BritishTheatre.com Joins tickadoo: What the Acquisition Means for Theatregoers

BritishTheatre.com has a new owner. On 13 August 2026, the ticketing and discovery platform tickadoo announced that it has acquired BritishTheatre.com. The site keeps its name, its domain and its editorial identity, and the people behind the deal have some of the deepest roots in West End ticketing anywhere in the industry. Terms were not disclosed.

Here is what has been announced, who tickadoo are, and what the change means for everyone who uses our news and reviews, our theatre guides and our London theatre tickets every week.

What has been announced

• Ownership: tickadoo has acquired BritishTheatre.com. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
• Name and home: the site continues at www.britishtheatre.com under its own name and editorial identity.
• Coverage: news will expand across West End openings, casting, touring productions and regional theatre, and reviews continue across the West End, Off West End and the regions.
• Ticketing: live pricing and interactive seat selection are coming, with official ticketing extending to more regional theatres and touring productions.
• Rewards: over the coming months, tickadoo will bring its discovery technology and its tickadoo+ rewards platform to the site.

Who are tickadoo?

tickadoo is a ticketing and discovery platform launched in 2024. It combines AI-powered discovery with official ticketing, and now offers theatre, attractions, tours and experiences in more than 1,400 cities worldwide. For British theatre audiences, though, the more familiar part of the story is who founded it.

tickadoo founder and CEO Francis Hellyer co-founded London Theatre Direct in 1999 and helped pioneer online theatre ticketing in the UK, including live seating plans and direct API connections to West End venues. London Theatre Direct went on to generate more than £1 billion in ticket sales before it was acquired by Trafalgar Entertainment in 2019, with the founding team staying on for a further four years and steering the business through the pandemic shutdown and the reopening of the West End.

"We were still running London Theatre Direct when the West End went dark in 2020, and we were still there when it came back. That is the business I know, and it is good to be back," said Hellyer in the announcement. "BritishTheatre.com has spent years covering British theatre properly, across the whole country and not just the West End. Our job is to back that, invest in it, and give theatregoers a better way to find what is worth seeing."

More than the West End

BritishTheatre.com has always covered theatre across the whole of the UK, from West End shows and Off West End productions to touring shows and regional stages. That is a big part of why tickadoo bought the site rather than building something new: the archive holds more than 7,300 articles, alongside guides to over 220 theatres across the country.

The new owner has committed to investing in exactly that breadth. Expect more news and reviews beyond London, and official ticketing that reaches further into regional and touring theatre than it does today.

What stays the same

The site you are reading does not change its name, its address or its purpose. BritishTheatre.com was founded in its current form in 2013 by the late producer and theatre writer Douglas Mayo, who edited it for more than a decade, and it owes much of its character to him and to the critics and editors who built it. Their work remains published here, and the site continues under its own editorial identity.

You can read more about the site's history on our about page, and the full announcement is on tickadoo's blog. For updates on what comes next, including new features as they arrive, sign up to our newsletter.

Frequently asked questions

Will BritishTheatre.com change its name?

No. The site continues to operate at www.britishtheatre.com under its own name and editorial identity, with the same focus on news, reviews and official ticketing across UK theatre.

Can I still book official theatre tickets on BritishTheatre.com?

Yes. Official London theatre tickets remain on sale as before, and ticketing will expand with live pricing, interactive seat selection and more regional and touring productions over time.

What happens to the news and reviews archive?

The archive stays published. More than 7,300 articles, including the work of the site's founding editor and its critics, remain available, alongside guides to over 220 UK theatres.

What new features are coming to BritishTheatre.com?

tickadoo plans to add live pricing and interactive seat selection, extend official ticketing to more regional theatres and touring productions, and bring its discovery technology and tickadoo+ rewards to the site over the coming months.