Tributes paid to ticketing stalwart Will Quekett

Will Quekett, a ticketing expert who worked in the sector for over 30 years, has passed away following a short illness.

Quekett launched his career in the ticketing sector in 1994, working as a general manager and director at companies in the UK and Australia.

His most notable roles included head of ticketing and operations IT at the Millenium Dome, general manager at The Ticket Factory (then owned by NEC Group) and business development director for JMM, Coverholders and Brokers at Lloyd’s of London. He also served as a council member for STAR, the self-regulatory body for the UK ticketing industry, for 15 years.

“I had the privilege of working for Will early on in my career—he was always generous with his advice, though I was probably too headstrong to fully appreciate it at the time,” Noel Edwards, who started his career at The Ticket Factory over 20 years ago and rejoined in 2019, told IQ.

“His passion for sharing knowledge and guiding the next generation was truly admirable, which was shown in his support of the Ticketing Apprentice Scheme launched by STAR. By ticketing the Millenium Dome, Will was the first person to sell a ticket at the big tent, before anyone even had the idea of putting an arena in there.”

“Will was passionate about ticketing and providing young people with opportunities”

ABBA Voyage’s Richard Howle told IQ that Quekett was a “kind, thoughtful and generous man” who gave him insider tips when he joined The Ticket Factory in 2017.

“I served with him on the STAR Council for many years and he was a steady voice of reason in sometimes heated debates,” he said. “When I joined The Ticket Factory, he regularly spoke to me to provide me with support, advice and some handy insider tips based on his time there.

“In a long and successful career, perhaps his most important achievement was establishing the Ticketing Apprenticeship scheme. Will was passionate about ticketing and providing young people with opportunities. It was that passion that enabled Will to almost single-handedly cut through the bureaucracy and overcome the administrative hurdles to set up the accredited National Scheme and it was with great pride that The Ticket Factory was able to take on the first ticketing apprentices. It seems fitting that the introduction of new talent into the ticketing industry will become Will’s legacy.”

Dave Newton, DTI Group, also remembers how Quekett encouraged him during the early years of his ticketing career. “He was one of only a handful of the old guard (words chosen carefully) in the live events industry that positively encouraged me to take on the incumbents when I stumbled into ticketing 25 years ago,” he told IQ. “And he has been a constant throughout the time since – always offering up feedback, support, ideas and connections to every new idea and project. We very nearly collaborated on one of those new projects together, but it didn’t work out. I’m sure it would have been a joy.”

John O’Neill, founder and ex CEO of Tickets.ie, spoke highly of Quekett, personally and professionally. “It was around 8:30 am one morning in the early part of 2010 when I received a call to my office. A polite gentleman with a quaint English accent was on the other end of the line, asking me many thoughtful questions about our company. I remember thinking to myself, Who on earth rings someone at 8:30 in the morning to talk about ticketing? The man on the line was Will Quekett,” he tells IQ.

“He had an extraordinary knowledge of the ticketing industry”

“That early morning judgement quickly faded as the conversation unfolded, and I came to understand just how serious, insightful, and genuine he was.  At the time, Will was working with Ticket Factory and the NEC Group. The NEC had just taken over the contract to manage the Convention Centre in Dublin. That call would mark the beginning of a professional relationship—and, in time, a valued friendship—that would span years and continents.

“Will was always generous with his time, his network, his introductions, and his advice. He had an extraordinary knowledge of the ticketing industry—he didn’t just know how things were done; he knew why they were done that way, even long after others had forgotten. I look forward to raising a glass in his honour at the next Tick Talk gathering in London.”

Simon Klinkhamer, director of KB Group, wrote on social media: “I had the pleasure of working with Will many times over the last 25 years. He was my trusted friend in the ticketing business and I loved working with him. A genial man of great integrity. I am deeply saddened by his passing. Our thoughts and prayers are with Susan and the family at this difficult time.”

Peter Monks, co-founder of the company behind the Ticketing Professionals Conference (TPC), called Quekett “one of life’s gentlemen who was always kind and generous with his time”.

Andrew Thomas, director of TPC, added: “I first met Will at ETT in Berlin many moons ago, he was a huge supporter of education and career progression of others throughout his career, contributing to work that STAR undertook, giving advice to me on the conference sometimes, as well as being a regular volunteer at every TPC.”

“Will’s wonderfully dry humour, phenomenal intelligence and incurable curiosity were always shot through with the genuine warmth”

Peter I’anson, director at Secure Refunds and COO at JMM Group Holdings, hailed Quekett as “a true gentleman who freely gave his time to help”.

AudienceView’s John Finn remembers Quekett as a “terrific mentor to me when he was at The Ticket Factory. We also had many fascinating conversations, and NOT all of them were about ticketing! He had so many interests and stories to tell. We shared many laughs, and that’s what I’ll remember”.

David Thomas, Arts & Culture Network, wrote on social media: “Will’s wonderfully dry humour, phenomenal intelligence and incurable curiosity were always shot through with the genuine warmth of his personality, and we should all feel honoured to have had Will in our lives.”

Roger Tomlinson recalls Quekett as “a man who shared the drive to develop training and professionalism in our sector, trying to persuade industry bodies to introduce qualifications such as NVQs and get recognition for staff whose required skillset was expanding”. “Everyone who met and knew him always described him as a gentleman who was a good listener, whoever you were,” he added.

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