Grimsby payments firm bought by new head of NASA
Fri, 13 Dec 2024 | BUSINESS SALE
Grimsby-based Card Industry Professionals has been bought by New York-listed payments group Shift4, whose founder is set to be the new boss of NASA.
Card Industry Professionals provides card terminals, point of sale and online payment solutions to thousands of SMEs such as retailers, hair salons and hospitality venues. It was founded in 2017 by Ciaran Savage, who was joined by his mother, Lyn Savage, as Operations Director, and John Selby as Sales Director, both of whom have many years of experience in the UK payments industry.
It now employs a 20-strong team in Grimsby, has a nationwide network of over 150 sales agents and processes over £60 million worth of transactions per month.
Shift4 provides payments and commerce-enabling technology and has clients in a range of sectors such as retail and sports. Indeed, it is the official payments partner of NFL team Las Vegas Raiders.
Its billionaire founder Jared Isaacman is a private astronaut who has already been to space and is President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to head up the NASA space agency.
The deal provides an exit for Mercia Ventures, which backed Card Industry Professionals in 2022 using funding from the first Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund (NPIF) and the Midlands Engine Investment Fund (MEIF). It achieved a 2x return on its investment.
Savage, founder and managing director, said: “We are excited to be joining the Shift4 family. We are committed to upholding the company values and best-in-class service customers have come to expect from us and are confident that this acquisition will allow us to improve upon those service levels, while offering even more value in the form of new benefits, incentives and product offerings.”
Maurice Disasi of Mercia Ventures added: “We’re delighted to have supported CIP on its growth journey. Ciaran and the team have built a business with first-class customer support and Shift4 now has the benefit of adding a strong and well-respected team here in the UK as part of their global operations. We wish the team continued success.”
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