Mare Nostrum Group

What Mare Nostrum Group does

Mare Nostrum Group (MNG) is a UK-based, privately held publishing services company founded in 2003 that acts as an outsourced sales, marketing, and distribution partner for academic, professional, trade, and society publishers. The firm represents more than 120 publisher clients, including flagship relationships with the American Psychological Association, Cornell University Press, University of Toronto Press, McGill-Queen's University Press, Sage, De Gruyter, and Brill, and consolidates over 400,000 active titles across its portfolio. Services are organised into four core divisions: print sales (key accounts, independent retailers, library and campus channels, special/corporate sales), marketing (author promotion, conference attendance, biannual catalogues, an end-user database, social media, and media outreach), digital sales (e-vendor management with Gardners, Kortext, and VitalSource, librarian networks, e-book pricing, and platform sales for products such as SAGE Knowledge), and an adjacent recruitment and strategic consultancy line. Underlying technology includes stocking algorithms, metadata management tooling, print-on-demand integration with CPI, CRM integration (Salesforce, Podio, Dynamics 365), and the MNG Bookshop e-commerce platform built with Supadu. The group operates two subsidiaries, Combined Academic Publishers (CAP) for North American university presses and the 2024-acquired Eurospan, and runs offices in Harrogate and London. Revenue is generated through service fees and commission-style arrangements with publisher clients, transaction fees on physical and digital distribution routed through Wiley Distribution, professional services fees for recruitment and consultancy, and direct-to-consumer book sales via MNG Bookshop; no public pricing, revenue, or financial detail is disclosed.

Name

Mare Nostrum Group

Legal name

Mare Nostrum Group Limited

Website

https://marenostrumgroup.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2003

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Mare Nostrum Group is a UK-based publishing services company that provides outsourced sales, marketing, distribution, and digital services to over 120 academic, professional, and society publishers across EMEA and APAC, with 400,000+ titles under management.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Harrogate

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Sales, Marketing, and Distribution Services: Provides exclusive sales, marketing, and distribution services to academic, trade, professional, and society publishers in territories including UK, Europe, Middle East, Africa, and Asia Pacific. Revenue generated through service fees to publisher clients.
2. Print and Digital Distribution: Manages fulfilment and distribution operations through partnerships with Wiley Distribution and CPI, handling customer service, distribution, and credit control functions.
3. Recruitment Services: Bespoke recruitment service for publishing industry clients, delivering from entry to board level positions, drawing on extensive publishing knowledge and recruitment experience.
4. Strategic Consultancy: Strategic consultancy services tailored to unique challenges facing publishers, including market research, digital platform assessments, eBook strategies, and new market opportunity exploration.
5. Direct-to-Consumer Book Sales: MNG Bookshop direct-to-consumer platform selling academic and professional publications from 100+ client publishers, with inspection copy requests and academic discounts.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion5 records

Distribution channels7 records

Marketing channels11 records

Core offering

Mare Nostrum Group provides outsourced sales, marketing, distribution, data management, recruitment, and strategic consultancy services to academic, trade, professional, and society publishers. The company acts as an exclusive international sales and distribution agent, managing print and digital content reach across the UK, Europe, Middle East, Africa, and Asia-Pacific for more than 100 publisher clients. It also operates MNG Bookshop, a direct-to-consumer e-commerce platform for academic and professional publications.

Product overview

Mare Nostrum Group is a full-service publishing services company providing sales, marketing, distribution, recruitment, and consultancy services to academic, trade, professional, and society publishers. The company operates as a unified service offering organized around core divisions: Print Sales Services (encompassing sales, marketing, and distribution with data management), Digital Sales Services (including e-vendor management, librarian networks, e-book pricing, and publisher platforms), Strategic Consultancy Services, and Recruitment Services. The group also operates MNG Bookshop, a direct-to-consumer e-commerce platform developed in partnership with Supadu. Its subsidiary Combined Academic Publishers (CAP) specializes in serving North American university presses. Services are delivered across UK, Europe, Middle East, Africa, and Asia-Pacific territories through offices in Harrogate and London with over 50 in-house employees.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Print Sales Services Comprehensive print sales services for publishers including key account management with major online vendors and wholesalers, independent retailer frontlist selling and backlist monitoring, library and campus sales through library suppliers and reading lists, and special or corporate sales opportunities.
• Marketing Services Marketing services for publishers including author promotion, academic conference attendance, customized marketing campaigns via end-user database, social media management, blog content, media targeting academic journals and mainstream media, biannual subject catalogues, and satellite publisher e-commerce sites for local sales campaigns.
• Distribution and Data Management Distribution and data management services using sophisticated algorithms for stocking decisions, print-on-demand integration with Wiley Distribution and CPI, and metadata management to ensure titles are visible and available across data distributors and key accounts.
• Digital Sales Services Digital sales services including e-vendor management with Gardners, Kortext, and VitalSource, librarian network services for understanding library processes and buying patterns, e-book pricing for retail and institutional vendors, and publisher platform services for sales and marketing of client e-book platforms directly to academics and librarians.
• Strategic Consultancy Services Strategic consultancy services including market research for acquisition targets, digital platform assessments, sales performance analysis, eBook strategy and pricing model development, and new market feasibility studies for Europe, Middle East, Africa, and Asia-Pacific territories.
• Recruitment Services Tailored, inclusive recruitment services for publishing organisations from entry to board level positions, including job posting, candidate searching, interview support, DEI recruitment strategy support, and candidate evaluation leveraging 20 years of publishing industry knowledge.
• MNG Bookshop Direct-to-consumer e-commerce platform developed in partnership with Supadu, providing centralized access to academic and professional publications from over 100 publishers. Features inspection copy requests, academic discounts, subject-specific newsletters, and integrated blog with conference coverage and book reviews. Initial launch focuses on print with e-book availability planned.
• Combined Academic Publishers (CAP) A division of Mare Nostrum Group offering print and digital distribution, sales, and marketing services exclusively to North American university presses, representing 16 American university presses in EMEA and APAC territories.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over £12,000 raised for charity partners through Youth Upskill Initiative in 2022, exceeding £5,000 target by over 140%
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers25 records

Segments7 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered strategic, core and minor.

