A MANVERS company that began in Hemingfield working men’s club and now has an annual turnover in excess of £5 million, with celebrity clients, is about to create hundreds more jobs across the country.
Continued expansion at Gala Tents Ltd will see 10 new staff recruited in the Dearne in January, and about 200 new showrooms mushrooming across the country.
The company, that began its business proper in Grimethorpe and has since moved four times to keep up with demand, is the UK’s largest supplier of marquees and gazebos, exporting across Europe and to the US, and boasts a host of celebrity clients such as the Beckhams, Sir Ben Kingsley, Liz Hurley and Marco Pierre White.
It all started when managing director Jason Mace, 40, was a barman in his dad’s club, and was unable to get hold of a marquee for Millennium celebrations at Hemingfield.
He finally got a garden pavilion of decent size, tracked down a supplier (in China!) and, as the story goes, never looked back....
He claims to be “constantly amazed” by the demand for his products, that come in all colours and sizes, and can sport any kind of special design, logo or even faces on the sides. And he predicts that 2012 is set to be another bumper year with the Olympics, Euro football and Jubilee events all providing further demand for his products.
The company has moved its headquarters four times, and settled in their latest 53,000 sq ft base at Manvers earlier this year, after moving from Rotherham.
Much of the company’s astonishing growth success has been down to detail, such as the provision of a full back-up service for parts, added Jason.
Gala Tents works with events management companies who will provide equipment and accoutrements, and what Jason laughingly calls “diva requirements” to the stars.
“I can only see us continuing to grow and we will continually be taking on new staff both here in Manvers and for our new showrooms”, he said. “We have separate printing and bespoke modular divisions, and with the busy export market too there is plenty of room for further expansion. We hope to take on a whole range of new apprentices”.
The company supplies a massive variety of commercial marquees, tents, gazebos, event flooring, furniture, lighting and heating through its showroom, mail order, telephone sales and online shopping worldwide.