I Help Event Entrepreneurs Acquire The Skills They Need To Shape, Manage And Grow Their Businesses, Significantly Increasing Their Value Without Adding To Stress Levels

Is your Event business struggling to reach the next level?

Are you facing issues that are stopping you from growing?

Are you finding it difficult to diagnose where the biggest problems are and how to solve them?

When I set my own event business up, I hoped to make enough money to support myself.  Five years later when we were approached to merge our company into bigger one, we discovered that we had spent 5 years creating no value in our business at all.

❌ We had never set a goal and vision, and had never made a plan

❌ We had no culture and had too many people doing the wrong jobs

❌ We were “making do” with sub-standard offices and equipment

❌ We had no marketing strategy and had no clue how to promote ourselves or to who

❌ We never thought of reaching out and investing in help and advice

So many Event Businesses have started this way.  No goal, no plan, no vision for what they want to achieve and after a few years of growth through repeat business and referrals they start to stall, but they have no idea why or how to solve the problem.

Over the last 7 years Kershaw Partners have worked with dozens of Event Businesses, diagnosing where the barriers to growth are, removing them and helping them to build more successful, more profitable and ultimately, if they are looking for an exit strategy, more valuable Event Businesses.

We start this process with a 2 Day Diagnostic Business Review.  We help you to take a step back from your business for a couple of days and draw a line in the sand. 

The 2 Day Review will:

✔ Help you to clarify your vision, ambition and objectives for the business and plan for them

✔ Make sure that you have the right people on the journey with you and that you are set up to achieve your objectives

✔ Enable your team to do the best job possible by having the best “tools” to work with

✔ Help you define a marketing strategy to find, retain and maximise the value from your customers

✔ Show you what structures you need to put in place so that the business can Run on Rails and not be so dependent on you

✔ Show you how to create value in the business so if you want to there is an option to exit your business.

This is what our clients say:

“I have spent a lot of money on consultants in the last two years, and other than the money I have spent with Kershaw Partners, the rest of it was a waste" (James Middlehurst, Kalm Kitchen) 

"We have used consultants in the past, but none who have walked the walk and are so grounded." (Ben Leslie, Yahire)

To find out more book a call at https://go.oncehub.com/IntroductoryCallwithDavid

David Watt

At school, Jason Brown was told he was destined to flip burgers. 


Struggling with unrecognised ADHD and dyslexia, uninspired by the school system that labelled him a “naughty kid”, his life could have taken many different turns.

Today, Jason is the CEO of Technical Solutions Audio Visual Limited – an AV company he founded in 2009, which has since serviced some of the UK’s most notable venues. It’s no surprise that his attitude to life, work and entrepreneurship is truly inspiring. 

Jason and I spoke about many interesting topics in our discussion, but his overwhelming passion for encouraging young people into entrepreneurship has stayed with me ever since. 

With growing generational divides in the workplace and technological advancements around every corner, the value of entrepreneurship for Gen Z is huge. Jason’s own story – leaving education, struggling with personal challenges, finding his passion and forging a career – should be a source of enormous inspiration to any young people hoping to make a start as an entrepreneur. I have no doubt that we will see him in schools speaking directly to the next generation very soon! 

For anyone who is interested in how we are shaping the future of business, this is the conversation for you. 

https://lnkd.in/eir2sEEN

Partner | Event Business Marketing and Growth Specialist

Like it or loathe it, AI is having a truly profound impact on our industry.


I have had many conversations with founders and senior leaders in events about the ways in which they are using AI, and the ones that have stayed with me are far from the flashiest. 

This particular story – a business owner with severe dyslexia being able to get proposals out in half the time thanks to AI – is a prime example of how this technology can amplify talent in our industry. 

With so many new tools emerging in the events industry, it's easy to get swept up in the shiniest tech and flashiest offerings. This was a striking reminder that it's often the simpler solutions – the ones that truly address your area of need – which have the biggest impact. 

It was great to sit down with Mike Kershaw and Richard Dean for this week's episode of Event Matters. To hear our predictions for the coming year, advice to business leaders, and thoughts on new tech, listen now.

https://lnkd.in/efVpBD_Q

One of the misconceptions I see most often is that experience simplifies leadership.


