First cashless UK venue opens this month

The UK is to get its first cashless music venue.

It is thought Stage in Basingstoke will be the first venue in the country where cash won’t be accepted behind the bar when it opens later this month.

Radio-frequency identification (RFID) payment technology is already in widespread use in the festival world, and a number of festivals are totally cashless, including Sziget, Standon Calling, Snowbombing and SFX events Mysteryland USA and the not-happening-this-year TomorrowWorld.

Download was briefly cashless last year but returned to a range of payment options for 2016 after its RFID system crashed on the 2015 festival’s first day.

“It keeps the venue safe: there can’t be a robbery of cash if there’s no cash in the venue”

Adam Hornblow, CEO of Stage Live Ltd, which owns the 1,400-capacity venue, tells Heart: “[Cashless] keeps the customers safe, it keeps the bar staff and your employees safe – and if they get given a tip they just keep it.

“If they’ve got any cash we know it’s theirs because it’s not ours, and it keeps the venue safe: there can’t be a robbery of cash if there’s no cash in the venue.”

Stage opens on 29 April with a show by The Boomtown Rats, Max Milner and Belle Roscoe.

Read More Like This

News|10 Nov 2023

Fuzz Productions opens new venue in Athens

The company behind Fuzz Club and Release Athens has launched a new 2,300-cap venue that "fills a crucial gap" in Athens's music landscape

News|13 Feb 2024

Paris opens new 8,000-capacity arena

Purpose built for this summer's Olympic Games, the new Adidas Arena will eventually be used for concerts among other things

News|07 Mar 2024

AO Arena opens new VIP restaurant and bar

The Mezz sits between the concourse and the arena bowl, enabling guests to move "seamlessly" from their tables to the "best seats in the house"

News|05 Mar 2024

ILMC 36: The Venue’s Venue: New Frontiers

Experts from Live Nation, Co-op Live, D. Live and ASM Global explored the eruption of new and forthcoming venues

News|29 Nov 2023

Groundbreaking for CTS Eventim’s new Milan venue

"We envision this new landmark as a cultural and sporting hub that will showcase Milan to the world," says Klaus-Peter Schulenberg