Most 27-year-olds are years away from their first management role. Jonny Coekin is running a multi-million-pound events company.

Jonny joined Clownfish in August 2016 at 18, straight out of school. Having explored all facets of the business, in 2024 he spent a year running sales and marketing single-handedly, during which the business delivered £1M+ in additional revenue compared to the previous 12 months — an 86% year-on-year increase — at a time when much of the events industry was contracting.

Nine years after having first set foot in our warehouse, Jonny was appointed Managing Director - leading the business to generate £2.86M in 2025 and to confidently setting a target of £4.5M for 2026. While many UK CEOs are in their mid-50s, Jonny got there three decades earlier.

The whole team voted for him to become MD. Twenty-two colleagues. In a company that had existed for 16 years, they chose Jonny not because he was necessarily next in line, but because of who he is.

He’s moving swiftly to set the business up for its most ambitious year yet. He’s introduced expanded coaching infrastructure, restructured the marketing team for scale, and positioned Clownfish for major industry visibility. He’s spearheading a culture where revenue is the outcome of individual growth, not the goal itself. He hires coaches and mentors. He creates environments where mistakes become learning opportunities. Under his leadership, the team isn’t just maintaining momentum — they’re accelerating it.

What’s most exciting? Proving you can build people up and build a successful business simultaneously. That’s not common. That’s the future.