What DHP Family does

DHP Family (legally DHP Family Ltd) is a privately held UK live entertainment company founded in Nottingham in 1984 by George Akins, originally as Daybrook House Promotions Ltd. It operates across four connected activities: national concert and tour promotion (averaging around 1,600 gigs annually and having sold over 8 million tickets across 85 UK cities and towns), music venue operation, festival organization, and ticketing. Its venue portfolio spans Nottingham (Rock City, Rescue Rooms, Stealth, The Bodega, and the 2,500-capacity The Palais), London (Oslo Hackney, The Garage, The Grace, Village Underground), and Bristol (Thekla). It also serves music fans, artists, and community/charity partners, welcoming more than 1.5 million people through its doors in 2023.

The company monetizes primarily through transaction-based mechanics: concert and tour ticket sales and artist management, venue door/bar/hire revenue, festival ticketing, camping and concessions, and booking fees generated through its proprietary ticketing platform alt.tickets. Its festival roster — including Splendour, Dot To Dot, Bearded Theory, Beat The Streets, Footsteps, Foolhardy Folk Festival, and Arboretum Beer Festival — adds roughly 350,000 admits annually. Pricing is event- and tier-based (e.g., Splendour weekend tickets from £112.50, Dot To Dot from £30, Foolhardy Folk £35), with staged release pricing and monthly installment payment plans for larger festivals such as Bearded Theory.

No proprietary technology core is disclosed; the business runs standard ticketing, venue-management, and event-promotion systems, with third-party integrations including Barclaycard for payment processing and Google Analytics for web tracking. The company employs approximately 400 people, is wholly owned and controlled by Managing Director George Akins with no external institutional or private equity backing, and has grown organically over four decades supplemented by recent festival and venue acquisitions.

Name

DHP Family

Legal name

DHP Family Ltd

Website

https://dhpfamily.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1984

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

DHP Family is a Nottingham-based UK live music company that promotes national concert tours, operates music venues across Nottingham, London and Bristol, organizes festivals, and runs its own ticketing platform alt.tickets, serving music fans and artists nationwide.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Live Music Entertainment

NAICS

Promoters of Performing Arts, Sports, and Similar Events with Facilities (71131), Promoters of Performing Arts, Sports, and Similar Events with Facilities (711310)

SIC

Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900)

akta.pro primary industry

DJ & Electronic Music Venues (MPAGAIAE)

Keywords

• Live music promotion
• Music venue operations
• Music festival organization
• Concert ticketing services
• Artist management services

Headquarters

HQ city

Nottingham

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices12 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Concert Promotion: Promoting national tours and concerts across the UK, generating revenue through ticket sales and artist management.
2. Venue Operations: Operating music venues including Rock City, Rescue Rooms, Stealth, The Bodega in Nottingham; The Garage, Oslo in London; Thekla in Bristol. Revenue from door sales, bar operations, and venue hire.
3. Festival Operations: Organizing and operating festivals including Bearded Theory, Splendour, Dot To Dot, Beat The Streets, Footsteps, Society Exists, and Foolhardy Folk Festival. Revenue from ticket sales, camping, and festival concessions.
4. Ticketing Platform (alt.tickets): Their proprietary ticketing platform selling tickets to their own events and external events, generating booking fees.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

DHP Family is a UK-based live music entertainment company that promotes national tours and concerts, operates a network of music venues in Nottingham, London, and Bristol, organizes multiple festivals, and manages artists. The company also runs its own proprietary ticketing platform (alt.tickets) to sell tickets to its events and third-party events.

