By early 2008, the UK ticketing market will have two new services vying for its healthy returns: one national, one focused on the North West and both run in-house by arenas.

The Birmingham NEC Group box office was recently rebranded as The Ticket Factory and repositioned as a UK-wide agency for concerts, while the ACC Liverpool is also aiming to supply demand for events far beyond the confines of its new arena walls.

By early 2008, the UK ticketing market will have two new services vying for its healthy returns: one national, one focused on the North West and both run in-house by arenas.

The Birmingham NEC Group box office was recently rebranded as The Ticket Factory and repositioned as a UK-wide agency for concerts, while the ACC Liverpool is also aiming to supply demand for events far beyond the confines of its new arena walls.

The Ticket Factory has been developed by NEC Arena Group director Phil Mead, who joined the company in January, having previously been deputy director of events at the Scottish Exhibition and Convention Centre (SECC).

"From the best in live music to sporting events, family shows and comedy acts, we want to be recognised as the agent of choice for the UK,” Mead says. “We are focusing on growing this brand as a serious new player within the national ticketing agency market."

The Ticket Factory, which already sells over a million tickets annually, is the latest example of arenas branching out into this lucrative area of the industry. SECC launched its nationwide service SECXtra in 2000 and now sells around 1 million tickets per year.

“It’s not surprising,” says Geoff Huckstep, chairman of the National Arenas Association. “When you’ve got operations like the NEC and SECC that have other venues and facilities within different genres of leisure, it makes sense to get as much volume as you can through your call centres.”