Launch. Scale. Exit: "You don't have to choose between a good product and a profitable one" with Esha Bark-Jones

When everyone was saying the office was finished, Esha Bark-Jones and her husband Charlie launched a trade show about it. In the middle of the pandemic, the pair set up Redbridge Events and launched Workspace Design Show. It was a gamble, and it paid off. Five years after launch, she and Charlie sold Workspace Design Show London and Workspace Design Show Amsterdam to Diversified UK & Europe.

In this post, she shares why both shows made a profit from their very first edition, why she refused to sell a single speaking slot, and why waiting for the right buyer mattered more than taking the biggest cheque.

What inspired you to launch Workspace Design Show?

I'm especially passionate about workspace. During Covid, people were saying the office was finished, and I never believed that. The industry was clearly going through a huge shift, and we saw that as an opportunity. The people shaping the office needed somewhere to meet and work out what the future looked like: what had to change to bring employees back, and what the next generation of office products would be.

Launching an office show in the middle of a pandemic was probably a bit mad. But the experts agreed there was a need for it, and that gave us the confidence to go for it.

How did you know it was the right moment to go out on your own?

Charlie and I are married, and first worked together in Dubai. I started as a project manager at dmg events there, then became Head of Sales for dmg's design shows in London, and after that Event Director of London Design Fair at Diversified Communications.

Until then I had always worked for large event organisers. Running London Design Fair was when I realised I knew exactly what I was doing. I had the industry knowledge and I knew what had to be done. When that show was discontinued, it felt like the moment to take the plunge. I'd always wanted to launch my own shows, I had specific content in mind, and the timing was right.

Charlie was weighing up whether to look for a new job or join me. In the end, he decided to join me and see whether we'd sink or swim.

What two or three decisions in the early years made the biggest difference?

The first, and the one I most want to make to anyone launching a show, is that we built a business, and a business makes a profit. I've seen acquisitions up close at previous employers, and plenty of people in big companies will tell you it's fine for a new show to lose money or just break even for its first few years, as long as the product is good. I strongly disagree. From the start, Charlie and I were clear that profit mattered. Both London and Amsterdam made healthy profits from their first editions, and we didn't compromise on content to get there. We sold well and ran the business efficiently. If you believe in what you're delivering, you should have the confidence to charge for it, and we said exactly that to our exhibitors.

The second, and this one may be contentious with other organisers, was refusing to sell any speaking slots. Sponsored sessions are common at most conferences, and that's fine for many events. But I wanted one part of the show to be entirely about the audience our exhibitors wanted to reach. Some big exhibitors pushed back. Their sustainability director had real expertise, so why couldn't they be on a panel? Our answer was that our panels are made up of buyers. Buyers attract other buyers, whereas suppliers speaking to buyers doesn't draw the same crowd. It creates a ripple effect that brings in more of the right visitors. We treated every exhibitor the same, whatever their size, and most respect us for it. Many of the biggest names in the industry now exhibit with us, often at both shows, and they understand why they can't take the stage.

The third was building the show in reverse. In the first few months, you have no sales and nobody on the floor plan. So we started from the other end: we confirmed strong speakers, panellists and key attendees first, then went to exhibitors. That meant we could tell exhibitors exactly who would be in the room.

What metrics ended up mattering more than you expected?

Quality of audience over quantity. Our sales pitch hasn't changed since year one. We never promised 20,000 visitors. The Business Design Centre is a great venue, but it isn't built for 20,000 people. We told exhibitors we'd bring around 4,000 visitors, all of them the right people, and that they'd leave having met the buyers they came to meet. Most exhibitors agreed that's exactly what happened, and it's a big reason London is now heading into its sixth edition.

What was the hardest part of launching and selling?

Launching is frightening. You put everything you have into it, and it really can sink or swim. I don't think you can launch a show half-heartedly with a job on the side. I certainly couldn't. I needed to put in ten-hour days, stay completely focused and believe in what I was doing. I didn't go in blind, but I had to tell myself to do it and see what happened.

Selling is hard because you have to let go, and I still find that hard. The shows are still our baby. We had offers from companies I knew were wrong for us, sometimes with more money on the table. The toughest choice in a sale is whether to take the cash or wait for the right buyer.

Waiting for the right buyer was one of the most important decisions we made. Buyers acquire shows because of how they've been run, and not every large company realises that. We valued what we'd built enough not to take a quick cheque from private equity, and we wouldn't in future.

What was the most rewarding part of launching and selling Workspace Design Show?

Seeing your concept come to life is amazing: the stands built and the aisles full after months of hard work. I'll be honest, the money is rewarding too. I'm not going to pretend it was only about passion for the industry. Watching the shows make a profit year after year is a real sign that what you built works, and that the five years you put in (including, in my case, the maternity leave I gave up) were worth it.

Selling brings its own pride, because you've built something of real value to someone else. And it's a relief to stop worrying about VAT receipts and chasing payments.

What might have sped up the journey from launch to exit?

I honestly wouldn't speed it up. If we'd sold earlier, we'd have left value on the table, because profits were growing every year. Amsterdam is only in its third year, and we wanted to enjoy the success of both shows. We had no interest in growing too big too fast and ending up with the wrong product for our audience. Sustainability was always the priority.

What mistakes would you not make again?

I massively underestimated how much the onsite experience matters to exhibitors and visitors. I assumed we'd be fine on the day. In reality, delivering a good experience takes a lot of work and a deep understanding of how the venue operates. London was easier because I knew the market and the Business Design Centre well, and we're still refining Amsterdam. What changed things was finding the right operations partner in our second London year. If you're launching a show, get yourself a really good operations partner. We worked with Planet Events and I'd highly recommend them.

The bigger mistake was not qualifying buyers. Charlie and I knew how to launch and run trade shows. We didn't know how to sell a business, and I'll hold my hand up to that. I didn't realise how much time, effort and expertise a sale takes. It went on for months and took a real toll, and as new parents we couldn't afford that.

When offers first came in, we got too excited about the money. Looking back, those first buyers weren't right for us, and we should have qualified every one of them properly from the start. New sellers can be misled. Not every party making an offer has the authority or the backing to stand by it, and some offers are withdrawn or reduced later in the name of due diligence. You need to know whether an offer is real before you invest months in it.

That's why my biggest regret is not using an adviser like Manta from the beginning. Anyone thinking about selling should talk to Steve Monnington! Event people should focus on running great shows and let the experts handle the sale. A good adviser takes you through the whole process, qualifies buyers for you and keeps you from being caught out. You need that for your own sanity.

We were fortunate. We ended up in the best possible place, with the buyer who was always my first choice. I've known Carsten Holm, Managing Director at Diversified, since 2018, and the partnership was always going to work. But my advice to anyone selling is simple: use an expert and qualify your buyers.

What's next for you?

Very little has changed day to day. Charlie and I still run the shows and make the decisions. Diversified has given us free rein, and that's the best part of the deal.

We'll be launching in new markets and adapting the exhibitions to each one. I believe that's the future of events, rather than simply making shows bigger. We're selective about who exhibits, and we've turned away enquiries that didn't fit the show, even when it cost us revenue. Every show we've held so far has sold out. I'm looking forward to working with Carsten and the Diversified team to take that model into new markets. We already know where you'll see us next.