“ We ’ re committed to our culture and people are encouraged to bring their best version of themselves to work , then our vision , our profit , number of shows , acquisitions or whatever , will take care of itself .”
“ We ’ re now in fourth year of being with PE ,” says Jones . “ We ’ ve grown at a phenomenal rate including through the pandemic . Last year , we turned over £ 8m , this year we turn over £ 13m the year after it will be close to £ 20m . That ’ s organic before acquisitions . One of the reasons we can grow so quickly is because we can pump an enormous amount of investment up front .” The partnership with any PE backer works like a marriage , Jones and Jackson say . “ Phoenix went to great effort getting to know us ,” says Jones . “ They want to really get under the skin of who you are , right back to my mother . There ’ s give and take . Things get tetchy , but it ’ s how you work through that as a team . “ Some entrepreneurs have the kind of personality ‘ you are not playing with my toys , this is my gig ’. Is it giving up ? In a sense it is giving up , it ’ s no longer your toy , but the benefits that come with it , we have access , not just to funding , but we have access to a huge pool of intelligence , and expertise , and these guys have done this hundreds of times . They ’ ve seen it work , fail . Worked with management teams of all shapes and sizes .”
“ They are not trying to run a show , they ’ re not trying to run your business ,” Jackson adds . “ They would probably come to the NEC and think ‘ how does this all happen ?’ They are the ones behind the scenes who know where the cash is , how we might access capital , navigating a way through a pandemic . But it ’ s a good marriage . “ I can ’ t imagine anyone in private equity being able to put on a show . It ’ s a good combination though .” Looking to the future , Nineteen are always looking for new acquisition targets . Jackson says subject matter is top of their wish list , “ B2B shows in markets with great potential ”. They say they have three or four imminent deals . When acquiring shows Nineteen are keen to keep the best assets – and that usually means the people , Jones says . “ We are certainly never arrogant enough to believe we can run a show or understand that market better than the people already in it . We know how to run an exhibition business , we understand infrastructure , how to run sales , operations , marketing , support , rigour but any acquisition target we look at , it ’ s the people driving that we really need to get behind .” The business is all about the people concludes Jones . “ We ’ re a business about people that happens to do great events ” “ We ’ re committed to our culture and people are encouraged to bring their best version of themselves to work , then our vision , our profit , number of shows , acquisitions or whatever , will take care of itself .” EN
March — 21