Home Appointments & Contracts Gala Tent strengthens team with two new appointments after marquee demand grows

Gala Tent strengthens team with two new appointments after marquee demand grows

Gala Tent strengthens team with two new appointments after marquee demand grows
From left to Right Jake Simpson, Jason Mace and Liam Cooke.

Marquee manufacturer Gala Tent expects to receive a boost thanks to new payment technology in the call centre, according to its managing director Jason Mace, who revealed plans to create a further ten jobs over the next six to twelve months.

The company currently has thirty staff and plans to expand the contact centre operation. Mace, who founded the firm in 1999 from a table top operation in his parents’ working men’s club and a £2000 credit card investment, now operates Gala Tent as a multimillion international company with worldwide distribution.

In February, Liam Cooke, 20, joined the Gala Tent sales team as an apprentice. He said, “I’m really enjoying the role so far, and I’ve been made to feel really welcome by my colleagues and management team. The event industry has so many different sectors that no day is the same as the last. I hope to be here contributing to the success of Gala Tent for many years to come.”

Following Liam’s appointment, Jake Simpson, 27, joined the rapidly growing motorsport brand of the company, Gala Performance, in early March. With an impressive sales background, Jake aims to hit the ground running. He said, “I’m excited to start something brand new that really plays to my strengths as a sales professional. It’s not often that you can find the perfect role that allows you to put everything you’ve learned into practice, in a supportive and forward-thinking business. It’s a great time to be getting involved with Gala Performance.”


Lisa Mace, sales director at Gala Tent, said: “I’m looking for enthusiastic individuals to work in our contact centre working alongside our experienced marketing team. They will be working towards our new expansion plans generating new business and moving forward towards the busy and exciting summer ahead. A 30% Increase in turnover for 2019 is predicted and this may lead to other opportunities to employ new staff over all its departments”.

Jason added, “From 2008 to 2010, when we hit the recession, we knew growth would be stagnant, so we put all the investment into developing new systems. From the Brexit vote in 2016 we did the same trick and its now starting to perform.”

Gala Tent has already shown impressive growth for January, February and March of 2019, despite the continued uncertainty around Brexit, which follows the news that the firm won the Award for Best Use of Digital Technology in a Contact Centre at the National UK Call Centre Federation Awards at the end of 2018.

Mace said, “The SOTpay payment technology has transformed how we do business. We can now accept payments via numerous channels, so whether a customer engages with us via telephone, live-chat or social media, we are now able to process their order in the customers preferred channel of communication. The technology authenticates the transaction, using a similar approach to the forthcoming Payment Service Directive (PSD2), which is being mandated in 2019 to fight against the growing problem of fraudulent transactions in the e-commerce channel. By adopting this approach over the telephone, the technology protects my business from fraud related chargebacks and allows us to securely deliver goods to third party delivery addresses.”

Founded in 1999, Gala Tent has grown to sell over 15,000 tents and marquees each year, along with around 90,000 event accessories and furniture products in the UK.

In the UK, Gala Tent is a preferred supplier for organisations including the military, NHS, the South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service, South Yorkshire Police Service, St John’s Ambulance and AA, as well as to thousands of homeowners nationally.