Feature
“We knew that the people
in the north had to feel that
it was their show and that
required investment. We
increased the revenue by
250 per cent over four years
which allowed us to attract
the well-known chefs and a
better calibre of exhibitors.”
Their experience with the
show made them realise
that there was a market
for northern derivations
of London based events.
“We worked with Tim
Etchells and created RSVP
North and in 2006 we
created the Buy Art fair.
Art had become one of my
passions after I started
buying art with the money
left in my grandfathers will
and I realised how hard it
was to buy decent art in
Manchester. We also had to
contend with the suspicion
of the art world but through
tenacity we have built the
largest contemporary art
fair outside London.”
At this stage Hetherington
had created two event
businesses which reflected
his two passions – art and
food. Unfortunately, success
“The biggest asset that we’ve built up over 25 years isn’t
necessarily our exhibitions, it’s the depth and quality of our
relationships and knowledge which we have in our two fields”
was short-lived as the
financial crisis hit in 2008.
Revenue for NRB and their
other shows collapsed over
two years. “We became
weighed down by lack of
cash flow and did all the
things people tell you not to,
taking on huge credit card
debt, personal loans and
re-mortgaging our houses.
In 2011, we realised it wasn’t
enough and Moorfield Media
went into liquidation.”
Hetherington’s father,
who had helped them with
funding at various points,
encouraged them to start
again and, with a small pot
of money from a friend
who became a minority
shareholder, Holden Media
was born.
They re-thought the business
A period of reflection
followed. “We had a good
hard look at how we had
been running the business
and realised that we had
always concentrated
on sales as the primary
growth driver. Instead of
a sales organisation with
marketing as a support
service, we became a
marketing and content-led
organisation with a ratio
of two marketing people
to one sales person,”said
Hetherington.
NRB used to be a typical
traditional exhibition with
a black tie awards dinner.
NRB 2.0 is an exhibition
with a series of additional
events such as the Top
50 Power list, Too Many
Critics, a charity dinner
where food critics cook
for chefs, and NRB future
- a networking event for
emerging chefs.
Both NRB and the Buy
Art fair are products of
the north of England and,
because the niches are a
lot smaller than they are in
London, the events have to
be more collaborative and
knit different audiences
together to give scale. “We
shift our focus on a six
monthly basis from a trade
food and drink show to a
consumer art fair and back
again. Every time we make
that switch we question
everything and that’s what
keeps both events fresh”.
People are affected in
different ways by the
business failure and
Hetherington now has a
very different perspective.
He says: “Looking back, I
thought that growth was
the ultimate answer but I
realise now that I was on a
treadmill. The recession and
everything that followed
have made me realise
that what I really enjoy
is running a tight, agile
business with a talented,
committed and loyal team,
running projects that we
are all immensely proud of
and allowing time to see our
families grow up rather than
continually chasing growth
through ego and blind
ambition.”
Hetherington and his
team have picked their way
through initial success,
company wipe-out and a
rebuild and have created a
business which has trebled
in turnover since 2011 and
which reflects their passion.
Hetherington has no desire
to create exhibitions in new
sectors simply because he
sees a gap in the market.
Instead he prefers to
develop his culture and
food consultancy business
with city councils and
property developers
and to invest in start-up
hospitality companies. “The
biggest asset that we’ve
built up over 25 years isn’t
necessarily our exhibitions,
it’s the depth and quality
of our relationships and
knowledge which we have
in our two fields. We have
focused on how to generate
more revenue from this,
so it has become a self-
perpetuating machine,” he
concludes.
December — 61