E36: Founder - The&Partnership - Johnny Hornby - Carphone Warehouse, Ping Pong & VAT

Famed for being labeled ‘England’s leading adman’, Johnny Hornby founder of The&Partnership spoke to Oliver about how he founded and runs the now global agency. 

With some 1,400 staff, working on some of the globe's biggest campaigns it wasn’t all jets, whisky and red carpets. 

Johnny, who struggled for the first 6 months to make any sales then forgot to pay the VAT and instead bought a ping pong table. He recounts how in business the best way to learn is to “fu** it up”. 

Things improved for Johnny and his team who later successfully delivered Tony Blair’s ‘New Labour’ campaign, won contracts from Tango, Tetley and the Telegraph, sold a 49% stake in the business for £60m to WPP and was recently appointed as Chairman of Prince Harry’s charity Sentinel alongside his day job at The&Partnership. 

So, how do you take a startup with 3 blokes in a room above a phone shop to a global business with over 1,400 staff?

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