This conversation with Ben Hardy challenged that head-on.

Ben leads some of the UK’s most complex public events, where safety, scrutiny, stakeholders and delivery all collide. What came through clearly is that experience doesn’t remove uncertainty. It changes how leaders respond to it.

We talked about decision-making without perfect information, why partnership is an operational requirement rather than a value statement, and how sustainability shows up in the everyday choices leaders make, especially around people and pace.

What I valued most was the realism. No heroic narratives. No silver bullets. Just a thoughtful reflection on how leaders think, prioritise and hold responsibility over long delivery cycles.

If you’re running an event business and sometimes wonder why things still feel heavy, even when you know what you’re doing, this episode will resonate.

Listen here:
BuzzSprout: https://lnkd.in/erzkh8p7 
Apple: https://lnkd.in/e-rZVRCw 
Spotify: https://lnkd.in/e5K4UEyB

How does a one-off event become a hub of connection in the region, land national media coverage, and springboard the organisers into running an events business? In Andrew Charlton's words, 'by happy accident'. 


This week’s episode of Event Matters is all about Andrew’s unique journey from the legal sector to becoming an events industry entrepreneur. Our conversation was full of reflections and insights, but one thing in particular really stuck out to me.

We meet a lot of founders who are ‘stuck in the weeds’. They find themselves so bogged down in the next project, the next challenge, the next deadline, that they can’t make the space to zoom out and find long-term, sustainable solutions.

Andrew’s story was a reminder of how important it is to break free of this. His success has been marked by strategic decisions and a willingness to adapt:

- Taking the initiative to host the event his sector needed, then scaling the demand into a business of its own.
- Learning to juggle family life while running 100+ events annually, then adapting the weekly work schedule to preserve balance.
- Identifying new tools and tech to streamline business operations, then implementing them to maximise impact. 

The story behind Hashtag Events and Andrew’s grounded perspective are truly inspiring. I would recommend this episode to any founders or business leaders who find themselves battling with the day-to-day and neglecting the bigger picture. It’s a fantastic reminder of what’s possible when you zoom out. 

Listen now: 
https://lnkd.in/ezBmeJhs

Sales is a topic that comes up in almost every conversation we have with event business owners.

Not the “push harder” version. The real questions underneath it.

→ How to win the right work.
→ How to grow existing clients without discounting.
→ How to price with confidence.
→ How to build a pipeline that lets you sleep at night.

When sales feel misaligned, everything feels harder than it needs to be.

That is why we are running the Sales Success Accelerator Masterclass this January. A practical, hands-on session for event agency founders, leaders and client-facing teams who want to strengthen how their business sells, without becoming someone they are not.

It is focused on mindset, structure and tools that actually work in real event businesses.

If you would like to join us in London on 19 January, you can find the details below.
https://hubs.ly/Q03ZBFvL0

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YES Events 

Event Coordinator

Rock Choir Ltd

Expansion and Development Manager

Choir Expansion and Development Analyst

Research and Development Co-ordinator

Serco

Receptionist

Philharmonia Orchestra

Assistant Events Manager 

Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council

Events Contractor 

University of Chichester

Library Assistant

Dove House School Academy Trust

Number of temporary contracts between June 2013 - June 2017

Administrative Assistant

Beaverbrooks

Retail Consultant

Basingstoke Discovery Centre 

Librarian

Anvil Arts

Front of House

As the Wedding & Private Events coordinator with YES Events, my aim is to design and produce unforgettable experiences for each one of our valued clients. 

YES has been a trusted events production company for over 20 years, providing sound, lighting, staging, special effects, pyrotechnics, specialist entertainers, live bands, DJs, and so much more! We offer a full spectrum of bespoke production services in any style or theme, to suit every unique celebration. 

We relish new ideas and visions, and excel at finding solutions to technical challenges, drawing on our in-house expertise and large equipment stocks. We pride ourselves in being one of the few event production companies that fully own, maintain, and operate all our own equipment. 

Following my graduation with a BA (Hons) in Dance, I spent time in event management roles with Rock Choir, the Philharmonia Orchestra and Basingstoke & Deane Borough Council. I developed my networking skills and my understanding of the Arts & Events sector, before securing my incredible role with YES Events in March 2023.

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