Seat Unique welcomes England rugby legend Sir Clive Woodward to the team and announces investment from former IRIS Group Chief Commercial Director, Oliver Shaw. Read on to find out how both will be working with the premium hospitality start-up.

Image: (L-R) Sir Clive Woodward, Robin Sherry and Sam Warburton; photographer, Callum Welsh

We're delighted to welcome Sir Clive Woodward as board advisor to the Seat Unique team. Clive will take up an advisory role offering strategic input to the management team as we work to increase fan access to live premium hospitality experiences and empower sports teams, venues and rights holders by giving them greater flexibility and control over their tickets and live experiences.

The corporate hospitality market suffers from an ‘image problem’. There is a perception that hospitality packages are reserved for corporate excursions and the ultra-rich only. This is not the case. Furthermore, under-investment in technology means fans who are looking to buy hospitality experiences often face legacy booking systems which aren’t operating at times when they’re looking to buy tickets. The availability of tickets through unofficial sources also puts fans at risk of missing out on live experiences.

We address these issues by working only with brands and rights holders to provide a guaranteed 24/7 online service direct to fans. Using our technology, rights holders can manage their hospitality inventory in one user-friendly interface, all of which can be accessed in real-time 24 hours a day via the Seat Unique platform. We're proud to already be working with some of the biggest sports clubs in the world.

Alongside a stellar coaching record and reputation, Clive has 18 years of experience in the technology sector, previously founding a computer leasing company, as well as extensive consultancy experience supporting teams and organisations in setting strategy.

Sir Clive Woodward comments, “When building a company the most important thing is to know where you’re going. Seat Unique has a very clear purpose and exciting vision – to open up the premium live experience market, experiences that previously felt out of reach for many fans. As Seat Unique only work direct with venues and rights holders’ the experiences on offer are also guaranteed.

“I’m delighted to be advising the board and helping them where I can to achieve their ambition and bring timely changes to the hospitality market – changes that will benefit both rights holders, and the fans.”

We're also thrilled to announce investment from, Oliver Shaw, former Chief Commercial Officer of IRIS Group. Oliver will advise us with invaluable experience as a business leader, and his expertise in delivering software solutions and development.

Oliver Shaw said, “Seat Unique’s software is a truly innovative product in an exciting market. The growth of the experience economy shows it is a great time to use technology to increase fan access to luxury live events. Previously fans may have thought this type of experience was restricted to large corporate customers so it will also help the hospitality industry reach a new audience. I’m delighted to be supporting a company using software solutions to bridge the gap between fans and premium live experiences.”

Robin Sherry, CEO and founder of Seat Unique comments, “As Clive famously says ‘great teams are made of great individuals’ and we’re incredibly proud to have him on board to help grow Seat Unique. Clive has a true passion for the industry and his expertise and connections will be invaluable.

“We’re also thrilled to welcome Oliver, who brings with him a wealth of knowledge and experience in the technology sector. With Oliver’s guidance and backing of Seat Unique’s software, we’re confident that we can continue to drive growth and provide our customers with first star class service.

“Through this team we’re making it possible for fans to purchase premium tickets direct, at any time of the day, from the official source, the rights holders. This not only opens up fan access to experiences they previously didn’t know were available to them but venues and clubs can now offer tickets up to the day of the event – something we know fans want.

Whether you're looking to get a taste of the VIP treatment or to gift an experience of a life time, check out our fantastic premium hospitality packages for live sports, music, comedy and cultural events.