• SupadustrategicTechnology or Integration · 29 September 2025Developed MNG Bookshop, a direct-to-consumer platform serving the academic and professional community with centralised access to scholarly publications. Platform features inspection copy request processes, subject-specific newsletters, and academic discounts.
• CPI (The CPi Group)coreTechnology or Integration · 16 August 2024CPI is Mare Nostrum Group's preferred print-on-demand partner with digital print machinery located within the Wiley facility. Offers fully integrated zero inventory POD option enabling books to be printed where the end customer is based, significantly reducing carbon footprint.
• Leonard CurtisminorOthers · 16 August 2024Joint Administrators appointed for Eurospan Group in July 2024. Dane O'Hara and Alex Cadwallader of Leonard Curtis facilitated the acquisition of Eurospan business and assets by Mare Nostrum Group.
• Wiley DistributioncoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 3 April 2023From April 2023, Wiley Distribution became Mare Nostrum Group's exclusive distributor for UK, Europe, and Rest of World territories (excluding North and South America), providing customer service, distribution, and credit control functions. Mare Nostrum Group clients access Wiley's fully integrated 'Zero Inventory' print-on-demand programme in partnership with CPI.
• Speakers TrustcoreOthers · 1 January 2022Social mobility charity committed to empowering young people with communication skills and confidence. Works with over 600 state secondary schools in England delivering public speaking workshops. Mare Nostrum Group provides 3.5 days volunteering per year and staff participate in sponsored workshops and events.
• Career ReadycoreOthers · 1 January 2022National social mobility charity connecting young people with the world of work through internships, mentoring, workplace experiences. Mare Nostrum Group delivers masterclasses on interview skills and personal branding, provides mentors, and offers internships to underrepresented communities.
• Global Publishers GroupminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 12 October 2020Gallup Press arrangement managed by Global Publishers Group, a New York-based sales, marketing, and client services firm providing independent publishers with customised international sales and marketing solutions.
• The Book Trade CharityminorOthers · 1 January 2020Charity dedicated to supporting colleagues across the book trade. Mare Nostrum Group donates books from London and Frankfurt Book Fairs, extending accessibility of titles to school libraries and specialist booksellers.

Scale indicators12 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• John Wiley & Sons: Global academic publisher that is simultaneously MNG's most important distribution partner (via Wiley Distribution) and a potential competitor with its own in-house international sales operations. A strategic counterparty whose interests are not always aligned with MNG's independent-publisher clients.
• Ingram Content Group: Largest book wholesaler and distributor globally (Ingram Book Group, Ingram Publisher Services, Lightning Source). Provides wholesale, fulfilment and POD services that overlap with MNG's distribution and zero-inventory offering, but at vastly greater scale and as a broader portfolio rather than a niche independent agency.

Direct peers

• Independent Publishers Group (IPG): US-based distributor offering sales, marketing and distribution services to independent academic, trade and professional publishers. Closest direct peer in business model — services-led agency representing publisher clients rather than publishing itself — and a key competitor for North American university press mandates in EMEA/APAC.
• Atwood Tate: UK recruitment firm specialising exclusively in publishing industry hires. Direct peer for MNG's publishing-recruitment revenue line and a competitor for the same limited pool of qualified publishing candidates in the UK.
• Chicago Distribution Center (CDC): Distribution arm of the University of Chicago Press, providing warehousing, fulfilment and distribution services to a roster of university presses and scholarly publishers. Closest academic-specialist comparator and a frequent substitute vendor for the same university press clients.
• National Book Network (NBN): Sales, marketing and distribution services company for independent publishers across trade and academic segments. Directly comparable service mix (sales representation, distribution, marketing) and overlapping client profile of mid-sized independent presses.
• Inspired Selection: UK-based publishing-industry recruitment specialist covering editorial, sales, marketing and digital roles. Directly comparable service for the recruitment business unit within MNG and a competitor for both clients and candidates.
• Hopkins Fulfillment Services (HFS): Fulfilment and distribution division of Johns Hopkins University Press serving outside presses in the humanities, social sciences and STM. Operates the same outsource-distribution model for scholarly publishers and competes for the same university press clients that MNG represents.
• Consortium Book Sales & Distribution (CBSD): Independent sales and distribution agency representing independent literary and academic publishers. Same outsourced-services model for publisher clients and a head-to-head competitor when US/UK presses tender international distribution mandates.

Regional players

• Publishers Group Canada (PGC): Canadian sales and distribution agency for independent academic and trade publishers. Operates the same services-led model in a different geography; useful as a regional peer given MNG's stated exclusion of North America from its territory.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/mare-nostrum-group-recruitment

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Subsidiaries2 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 Mare Nostrum Group