic on the site is managed in real time, optimising the number of customers booking at one time without overloading the system. By managing high-demand sales smoothly in the background, Ticketsolve’s support team eliminates website crashes, saves staff time, and prevents customer complaints.

“Fortunately, it just works on our part. We rarely get complaints from customers not able to get tickets, and these are always due to our capacity limits and not to the system.” - Emma Filby, Shows, Programming and Finance Manager, Ipswich Theatres

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Dedicated Support & Capability Building

Day-to-day, the Ticketsolve support team operates as a seamless extension of Ipswich’s internal team, answering queries quickly, and actively suggesting simpler ways of working to build internal confidence. Two recent examples of this:

Tailored Finance Reporting: When Ipswich transitioned to our new sales dashboard, the team worked alongside council finance officers to set up the parameters and ensure they had access to every metric they needed.
Empowering the Internal Team: When bespoke reporting presented challenges, support specialists sat down with the box office team to teach them how to build custom reports themselves - giving staff the skills to manage future challenges independently.

“Their response time and support is incomparable to any other. They are always on hand to help and look at shortcuts and new ways of doing things.” - Emma Filby, Shows, Programming and Finance Manager, Ipswich Theatres

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Development Built Differently

When Ipswich Theatre’s needs go beyond standard configuration or customisation options, the team can rely instead on Ticketsolve’s development process and open roadmap. Our developers collaborate directly with venue teams to build solutions around real-world operational issues as they arise, ensuring the platform continuously evolves to meet the actual needs of organisations.

“Ticketsolve is willing to develop projects around venues' needs as issues arise” - Emma Filby, Shows, Programming and Finance Manager, Ipswich Theatres

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What's Next

For larger venues and council-run cultural hubs, long-term efficiency relies on two things: seamlessly integrating tools, and also streamlining tech stacks wherever possible.

Ipswich Theatres is actively working with Ticketsolve to leverage strategic integrations and consolidate their digital tools:

EPOS Integrations to Drive Secondary Revenue

Unifying ticketing with on-site food, beverage, and retail operations is crucial for maximising revenue. Building on their current setup, Ipswich is tapping into Ticketsolve's integration with Point One, the venue's till and bar stock system.

Integrated Membership: Connecting ticketing with Point One will allow member benefits and tracking to span both the box office and the bar.
Advance Order Processing: Showgoers will soon be able to to pre-order drinks online prior to a performance, with purchase data updating directly within the bar system. This will eliminate any silos between pre-orders and F&B stock control, as well as boosting sales.

Streamlining Marketing Tech Stacks

Ipswich currently relies on Mailchimp to manage its marketing campaigns, but the team is exploring migrating to Ticketsolve’s integrated drag-and-drop email editor, currently on the product roadmap.

Bringing email campaign design, audience segmentation, and performance tracking directly into Ticketsolve will allow them to save on additional subscriptions, prevent data duplication, and will allow the marketing team to execute targeted, data-driven campaigns from a single interface.

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By combining a powerful all-in-one system and close team-to-team collaboration, Ipswich Theatres and Ticketsolve have built a resilient operational foundation designed for long-term growth.

Emma Filby

Shows, Programming and Finance Manager

Their response time and support is incomparable to any other. They are always on hand to help and look at shortcuts and new ways of doing things.

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