limited type limited company industry entertainment founder howard panter rosemary squire headquarters woking surrey united kingdom number of locations 45 theatres and 1 cinema complex in 3 countries uk usa & australia key people howard panter joint chief executive & creative director rosemary squire joint chief executive greg dyke executive chairman helen enright chief financial officer & commercial director michael lynas managing director content 1 owner providence equity partners 2 exponent private equity llp 3 peter beckwith pmb holdings 4 eddie kulukundis howard panter rosemary squire number of employees 3 500 june 2013 5 website atgtickets.com the ambassador theatre group atg is a major international theatre organisation headquartered in the united kingdom with offices in london new york sydney mannheim and cologne . atg s key operations comprise three inter related activities theatre ownership and management ; theatre producing activity ; and ticketing and marketing operations . 6 atg runs 46 venues in britain the us and australia . the company is among the most prolific theatre producers in the world with co productions in the uk new york across north america europe asia and australia . it is considered a market leader in theatre ticketing services through atg tickets lovetheatre and group line . the company was founded and run by the husband and wife team of sir howard panter and rosemary squire obe who from 2010 2016 topped the stage 100 list of prominent uk theatre personalities . 7 contents 1 business model 2 theatre ownership and management 3 theatre producing activity 3.1 current and recent atg co productions 3.2 older productions 3.3 broadway productions 3.4 productions in australia 4 ticketing and marketing operations 5 history 5.1 beginnings 5.2 act deal 5.3 live nation deal 5.4 expansion outside the uk 6 culture 7 ownership 8 list of venues managed by atg 8.1 theatres 8.2 cinema 9 references business model edit atg s business model involves the combination of theatre ownership with production management marketing and ticket operations . 8 atg manage and in some cases own venues mainly theatres which host shows for paying audiences including but not exclusively limited to shows created by its production functions ; atg s production functions create shows which are hired out for performance at theatres including but not exclusively limited to theatres managed by atg ; and atg s ticketing and marketing function sells and charges fees for selling tickets for venues including but not exclusively limited to venues owned by atg . the business model includes levying an additional service fee of 7p per minute on all telephone bookings and pre sales enquiries through the use of 0844 numbers 9 with a total call cost to customers of up to 52p per minute . 10 this includes the helpline for disabled customers seeking information of accessibility issues . theatre ownership and management edit atg manage 45 theatres and one cinema in the britain the usa and australia . atg s portfolio of 12 west end theatres include the apollo victoria donmar warehouse duke of york s fortune harold pinter lyceum phoenix piccadilly playhouse savoy and trafalgar studios 1 and 2 . atg has regional uk theatres in aylesbury birmingham brighton bristol bromley edinburgh folkestone glasgow liverpool manchester milton keynes oxford richmond southport stoke on trent sunderland torquay wimbledon woking and york . in new york atg owns the lyric theatre the largest theatre on broadway and in december 2015 atg entered into a long term lease for the hudson theatre on broadway from a subsidiary of millennium & copthorne hotels plc m & c . 11 in 2015 atg acquired ace theatrical group ace a company which specialises in the operation design development and construction of world class live performance venues throughout north america . these currently are the king s theatre in brooklyn new york ; the saenger theatre in new orleans louisiana ; the mahalia jackson theater for the performing arts in new orleans louisiana ; the majestic theatre in san antonio texas ; and the charline mccombs empire theatre in san antonio texas . 12 also in 2015 atg became leaseholder and took over the management of the theatre royal sydney s oldest theatrical institution one of the city s premier venues and atg s first theatre in the asia pacific region . 13 atg is the majority shareholder of bb group 14 one of the leading producers and promoters of premium live entertainment in europe with a particular strength in touring musicals and dance productions throughout germany austria and switzerland . bb group productions include west side story we will rock you the rocky horror show cats alvin ailey american dance theater and ballet revoluci n the lion king and the bodyguard . bb group has won the tender to re develop the staatenhaus in cologne as a 1700 seat theatre . 15 theatre producing activity edit atg has its own producing arm atg productions . atg s production activities expanded with the launch of theatre royal brighton productions and the formation of producing partnerships with directors jerry mitchell and jamie lloyd in 2011 and 2012 . atg has a number of major production company initiatives partnerships including jerry mitchell productions 16 theatre royal brighton productions 17 and jaime lloyd productions . atg also owns a major national family entertainment and pantomime company first family entertainment ffe . atg has a group partner company sonia friedman productions sfp a west end and broadway production company responsible for major theatre productions in london and on broadway in recent years . recent sfp west end and broadway theatre productions and co productions include the uk premiere of the book of mormon jez butterworth s the river on broadway starring hugh jackman ; the nether bend it like beckham the musical hamlet starring benedict cumberbatch ; electra king charles iii sunny afternoon shakespeare in love