Leisure and Hospitality Entrepreneur, Public Speaker, Author, Founder and CEO of the Partyman Group.
James is the founder and CEO of the Partyman Group of companies – a £40m turnover business which includes soft play centres, day nurseries, farm park attractions, a teddy bear business, a kid’s art and craft manufacturer, an ice cream company as well as a grade 2 listed hotel and an established party supplies business.
Starting out at 16 as Jimbo the Partyman, James initially built an entertainment agency. He set himself the goal of earning £40,000 a year and owning a house by the time he was 20. By the time he was 17 he was already fully booked every weekend for a year ahead and was turning over £500-£1000 a week.
At age 20, he secured £700,000 from 21 separate lenders to buy and set up his first soft play centre in Basildon. Within a year he was turning £1 million. James then quickly established a complimentary chain of day nurseries to generate term time income and grow the business.
Now 38, over the last twenty two years, James has continued to pursue growth, often choosing to buy failing businesses that he can turnaround and fold into his existing empire.
James has built his business without any venture capital and his ambition now is to create a £100m turnover company, establishing the Partyman Group as the largest and best family entertainment brand in the UK.
James likes to use his online presence to provide practical actionable advice and expertise for entrepreneurs all over the UK and Worldwide. He has written books, has a successful podcast and YouTube channel and often speaks at events about his inspirational background in business. More recently James has completed a 12 part video series for American Express which was sent to all of their UK banking customers.
