Jon Smith

Being successful in the two major fields of entertainment and sport is uncommon, yet for Jon Smith this has been the case since the 1970’s. First pioneering the introduction of Northern Soul music to the UK in the 70’s, Jon then replicated his success in the sporting arena when he was at the forefront of the English Premier League launch in the 1990’s.

After successfully owning, running and then selling a music publishing company in the 1970’s, he followed a similar blueprint in the sporting world globally during the 90’s and 2000’s before again selling on his company for a profit in 2011.

'First Artist' was born in 1986 and Jon was the leader of a complete restructure of the company after flotation in 2001 from its position as a football agency to the stage whereby it is now an entertainment, sporting, events and financial group with many different sectors that offers its services to a multitude of nations. The purchase of a significant equity share by Pivot Entertainment, New York has also been overseen by Jon in more recent years.

It’s fair to say that the likes of the NFL, NBA and NHL would not have arrived in the UK if it wasn’t for the input of Jon Smith. An advocate for the UK sporting industry, Jon has helped to facilitate the arrival of some of the USA’s biggest sporting teams to play games in the UK.

Alongside this, he has played a huge role in raising over £50 million for UK sport in recent years and now finds himself being in the privileged and rare position of a football agency licence in addition to a licence enabling him to stage events around the globe.

It’s fair to say that Jon Smith has quite a story to tell, which is why he is such a popular figure on the after dinner speaking circuit. An inspiring journey that combines two of the biggest industries in the world, Jon talks about the trials and tribulations faced along the way as well as the processes he followed to build and run a series of successful businesses.