DesignMyNight
DesignMyNight is a nightlife discovery, booking and ticketing platform that helps people find and arrange restaurants, bars, pubs, clubs, events and experiences.
Last updated August 22, 2026
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Overview
DesignMyNight is a digital platform focused on the discovery and purchase of nightlife, hospitality and leisure experiences. Its consumer service helps users find restaurants, pubs, bars, clubs, events and other experiences according to factors such as location, budget, interests and the type of evening they want to arrange. The platform has been described as covering more than 20 cities in the United Kingdom and Australia, giving it a city-by-city marketplace model rather than a single-venue or single-category focus. The business was founded in 2011 by Nick Telson and Andrew Webster. The idea emerged while the founders were visiting New York City, where a hotel concierge demonstrated the value of informed, personalised nightlife recommendations. Telson and Webster subsequently left their jobs at L’Oréal and Accenture to work on the venture full time. According to the company’s published history as reported in reference material, they operated without income for two years before the business began to gain significant traction in 2013. DesignMyNight developed from a discovery website into a broader hospitality technology business. The consumer proposition was extended through a mobile application launched in 2013. The platform’s commercial value for venues and event organisers also led to the creation of software products intended to make bookings, enquiries and event sales more efficient. In February 2014, the company launched Collins, a booking and enquiry-management system for bars, restaurants with bars, pubs and private-hire spaces. The system was designed to support real-time bookings from a venue’s own website, while also giving operators tools to handle enquiries and manage customer information through an administrative interface. Functions described for the service include payment handling, card authentication, email management and customer-database management. DesignMyNight later introduced Tonic Ticketing, a ticketing product for event organisers. Tonic was designed to work both through the DesignMyNight platform and through a client’s own website or social-media channels, allowing external event pages to become transactional. This gave organisers a way to sell tickets while accessing DesignMyNight’s consumer audience, which reference material describes as reaching up to 3.9 million monthly users at the time cited. Together, the discovery service, booking tools and ticketing capabilities positioned the company as an intermediary between consumers looking for things to do and hospitality businesses seeking demand-generation and operating software. The company received external recognition during its early growth period. It was identified as a leading UK startup in 2014 and was included among the world’s best startups in 2015, according to the referenced material. In 2017, DesignMyNight was acquired by The Access Group. The acquisition placed the brand within a larger business-software group while preserving its relevance to hospitality, events and leisure operators. DesignMyNight’s role consequently spans consumer-facing discovery and business-facing technology, with its products addressing venue visibility, reservations, enquiries, payments and event ticketing.
History
DesignMyNight was established in 2011 by Nick Telson and Andrew Webster after an experience in New York City highlighted the usefulness of expert, personalised guidance for choosing an evening out. The founders left their respective roles at L’Oréal and Accenture and committed themselves to building the service. The early business was developed without founder income for two years, before gaining momentum in 2013. The original proposition was a consumer-facing discovery website. It allowed people to search for and plan nights out by combining practical criteria such as city, budget and interests with the desired type of experience. Its scope included restaurants, pubs, bars, clubs, events and experiences. Rather than focusing on a single hospitality category, DesignMyNight presented itself as a broad nightlife and leisure-discovery service. Reference material describes the platform as operating across more than 20 cities in the United Kingdom and Australia. In 2013, the company launched a mobile application with functionality comparable to the website. The following year marked an important expansion into business software. In February 2014, DesignMyNight launched Collins, an enquiry-management and booking system for bars, restaurants with bars, pubs and private-hire spaces. Collins was intended to let venues accept real-time bookings from their own websites while centralising enquiries and administrative work. Its described capabilities included payment processing, card authentication, email management and customer-database functions. DesignMyNight also developed a ticketing product, Tonic Ticketing. The system allowed event organisers to sell tickets through DesignMyNight as well as through their own websites or social-media channels. This connected the company’s audience-generation role with transactional infrastructure for event operators. The referenced material reports that DesignMyNight’s audience reached as many as 3.9 million monthly users during the period in which the ticketing proposition was introduced. The company’s early growth brought startup recognition. It was named among the leading UK startups in 2014 and was later described as one of the world’s best startups in 2015. In 2017, The Access Group acquired DesignMyNight. The transaction marked a transition from an independent nightlife-discovery startup to a brand operating within a larger software group. Its combined model continued to serve two connected audiences: consumers searching for hospitality and entertainment, and operators needing tools for bookings, enquiries, ticketing and customer management. DesignMyNight’s historical development is therefore defined by three linked stages: the creation of a curated nightlife-discovery service, the addition of mobile and transactional consumer functionality, and the expansion into venue-management and ticketing software. The available reference material does not provide verified detail on later corporate structure, current leadership, financial performance or the precise status of each product.
