H Tempest

What H Tempest does

H Tempest Limited, trading as Tempest Photography, is a family-run UK photographic services company founded by Horace Tempest in 1942 and headquartered at The Colour Laboratory in Lelant, St Ives, Cornwall. The company is structured around seven principal service lines: school photography (primary, secondary, independent schools, Multi-Academy Trusts, and primary leavers), early years photography for nurseries and preschools, graduation photography and gowning for over 100 universities, military and uniformed services photography, cruise ship photography through the Tempest Travel Photography division across the P&O Cruises and Cunard fleets, visual marketing via sister company Jolt Media, and ancillary products (yearbooks via AllYearbooks, bespoke hoodies via MOXIE).

The underlying platform combines a UK-wide field force of approximately 147 locally-employed full-time photographers with an in-house digital laboratory (£10 million invested since 2005) that processes 8.1 million images annually and up to 200,000 portraits per day during the autumn peak. Proprietary technology includes a patented purpose-built aluminium staging system for large group photography (supporting up to 1,200 people per shot), a Background Replace portrait customization tool (launching Autumn 2025), an RFID-based gown tracking system with cloud database, an eProofing digital ordering platform, in-house fabric printers for custom backdrops, and patented large-group image stitching. Permanent on-site studios operate at Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and Army Training Centre Pirbright.

Revenue is generated through unit-priced direct sales of prints, frames, USBs, and digital downloads to parents via dedicated ecommerce portals (tempest-orders.co.uk and tempest-graduations.co.uk), supplemented by transaction commissions paid to schools (settled within 72 hours), professional service fees from universities and military clients, and onboard cruise ship photo gallery sales. Distribution is primarily field-led through direct school visits, dedicated account managers (including Trust Account Managers for MATs), online ordering portals, telephone order lines, and physical photo galleries on cruise ships. Customers span primary/secondary education, higher education, military, sports academies (25+ Premier League and Football League clients), and cruise tourism.

Name

H Tempest

Legal name

H Tempest Limited

Website

https://htempest.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

1942

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

Tempest Photography is a UK family-run photographic services company founded in 1942, delivering school, graduation, military, and cruise ship photography across more than 100 universities and thousands of schools via 147 in-house photographers and an in-house European laboratory.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Truro

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. School Photography Sales: Direct sales of school portraits and group photographs to parents and families through schools. Products include prints, frames, USBs, and digital downloads. Commission paid to schools based on sales.
2. University Graduation Services: Photography services for university graduation ceremonies including individual portraits, family portraits, presentation ceremony photography, and group photographs. Over 100 universities served.
3. Gowning Services: Rental and management of academic gowns for graduation ceremonies through the Graduate Gowning Company (GGC). Includes RFID-based tracking and online ordering systems.
4. Military Photography: Photography services for British Military and Uniformed Services including studio portraits, location photography, and group photographs at events like Pass Out Parades.
5. Cruise Ship Photography (TTP): Photography services across P&O Cruises and Cunard fleets with Photo Gallery operations. Products include prints and digital images produced onboard.
6. Yearbooks and Hoodies: Through sister companies AllYearbooks and MOXIE, providing yearbooks and bespoke hoodies for schools
7. Visual Marketing Services: Through Jolt Media sister company: videography, website design, 360 video tours, prospectus design, and wall art for schools

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels7 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

H Tempest provides professional photography services for UK schools, nurseries, universities, military organisations, and cruise ships (P&O Cruises and Cunard). The company dispatches locally-based DBS-checked photographers on-site to capture portraits and group photographs, then sells prints, frames, USBs, and digital downloads to families through dedicated ecommerce portals. Complementary offerings include gowning services for university graduations, yearbooks, leavers' hoodies, and visual marketing through sister companies.

Product overview

H Tempest operates a diversified photography services business organized around several core service lines. The primary offering is School Photography, encompassing portraits, small groups, large groups, independent schools, multi-academy trusts, and primary leavers photography. Related services include Early Years photography for nurseries and preschools, and Graduations photography for universities (serving over 100 institutions) with associated gowning and ticketing services. The company also serves Military & Uniformed Services with specialized photography, operates Tempest Travel Photography across P&O Cruises and Cunard cruise ships, and provides Visual Marketing through sister company Jolt Media. Additional offerings include yearbooks (AllYearbooks) and leavers' hoodies (MOXIE). The portfolio includes specialized products like the Background Replace portrait customization tool, eProofing digital ordering, data-linking portals for schools, and the Timmy & Tilly children's storybook resource.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• School Photography
• Early Years Photography
• Graduation Photography
• Military & Uniformed Services Photography
• Tempest Travel Photography (TTP)
• Visual Marketing Services (Jolt Media)
• Gowning Services (Graduate Gowning Company)
• AllYearbooks
• MOXIE (Leavers' Hoodies)
• Graduation Ticketing

Quantifiable outcome

• 85% customer retention rate - customers who use Tempest return the following year
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers21 records

Segments7 records

Ideal customer profiles7 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature7 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Raise Your HandsminorOthers · 1 January 2024Charity partnership supporting children's charities. A photo pack was created where 5% of all sales are donated to the charity. Additional fundraising events held at HQ raised £750.
• MATA (Multi-Academy Trusts Association)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOfficial partner of MATA, supporting educational photography services across Multi-Academy Trusts. Partnership aligns with Tempest's commitment to education and community, providing consistent high-quality photography across multiple institutions within trusts.
• P&O CruisescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCore part of onboard experience across P&O Cruises fleet. TTP division operates Photo Gallery on ships, capturing moments from formal evenings to family celebrations.
• CunardcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCore part of onboard experience across Cunard fleet. TTP division operates Photo Gallery on ships, capturing moments from formal evenings to family celebrations.
• AllYearbookscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorSister company and largest yearbook company in UK. Provides affordable, stress-free yearbooks for schools alongside Tempest photography services.
• MOXIEminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorSister company providing bespoke luxury hoodies for schools. Works alongside Tempest photography to offer commemorative products.
• Jolt MediacoreTechnology or IntegrationSister company and visual marketing agency providing videography, website design, 360 video tours, prospectus design, and wall art services for schools. Links education and creativity.

Scale indicators23 records

Recent moves2 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• M&M Photographic: UK school and event photography company offering portrait, class group, and nursery photography across primary schools. Comparable size and target market to Tempest's core UK school photography service.
• GradImages: Leading graduation ceremony photography company serving universities and high schools across North America. Directly comparable to Tempest's graduation photography and gowning services (via GGC) for higher education clients.
• Vancols: Established UK photography company founded in 1925, providing school, nursery, university graduation, and event photography services across the UK. Closely comparable in core product offering and customer base to Tempest's school and graduation photography.
• Verve Portraits: UK-based school photography specialist serving primary and secondary schools with portrait, class, and year-group photography. Direct competitor to Tempest in the UK state-school segment.
• Image Village: UK sports and school team photography specialist serving football academies, clubs, and schools. Comparable to Tempest's sports groups and large-group photography capabilities, particularly within football academies.

Broad incumbents

• Lifetouch: Largest school and family photography company in North America (part of Shutterfly). Operates at much greater scale but with the same core product (school portraits and yearbooks), making it a useful global benchmark for unit economics and competitive positioning.
• Inter-State Studio: Major US school photography company serving K-12 schools, preschools, and sports leagues. Comparable in business model and customer base to Tempest's school photography segment but at US scale.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

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 H Tempest