ABOUT US - UK Venue Management
About Us
Divergent Venues was founded in 2022 by husband and wife team, Sarah and Kai Harris. The company was born out of a desire to apply over 25 years of music industry and venues experience coupled with a keen knowledge of modern systems and software to help much-loved, grassroots music venues become more profitable by managing their diaries and bookings effectively and helping to streamline key processes.
Is this you?
- Do you have a nightclub that would work as a great live space that's empty, doing nothing all day until 10pm?
- Are you a venue owner/operator with a fantastic live space that you've pushed as far as it can go with your current set up, but you know it can do more?
- Do you have an unused licensed space such as a comedy club or community hall that could easily be converted to a live space on a temporary or permanent basis?
- Are you a council or government site with a great facility that could be generating income?
If you would like to find out more about how we can help transform your venue, call us today and we will be happy to answer any questions and talk you through our services.
Our Team
Sarah Harris
Director and General Manager
My background is in finance and accounting for large multinational companies and like to pride myself as being extremely organised and focused on customer service. I'm a lifelong fan of music and am constantly being told off by our children that my music is too loud (I also get told off for going too far into the mosh). With Divergent Venues I love to see shows come to fruition, with the band, the venue team and the audience having the best time.
Kai Harris
Director and Promoter
I have been in the music industry for over 25 years' (longer if you include trying to be a musician) and cut my teeth initially running my own shows with my own band (whilst trying to hold down a day job with a global bank), then thankfully got my break as senior promoter at the legendary Joiners venue in Southampton. After many years as an independent promoter, I moved to national promoting at a corporate level, working on events across Europe up to arena level. I still like to moonlight as a musician, crooning for my occasional grunge covers super group but my real passion these days is in grass roots music venues.
Mike Winn
Diary and Administrative Assistant
I graduated from Solent University with first class honours in Festival Management, joining the Divergent team in 2023 after volunteering at Takedown. I’ve always been incredibly passionate about grass roots music, cutting my teeth in the local punk scene in Cornwall, and I am thrilled to now be a part of the thriving music scene in Southampton. From a young age I fell in love with punk and metal, and I have been attending gigs since the age of 12! I love working at our shows, especially getting to see how live music can turn an empty room into a space for people to come together and forget about the outside world for a few hours!
Simon Wilson
Diary and Administrative Assistant
I have been invovled in the local music scene for a long time, as the music manager for Southampton based radio station Voice FM, with a drive to promote the local scene as much as we can. Working for Divergent is an amazing opportunity to continue to support musicians at a grass root level along with some of the best venues around!
Kristian Murphy
Marketing Co-Ordinator / I.T Support & Development
I’ve been involved in music for years, playing drums in local bands and performing plenty of live shows. My start in marketing came through my own clothing brand and synthwave project, ACID CTRL, before moving into marketing for local venues and live events. Alongside this, I studied Cyber Security Management at university and have worked in IT, giving me a mix of creative and technical experience that I now bring to my role at Divergent.
Harry Harris
Systems & Software Developer
I am a space systems engineer degree apprentice at Airbus defence and space and full-stack developer. My heart has always been set on the stars. Throughout my entire life I've been absolutely fascinated by space and that passion has only grown stronger over the years. My goal is to work in aerospace engineering and eventually become a rocket engineer. I'm particularly excited about rocket design and propulsion systems, basically, all the incredible engineering that goes into getting us off this planet and exploring what's out there.