Feature
What made you choose the
private equity route?
It was a life-changing
moment two Christmas’s
ago. We were fresh off the
back of an incredibly busy
International Security Expo
at Olympia; we had several
approaches from trade
buyers, and I had that feeling
of ‘here we go again’.
Except this time not with
the usual eagerness that
accompanies a sale. The
thought of a 1-2 year earnout
and starting from cold in a
different sector just wasn’t
exciting me.
I was also offered the
opportunity of a CEO role
in a bigger organisation, but
didn’t fancy the thought
of turning up on a Monday
morning and conforming.
So, I turned to my mentor
and chairman, Phil Soar,
who I have worked with for
12 years.
Phil explained the PE
dynamics and I liked what
I heard. A lot. I could have
the best of both worlds -
maintain the entrepreneurial
spirit of a business yet have a
wall of investment behind us
to grow something bigger.
Why is PE
good for you?
Nineteen Events CEO Peter Jones and his
team celebrate turning to private equity one
year ago
we appointed the highly
regarded Alison Jackson
as group MD; our highly
experienced CFO, Jon Lacey,
led the finance team at
Ascential when it was sold
to ITE Group; and our group
head of sales, Jonathan
Kinchin, again from
Ascential, runs the trading
floor at Nineteen.
These, along with many
other hires at Nineteen, are
serious players at the table,
know what they’re doing,
and get on with the job.
You’ve come from an owner/
driver background, how have
you found the transition?
The balance point is an
art. Step back too far, I get
clubbed by my chairman,
lean too much on the front
foot and risk undermining
Considering PE?
• Think carefully
• Good for scaling up
• Be prepared to lose some
autonomy
• A level of expectation
• It is a pathway to growth
• A PE house wants to make
you profitable
• Be upfront and honest
• Tackle problems together
• Access to larger funds
my team. This for me has
been the biggest challenge
but we are getting there.
Nineteen appears to be on the
acquisition trail, what’s next?
We’ve acquired Western
Business Exhibitions and
also Broden Media. Two
fantastic businesses run by
excellent people, passionate
about the sectors they serve.
Integrating always comes
with its own set of challenges
(locations, systems, culture
to name a few) but we are
sensitive to that and its takes
time to adjust. Ultimately,
the acquisitions so far have a
stake in the bigger group and
therefore our long-term plan,
together, is aligned to grow
the overall business.
Next up? That would
be telling, but we are
onto our third. It’s really
exciting, fits the Nineteen
model of major-scale trade
exhibitions.
I also believe that any
organisation is only a
collection of people, and we
have a world-class chairman,
brilliant investment
partners, and a really great
team at Nineteen. EN
One year in, how has PE changed
your business?
Radically. We’ve gone from
organising one show to
several. From a team of eight
to 44 and growing. From an
old office lovingly referred
to as ‘the cupboard’ to a
new big, open and beautiful
HQ, still in the heart of
Wimbledon, hence our name.
Perhaps more importantly,
we’ve had the investment
to attract talent that in
a previous life was out
of reach. For example,
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