What Mace Group does

Mace Group (UK Ltd) is a privately held family business headquartered in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, operating since 1999 as a diversified holding company across four wholly owned brands. Gala Tent Ltd is the flagship division and the UK's leading manufacturer and retailer of premium quality marquees and pop-up gazebos serving events, functions and trade shows; Gala Graphics provides professional printing and branding services combining in-house graphic design with high-quality print production; Gala Performance is a specialist supplier of pit, paddock and promotional solutions to the motorsport industry for both two and four-wheel racing; and Gala Technology is the development team behind SOTpay, a multi-award-winning Card Not Present payment solution enabling PCI DSS compliant authenticated payments across telephony, email, SMS, web-chat and social media channels.

The company's revenue mechanics are primarily direct: e-commerce storefronts at each brand-dedicated website drive self-service product sales to SMBs, individual consumers, and enterprise event organisers, supplemented by direct phone and email consultation for custom event infrastructure and SOTpay merchant integrations. Customer segments span event and hospitality, motorsport, branded merchandise buyers, and merchants of all sizes requiring PCI DSS compliant card-not-present acceptance. The operating footprint is UK-domestic, with SOTpay marketed as globally accessible across payment channels.

Corporate structure is stable: Mace Group (UK Ltd) operates as the parent for the four subsidiary brands, with no external funding rounds disclosed and ownership retained within the founding family. The input data also references a Mace Consult divestiture involving Goldman Sachs Alternatives and a $1B-revenue, 5,500-employee consulting carve-out; this profile does not align with the 11-50 employee Rotherham family business and likely pertains to an unrelated entity sharing the Mace Group name, and is therefore treated as a data anomaly rather than a reflection of this company's scale or activities.

Name

Mace Group

Legal name

Mace Group (UK Ltd)

Website

https://macegroup.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

1999

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Mace Group (UK Ltd) is a privately held UK family business headquartered in Rotherham, operating four brands (Gala Tent, Gala Graphics, Gala Performance, Gala Technology) supplying marquees, printing, motorsport equipment, and the SOTpay Card Not Present payment solution.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Rotherham

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Mace Group is a privately held family-owned diversified holding company that operates four branded business divisions. Through Gala Tent Ltd it manufactures and retails premium marquees and pop-up gazebos for the events and hospitality industry. Through Gala Graphics it provides in-house graphic design, printing, and professional branding services. Through Gala Performance it supplies pit, paddock, and promotional products to the motorsport industry. Through Gala Technology it offers the proprietary SOTpay multi-award-winning 'Card Not Present' PCI DSS compliant payment solution enabling multi-channel payment acceptance.

Product overview

Mace Group is a diversified holding company operating as a true family business with roots in the event industry. The portfolio comprises four distinct brands: Gala Tent Ltd (core marquee and gazebo manufacturing and retail), Gala Graphics (professional printing and branding services), Gala Performance (motorsport supplies for pit and paddock), and Gala Technology (financial technology with the SOTpay payment solution). Gala Tent serves as the flagship consumer brand, while Gala Technology provides the group's technology-focused product in the payments sector.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Gala Tent Marquees and Pop-Up Gazebos Manufactured premium quality marquees and pop-up gazebos for large functions (hundreds of guests), party tents, and fully customised pop-up gazebos for trade show brand promotion. Targeted at event organisers, businesses, and individuals requiring premium event infrastructure.
• Gala Graphics Branding and Printing Services Professional printing and branding services from concept to creation using in-house graphic designers and print technicians with highest quality materials to deliver long-lasting, slick and professional branding for trade shows and events.
• Gala Performance Motorsport Supplies Specialist supplier of pit, paddock and promotional products to the motorsport industry covering both two-wheel and four-wheel racing; serves professional world-beating teams and club-level competitors with premium quality products at non-inflated motorsport pricing.
• SOTpay Card-Not-Present Payment Solution Multi-award-winning 'Card Not Present' PCI DSS compliant payment solution enabling merchants and organisations of all sizes to take secure, authenticated payments across telephony, email, SMS, web-chat, and social media platforms. Globally accessible.

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Regional players

• TentCraft: US-based custom tent, event structure and graphics manufacturer; directly comparable to Gala Tent's marquee and pop-up gazebo manufacturing, but serving primarily the North American market rather than the UK.
• Dojo: UK-focused card payment and merchant services provider; comparable to SOTpay's UK SME-merchant positioning, but anchored to in-person card reader hardware rather than multi-channel CNP.
• Sage Pay (Opayo): UK-oriented online payment gateway originally part of Sage Group; competes with SOTpay for UK SMB merchants seeking integrated Card-Not-Present and online payment processing.

Broad incumbents

• Vistaprint (Cimpress): Large global printing and branding services platform serving SMBs and event marketers; comparable to Gala Graphics' printing and branded event merchandise offering, but at much greater scale and international reach.
• SumUp: European-headquartered payments and merchant services provider; overlaps with SOTpay's SME merchant focus through its payment gateway capabilities, but is primarily known for card reader hardware.
• Stripe: Major global online and Card-Not-Present payment processor; shares SOTpay's SME-to-enterprise merchant target market but at vastly greater scale and with a much broader product surface.
• Worldpay: Global payment processing incumbent with broad CNP and multi-channel capabilities; competes with SOTpay at the merchant acquiring and gateway layer but as part of a much wider payments portfolio.

Direct peers

• Realex Payments (Global Payments): Irish-origin CNP payment specialist now part of Global Payments; historically positioned on secure Card-Not-Present processing for online and remote channels, comparable to SOTpay's technology proposition.
• PCI Pal: UK-listed specialist in secure Card-Not-Present payment solutions for telephony, contact centre and digital channels; directly comparable to SOTpay's multi-channel, PCI DSS compliant CNP positioning.
• Trust Payments: UK-headquartered omnichannel payment processor with a strong CNP and e-commerce focus; competes head-to-head with SOTpay for SME and mid-market merchants seeking Card-Not-Present security.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Subsidiaries4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Mace Group