Product overview

DHP Family is one of the UK's leading entertainment companies operating a diversified portfolio across live music promotion, music venues, and music festivals. The company operates through its proprietary ticketing platform alt.tickets alongside its venue network (including Rock City, Rescue Rooms, Stealth, The Bodega, The Palais in Nottingham; Oslo Hackney, The Garage, The Grace in London; Thekla in Bristol; and Village Underground in London). DHP Family's festival portfolio includes Splendour Festival, Dot To Dot Festival (celebrating 20 years), Bearded Theory (multi-award winning), Beat The Streets (charity fundraiser), Foolhardy Folk Festival, Footsteps Festival, and the Arboretum Beer Festival. The company also operates a national concert promotion business averaging 1,600 gigs annually and provides artist management services. Founded in Nottingham over 40 years ago, the company employs 400 people and has sold over 8 million concert tickets across 85 UK cities and towns.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• alt.tickets DHP Family's proprietary ticketing platform for purchasing tickets to concerts, festivals, and events across all DHP Family venues and select third-party events, generating booking fee revenue.
• Rock City Flagship 1,000+ capacity music venue in Nottingham that hosts major concerts and live music events, generating revenue from door sales and bar operations.
• Rescue Rooms Music venue in Nottingham hosting live music and club nights, recognized with Best Live Music Venue in the Best Bar None awards.
• Stealth Iconic 660-capacity, two-room nightclub in Nottingham on Goldsmith Street specializing in electronic and dance music, featuring Void and Funktion One sound systems.
• The Bodega Grassroots music venue in Nottingham recognized as Music Week Grassroots Venue in 2024, supporting emerging artists.
• The Palais Historic 2,500-capacity dancehall venue in Nottingham reopened by DHP Family in September 2024 and returned to its original 1925 name.
• Oslo Hackney Two-storey music venue in London housed in a former 1870 railway building in Hackney, hosting headline shows for major artists.
• The Garage Music venue in London hosting concerts and live music events as part of DHP Family's venue portfolio.
• The Grace Music venue in London hosting concerts and live music events as part of DHP Family's venue portfolio.
• Thekla Cargo ship music venue moored in Bristol's Floating Harbour, operating since 1984 and acquired by DHP Family in 2006.
• Village Underground Music venue in London operated by DHP Family hosting headline artist shows.
• Splendour Festival Nottingham's biggest outdoor live music weekend at Wollaton Park, a 25,000-capacity festival with multiple stages, comedy, fairground, and family entertainment, concluding after 18 years.
• Dot To Dot Festival Metropolitan music festival held across Bristol and Nottingham over the late May bank holiday, focused on emerging talent across multiple city venues.
• Bearded Theory Multi-award winning independent five-day camping festival at Catton Park, Derbyshire featuring eight stages and alternative music programming from rock and punk to folk and electronic.
• Beat The Streets Charity music festival across multiple Nottingham venues raising funds for Framework Housing Association to support homeless people, holding UK Festival Awards recognition for community impact.
• Foolhardy Folk Festival Family-friendly folk festival curated by Beans on Toast at Nottingham's Arboretum featuring real ales, craft beer, street food, and live music.
• Arboretum Beer Festival Beer festival at Nottingham's Arboretum Garden Bar and Bandstand featuring local independent breweries, street food vendors, and live music.
• Footsteps Festival Five-day multi-venue London festival celebrating music, art, and community across multiple independent venues.
• Concerts Promotion National concert and tour promotion service generating revenue from ticket sales by promoting artists nationally across venues in 85+ UK cities and towns.
• Artist Management Artist management service offered as part of DHP Family's entertainment sector operations.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 1.5 million attendees across all events in 2023
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration2 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Listen for Life CampaignminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 3 March 2026DHP Family is working with the Listen for Life campaign to make Nottingham the UK's first Listen for Life City, promoting hearing health and protection for staff, artists and customers in venues.
• Framework Housing AssociationcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2018Framework is the charity working to end homelessness across the East Midlands. DHP Family's Beat The Streets festival raises funds for Framework, having generated over £554,000 since 2018. Funds support street outreach teams, accommodation, and mental health workers for rough sleepers.
• It's in NottinghamcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCity centre business improvement district that organizes the Best Bar None awards. DHP Family venues Stealth and Rescue Rooms participate in these awards, winning recognition for safe night out initiatives.
• Enter ShikariminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerDHP Family partnered with Enter Shikari for their arena tour where a portion of ticket sales was directed to support the grassroots fund. This pioneering approach was part of the voluntary ticket levy initiative.
• Bloodstock FestivalcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerBoth Bearded Theory and Bloodstock Festival are held at Catton Park and jointly highlight their economic impact on the local economy (£16 million annually). They work together on infrastructure concerns and community initiatives.
• Derbyshire Sausage and Cider FestivalminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAlso held at Catton Park, this festival contributes to the joint economic impact of £16 million annually for the three events at Catton Park.
• Consent CoalitionminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerDHP Family venues signed up to the Safe Space Pledge developed in partnership with Consent Coalition, focusing on protecting women and girls from harm and reducing vulnerability.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves11 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Live Nation Entertainment: Live Nation Entertainment is the world's largest live entertainment company, combining concert promotion (Live Nation Concerts), venue ownership and operation, ticketing (Ticketmaster), and artist management. It competes with DHP Family in UK concert promotion and venue operations but operates globally at a vastly larger scale. It is the dominant arena and stadium promoter that DHP Family's touring business must contend with for major artist routing.
• Festival Republic: Festival Republic is a UK-based festival promoter operating major events including Reading, Leeds, and Latitude festivals. It is a broader incumbent in the festival organization space where DHP Family competes via Bearded Theory, Splendour, and Dot To Dot. Festival Republic operates at a larger scale and is owned by Live Nation, positioning it as a scaled competitor rather than a direct independent peer.
• AEG Presents: AEG Presents is one of the world's largest concert promoters and venue operators, owning and operating venues including The O2 in London. It competes directly with DHP Family in the UK concert promotion space and operates the AXS ticketing platform, parallel to DHP's alt.tickets. It is a broader incumbent with global scale rather than a direct independent competitor.

