Jack Jacob is managing director and founder of PNE (Partnership Network Events)
Jack is a young (under 30) entrepreneur who founded PNE from his kitchen table in 2018 after just turning 24. The company has grown to become a successful events business currently employing 23 staff and with a turnover (2022) of £4 million. The company is growing and on target to achieve a £12milion T/O by 2024, and then is planned to grow to a £26million T/O by the end of 2026. This growth will include expansion across the globe into North America, Asia and Africa. Jack has also just secured a licence to operate in the UEA.
Jack started life in a council house. He always knew that he had the drive to successful but as a child he wasn’t quite sure what that meant. With no other entrepreneurial role models in his life, he thought being successful meant being famous. After a very short stint in the building trade, Jack entered the world of sales aged 17. Five years later, having tried multiple sales related jobs and being fired more times that he dares to remember, he fell into event sponsorship sales where he very quickly became the top biller for the company he worked for at that time. His natural entrepreneurial spirt meant that he found working for other people really hard, so he decided to create his own company. He set up PNE with £20K of borrowed money despite the pressure of having an eight-month-old daughter and only three months’ worth of cash to support him and the business.
He is a passionate business owner with an engaging leadership style, who creates results through developing people throughout his organisation. He is enthusiastic about building teams for the future, and encouraging and nurturing talent from within.
Jack is a keen advocate and speaker on business topics including:
- entrepreneurialism,
- business growth and expansion,
- business diversification,
- business culture and leadership
He can also speak on a number of event industry topics including:
- the metaverse and virtual events (they didn’t work for him…)
- the hosted buyer format of events,
- speaker acquisition and ‘borrowing credibility’
- delegate management
- free to attend events
Jack lives in Crawley with his wife and three daughters. At weekends you will find him playing with his girls or hitting the gym. He adores traveling and likes to get away as much as possible with his family.