LDC Top 50 2024
Guy Horner
Group CEO
TBA Group
Guy Horner showed incredible drive when, aged 24, he set out to buy live event agency TBA from Tony Ball, father of celebrity singer Michael. “I was three years out of university, and had worked my way up the agency,” he recalls. “Tony wanted to retire and I wanted a part of the business.” Ball took a chance on Horner: “I didn’t have any money but I was audacious.”
Horner became managing director in 2000 and has grown revenues to £50m, working on events like The Olympics and MTV Awards. He hopes to reach £100m within three years. He says: “We create experiences that people remember for a lifetime.”
There’s a lot of jeopardy in this business but we create experiences that people remember for lifetime.”
Q&A
How ambitious are you?
It’s all about seeing how far we can take the business, and working with interesting people and clients who stretch you and push you to do better. I’m driven by ambition and a healthy fear of failure. There’s a lot of jeopardy in this business: you’re only as good as your last event.
Where will growth come from?
From Formula One to Paris24 and the FIFA World Cup, we are involved in the world’s biggest events through our three divisions: sport, brand experiences and entertainment. Just 30% of revenues come from the UK and our brand partners are taking us into new markets all the time. It’s incredibly exciting and I see no reason why we shouldn’t hit £100m in revenue by 2027.
How did you buy this business?
TBA was one of the UK’s first live event agencies, and was very much in demand. Tony Ball launched the first Mini back in 1959 and then set up TBA in 1983; before that, a launch was just someone pulling a sheet off a car. I joined in 1997 as an intern. Over time, I started building my own roster of clients like the Football Association and Gilette. When Tony announced he wanted to retire, the management team said they were going to do a buyout, would I stay on as account manager? I said, either I become a part of the business or I leave. They said I was too young and inexperienced, but I went straight to Tony. I had no money but he liked my spirit and let me buy the business on a deferred consideration. After five years, I had paid him off.