jerusalem ghosts mojo chimerica twelfth night and richard iii and old times . friedman will also collaborate with j k rowling on the new stage play based on the harry potter stories harry potter and the cursed child parts i and ii in co production with colin callender . current and recent atg co productions edit current and recent atg co productions include the end of longing starring matthew perry ; the maids starring uzo aduba zawe ashton and laura carmichael ; the homecoming starring john simm gary kemp and keith allen ; the ruling class starring james mcavoy ; oresteia women on the verge of a nervous breakdown starring tamsin greig ; east is east starring jane horrocks ; richard iii starring martin freeman ; dirty rotten scoundrels starring robert lindsay ; jersey boys priscilla queen of the desert starring jason donovan duncan james ; inala love me tender macbeth starring james mcavoy ; the hothouse starring simon russell beale and john simm ; passion play starring z e wanamaker ; posh jumpyand constellations royal court at the duke of york s ; dolly patron s 9 to 5 the musical legally blonde the musical monty python s spamalot the rocky horror show goodnight mister tom the mystery of charles dickens starring simon callow south pacific starring samantha womack and paulo szot ; all new people starring zach braff ; ghost the musical matthew bourne s nutcracker being shakespeare starring simon callow ; the misanthrope starring damian lewis and keira knightley ; west side story elling starring john simm ; and guys and dolls starring ewan mcgregor . older productions edit atg s earlier productions include the co production of the weir in london and on broadway winner of the 1999 olivier award for best new play ; smokey joe s cafe in the west end ; the olivier award winning slava s snowshow in the west end and north america ; and the multi award winning west end musical carmen jones . broadway productions edit recent atg productions on broadway include the mountaintop starring samuel l jackson and angela bassett ; exit the king starring geoffrey rush and susan sarandon ; and john doyle s award winning production of stephen sondheim s sweeney todd the demon barber fleet street . atg also co produced constellations on broadway and currently co producing multi tony award winning the king and i with lincoln center theater . productions in australia edit atg s productions in australia include ghost the musical legally blonde the musical thriller live the rocky horror show guys and dolls and west side story . ticketing and marketing operations edit atg runs atg tickets which provides the in house ticketing services to atg s uk theatre s and manages atg s theatre card membership programme and ticketing promotional partnerships . the ticketing website atgtickets.com was launched in 2008 and has since been recognised by hitwise as the uk s number one theatre ticketing website with 20 million unique visits per annum . 18 in 2011 atg theatre card the uk s largest paid for theatre membership scheme was launched . atg s pioneering marketing activities were also recognised by the industry winning the hollis silver medal sponsorship award in 2010 and media week s national media collaboration of the year award in 2012 . ticket machine group a long established ticket agency was acquired by atg in 2013 and provides customers with a choice of shows in the west end as well as supporting ticket sales in atg theatres through its key brands lovetheatre.com and groupline . history edit beginnings edit squire and panter had known each other since 1979 and panter offered squire a job after she was made redundant in 1986 . 19 the company now known as atg began through panter meeting property developer brothers peter and john beckwith . the beckwiths company london and edinburgh trust was working on a development in woking surrey that was to include an arts and entertainment complex and the beckwiths asked panter and squire to plan and manage it . 19 when london and edinburgh trust was sold before the woking development was completed in 1992 a structure was set up that allowed panter and squire to continue to run the theatre . around that time the atg company was established with founding investors including eddie kulukundis . 19 according to squire the way the company collaborated with the local council on the woking development became a blueprint for their future projects . 19 in february 1992 atg bought the duke of york s theatre from capital radio with significant support from kulukundis . 19 in 1995 atg bought its second london theatre the ambassadors . 19 the company also bid successfully for contracts to manage new theatres being launched in milton keynes and stoke on trent . 19 act deal edit atg underwent major expansion in 2000 through the acquisition of seven west end theatres from associated capital theatres act the albery now named the no l coward the comedy now named the harold pinter donmar warehouse phoenix piccadilly whitehall now trafalgar studios and wyndham s theatres . 19 expansion required the involvement of larger corporate investors including area property partners 20 and carlton television . 19 subsequent deals included taking on the running of theatres in bromley richmond and glasgow . 19 live nation deal edit in november 2009 atg consolidated its position as the major uk theatre owner by purchasing the live nation uk theatre portfolio of 16 venues in england and scotland in a 90 million acquisition . 21 live nation sold the theatres as part of a business decision of selling off assets that are not core to our live music strategy . 22 at that time exponent private equity became the new majority owner of atg by financing the theatre takeover . 23 exponent provided at least 75m of financing for the deal which valued atg at 150m . 23 coinciding with the expansion former bbc director general greg dyke joined atg in a new role of executive chairman . 21 potential competition concerns led to