- 2017
Acquired by The Access Group
[1]The Access Group acquires DesignMyNight and incorporates its nightlife discovery and hospitality technology activities into the group.
- 2014
Collins booking software launched
[1]The company introduces Collins for venue enquiries, bookings and related customer-management tasks.
- 2014
Ticketing software introduced
[1]DesignMyNight launches ticketing technology for event organisers, supporting sales through the platform and external digital channels.
- 2013
Mobile app launched
[1]DesignMyNight extends its website proposition with a mobile application offering similar discovery functionality.
- 2011
Company founded
[1]Nick Telson and Andrew Webster establish DesignMyNight after identifying a need for more personalised nightlife discovery and planning.
Products and positioning
A city-based nightlife and hospitality marketplace combined with operational software for venues and event organisers. DesignMyNight connects consumers with places and experiences while helping hospitality businesses manage enquiries, bookings, payments, customer information and ticket sales.
Consumer discovery and booking platform · 2011
DesignMyNight
The core DesignMyNight service helps users discover and arrange nights out across categories including restaurants, pubs, bars, clubs, events and experiences. Search and planning can be tailored around location, budget, interests and the kind of evening desired. The platform combines editorial or curated discovery with booking and transactional links for participating venues and organisers.
Mobile discovery application · 2013
DesignMyNight mobile app
Launched in 2013, the mobile application brought the main DesignMyNight discovery proposition to mobile users. It was described as providing functionality similar to the existing website, enabling users to explore nightlife, hospitality and event options while planning an evening out.
Venue booking and enquiry-management software · 2014
Collins
Collins was introduced in February 2014 for bars, restaurants with bars, pubs and private-hire spaces. The system was designed to support real-time bookings from a venue’s own website while giving operators a back-office environment for handling enquiries. Described functions include payments, card authentication, email management and customer-database administration.
Event ticketing software · 2014
Tonic Ticketing
Tonic Ticketing provides event organisers with tools to sell tickets through DesignMyNight and through their own websites or social-media channels. Its purpose is to make external event pages transactional while allowing organisers to benefit from DesignMyNight’s consumer audience and ticketing infrastructure.
Brand decisions
2017
Acquisition by The Access GroupM&ABackground
After developing consumer discovery, booking and ticketing capabilities, DesignMyNight became part of a larger business-software organisation.
Action taken
The Access Group acquired DesignMyNight.
Aftermath
The acquisition placed DesignMyNight within The Access Group and connected its hospitality-focused services with the acquirer’s broader software portfolio. Deal terms and subsequent organisational changes are not specified in the available sources.
2014
Launch of Collins venue softwareProduct launchBackground
DesignMyNight expanded beyond consumer discovery to address the operational needs of hospitality venues handling bookings and enquiries.
Action taken
The company introduced Collins for bars, restaurants with bars, pubs and private-hire spaces.
Aftermath
Collins added venue-management functionality to the company’s marketplace proposition, including booking, payment and customer-management tools.
2014
Launch of Tonic TicketingProduct launchBackground
Event organisers needed ways to sell tickets both through discovery platforms and through their own digital properties.
Action taken
DesignMyNight introduced ticketing software that could operate on DesignMyNight, organiser websites and social-media channels.
Aftermath
The product extended the company’s role from discovery and referrals into event transactions and distribution.
2013
Expansion from website to mobile applicationProduct launchBackground
The company sought to make its nightlife-discovery service available through a mobile format in addition to its existing website.
Action taken
DesignMyNight launched an app with functionality similar to the core web service.
Aftermath
The launch broadened the service’s access points, although the available reference material does not quantify its adoption or commercial effect.
Recent events
Bacardi partners with Design My Night on going-out guide[2]
Reported:
Bacardi teamed up with Design My Night for a campaign encouraging on-trade business and launched The Bacardi Guide to Going Out (Again), a quiz that tailors cocktail choices and bar venues to users.
Sources2 sources
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