Jason Campbell - Campbell Coaching Ltd

YOU HAVE TO START SOMEWHERE! I set up my first business at the age of 17; buying pizzas from a local factory and selling them to hungry students at my college. Not groundbreaking by any means, but it taught me a huge amount about business, and paid for my social life, as well as funding a modest expansion in the form of a chest freezer, delivery bike and eventually a van. More importantly, this little pizza business gave me the knowledge and confidence to develop my next idea. COMPETING WITH FILOFAX At 19, I designed and manufactured a range of products to compete with the global brand ‘Filofax’ (for those who remember them). My first order (from WH-Smith) was manufactured in a rented bedroom in Tring, Hertfordshire, and the business quickly grew big enough to win several innovation and business awards. Within 18 months the range sold through many major UK and European retailers, including Liberty’s and Selfridges, as well as being used as commercial folders and gifts by brands like Mercedes Benz and Shell Oil. GROWING COMPANIES Since selling that brand at 22, I’ve grown several businesses with the majority of the last 25+ years running and owning companies in the branding, design, marketing and business development sector. From turning 2 people working from a bedroom making very little to a 30 headcount agency turning over £2.5m through to a 20 person agency in London to have 400 people in offices all over the world. Always with a focus on growth and working closely with my clients, it is here that I have advised many hundreds of different companies on their positioning, brand, marketing, customer development, growth and efficiency.