Opace joined Jakey Group on 19 October 2026. Since 2008, we’ve built Opace into a digital marketing agency serving clients across the UK and internationally. We’re now part of a family-owned group that backs established UK engineering and technology businesses for the long term.
For clients, the people you work with and the services you rely on carry on as before. The change gives us more backing to develop our technical work, with founder David Bryan taking on the role of Technical Director.
Why David chose this moment
David founded Opace in 2008 and has worked across development, SEO, account management and business administration. He wanted to spend more of his time on technical development and strategy while keeping the team together.
“I started Opace in 2008 and I’ve run it as an owner, developer and salesperson ever since. After eighteen years, the right next step was to find an owner who would keep the team together and let me spend my time on the work I’m best at. Rory understood that from the first call. Nothing changes for our clients except that we now have more behind us.”
As Technical Director, David will focus on our technical roadmap, custom web builds, working with new clients and AI web development. Our 2026 company overview and brochure introduces the team and traces how our work has changed since the first brochure in 2012.
The same team and service
Everyone on the Opace team stayed in their role when the acquisition completed. The designers, writers and developers you work with are still here. Ongoing SEO, web application, eCommerce, web design and PPC projects continue as planned, alongside hosting and website support. Jakey Group provides additional backing for the team to develop its technical capabilities.
Why Jakey Group chose Opace
Rory and Gemma Dear founded Jakey Group to help established businesses build on the work of their founders. Rory, now Managing Director of Opace, also serves as Managing Director of industrial computing specialist Datasound Laboratories. He brought more than 20 years of experience as a client of marketing agencies to the decision.
Rory explained what stood out to him about Opace.
“I’ve been on the client side of marketing agencies for over twenty years, so I know what a good one looks like, and I know what a bad one costs you. Opace is the agency I’d have wanted to hire. David has built something with real substance here, and my job is to give him and the team the backing to grow it, not to change what works.”
Gemma pointed to the relationships the team had built over the years.
“What drew us to Opace was the relationships. Clients who have stayed for ten years don’t do that by accident. Our role is to make sure the people behind those relationships have what they need.”
Hardware meets digital
Our sister company Datasound Laboratories (DSL) is based in Letchworth, Hertfordshire. DSL designs and manufactures bespoke electronics and works in embedded computing and industrial IoT. With Opace in the group, an engineering business can draw on expertise in physical product development as well as the websites, infrastructure and digital marketing that help bring those products to market.
What we’re working towards
Since 2008, we’ve completed more than 500 web and digital marketing projects for businesses in sectors including manufacturing, engineering, financial services, education and retail. We’ve brought together our original customer survey and more recent public reviews for anyone who wants to see how clients describe working with us.
With Jakey Group’s backing, we plan to expand our work on custom web applications, technical SEO, eCommerce infrastructure and AI workflows. Thank you to our clients for the trust you’ve placed in us, and to Knightsbridge Business Sales, Ison Harrison and Tollers for guiding us through the transaction.
If you have questions about the change or what it means for your work with us, speak to your account manager, email David Bryan or call 0121 468 0600.