Regional players

• MCD Productions: MCD Productions is Ireland's largest concert promoter and event organizer, promoting concerts, festivals, and venue events across Ireland. It is a regional peer to DHP Family's UK concert promotion business, with a similar business model of concert promotion and event organization but operating primarily in the Irish market rather than competing directly in UK venues.

Direct peers

• Academy Music Group: Academy Music Group is a leading UK owner and operator of live music venues, including O2 Academy venues across major UK cities. It is a direct competitor to DHP Family's venue operations, operating at a similar venue scale and capacity range. Both companies own and operate multiple mid-sized live music venues across the UK.
• Metropolis Music: Metropolis Music is a UK-based concert promotion and live entertainment company that promotes concerts and tours across UK venues. It is a direct competitor to DHP Family's concert promotion division, operating similar mid-tier tours and venue partnerships. Both companies serve artists seeking UK touring support outside the dominant Live Nation/AEG networks.
• Kilimanjaro Live: Kilimanjaro Live is a UK independent concert promoter and festival operator, running events including Download Festival and other UK tours and festivals. It is a direct peer to DHP Family, operating in the same independent concert promotion and festival organization space, competing for artist bookings and festival audiences.
• SJM Concerts: SJM Concerts is one of the UK's leading independent concert promoters, promoting tours across the UK and Ireland for major artists. It is a direct competitor to DHP Family's concert promotion division, operating in a similar mid-to-upper tier venue space across UK cities. Both companies promote tours at venues of comparable capacity.

Emerging players

• The Leadmill: The Leadmill is an iconic independent music venue in Sheffield, England, hosting live music and club nights. It is a comparable grassroots venue operator in the same UK music venue space where DHP Family's venues like Rock City, Rescue Rooms, and The Bodega operate. While smaller in scale, it shares DHP's model of independent venue operation and was previously led by Julie Tippins (now DHP's non-executive director).

Others

• Independent Venue Week: Independent Venue Week is a UK-wide initiative celebrating independent music venues, of which DHP Family's venue portfolio is a notable participant. It is an ecosystem partner rather than direct competitor, but represents the grassroots and independent venue community that DHP Family engages with through The Bodega (Music Week Grassroots Venue 2024), Stealth (BBC Radio 1 Grassroots Venue 2026 nominee), and other venues.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/DHPFamily
• Facebookfacebook.com/DHPFamily
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/dhp-family
• Instagraminstagram.com/dhpfamilylive

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles13 records

Subsidiaries18 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 DHP Family