Driving forward continuous development in the Raccoon Media Group
In Conversation With – Jo Tyler, COO
Jo Tyler is the Chief Operating Officer of Raccoon Media Group and has been with the company since the early days in 2019, experiencing the highs and lows of a high growth, fast-paced global business.
What is the origin story, how did the Raccoon Media Group begin?
Mike Seaman, the CEO of Raccoon Media Group initially started working on the concept of a running show in 2016. He’s always been a keen runner and he was doing an event in spring 2016. He had gone to the running expo but was reluctant to buy anything new at it as it was too near to the event. This spawned the idea of having a similar expo earlier in the year, which he thought made more sense for training blocks and trying new kit.
Already working in sales in the events industry, Mike set up office in his shed and worked on a business plan for a running show, doing so as a side-line to his existing job. He got a few of his mates involved, who were tasked with setting up a website, event marketing and admin etc.
The initial National Running Show at the NEC Birmingham in 2018 had around 70 stands, but Mike and the organising team weren’t sure what to expect in terms of visitor numbers. The show exceeded all expectations, with over 12,000 visitors, there were points when they were at capacity and had to operate a ‘one in, one out’ system. This was the confirmation Mike needed that there was huge demand. He left his job, set up the business and ploughed his savings into his vision.
At which point did you get involved in Raccoon Media?
Mike and I had known each other through the events industry for a good length of time. We had both worked on lots of different events, mainly B2B. Our backgrounds complemented each other, as Mike is from a sales background and my specialism is marketing. We had both been event directors and ran portfolios. In 2019, just after the second National Running Show, I came on board to lead marketing activities. From that point until now, we have gone from one event to seventeen international events and the team has expanded from six people when I started, to forty-one at present. That is massive growth, especially considering that we had the pandemic in that period.
How have you developed the business in the last 12 months?
We’ve seen real change over the last 12 months. Last September, the business was bought out by Cuil Bay Capital – an investment vehicle founded by one of our previous shareholders Douglas Emslie. He is an avid runner, an experienced business owner and someone that really understands how to scale a business (he led his previous business Tarsus to a $1bn exit in 2023). Doug has brought a depth of knowledge into the business and has a lot more experience of international events, particularly in the U.S.
There has been significant new investment in products and the associated overheads, that has allowed us to acquire and launch new shows. Which is where Abilities Expo has come in. We are currently delivering seven shows throughout the year, in various U.S. locations ranging from New York to Los Angeles. The community around Abilities Expo is amazing. Mainly for those who have varying degrees of disability, the objective of the shows is to encourage them and enable them to have active and independent lives.
Activities range from dance classes to climbing walls. The format is similar in each location, but the brands are often more regional, and speakers will vary. We have a fantastic team of seven staff who facilitate Abilities Expo in the U.S and work with the show clients, but the overall management is done here in the UK.
What can you disclose about the new International Running Expo?
It’s very exciting. The International Running Expo is a business to business event that will take place in Europe. The first expo will be held in Amsterdam in November 2025, but we are launching it in November this year in Amsterdam with well-known industry personalities Susie Chan (distance runner and Peloton queen) and Dean Karnazes (ultramarathon man), with some fun events planned around it, such as community trail runs.
This event will have a very different feel to our other events. It is a ‘closed’ event, invite only just for the industry. We work very closely with brands and retailers in the running space and we wanted to provide an invaluable event in Europe. The expo is the stage before the consumer running show. We want to be at the leading edge, to give the industry an opportunity to come together, network and preview new innovations, technology and thinking. Media, influencers, brands and distributors will converge to celebrate and potentially collaborate. We want to lead on fostering those interactions.
Raccoon Media have added The Allergy and Free From Show to their portfolio, how did that come about?
The previous organisers had unfortunately closed the business and we agreed to purchase the assets. The first Allergy and Free From Show we organised was held this year in 2024. A lot of research went into what the format should be, and elements required by visitors. There is massive demand for this type of event, and it is a good fit in our health and lifestyle focus. We work with many high-profile brands in this community and a show we will grow incrementally.
What direction will Raccoon Media Group be taking in the next 12 months?
The focus is in 3 areas – developing our existing events organically and also launching and acquiring new shows or businesses. Our strategic goals are to run shows domestically and also in key target markets (particularly the USA) and also to increase the number of B2B events in our stable.
We are in the process of buying two businesses right now and also have several launches being developed. It is anticipated that at least by Christmas this year, we will have two new shows in the portfolio, plus possibly a third. The new products are a natural fit for our existing business and will be a valuable addition to our existing set, likely in the UK and business focused. As the portfolio grows, so will the team, which I expect to increase to around sixty people this year.
How is the team evolving, and how are you maintaining the culture you have worked so hard to create?
It’s tricky and can be a balancing act. We have grown quickly, but we are committed to taking our staff on a journey with us. We are motivated to cultivate homegrown talent and provide good career progression opportunities. We have the usual structure of teams and line managers, but you could have a mentor in a completely different part of the organisation.
The nature of an events business is that you regularly get together, but we also have a monthly ‘coffee and catch-up’, where even people working remotely are sent care packages, so they have their coffee and biscuits to hand. We work hard at creating ‘moments’ for staff. We do try, but it’s not always easy. We have a Tuesday run club, a summer team party, a Christmas party and we collectively get involved in charity initiatives.
We want Raccoon to feel like a community that helps each other. Events are hard work, but we try to balance that with fun, making them something people look forward to. There are naturally some tough times throughout the year, when it can be high pressure. Things can go wrong, but we try to get to the event looking like swans, calm on top and splashing away below. There’s normally real team morale at the close of an event, even if everything hasn’t gone perfectly. You’ve survived and have a great sense of achievement to take onto the next one.
At events based in the U.S. the staff will regularly see myself, Mike, or other members of the management team. Spending the whole weekend together is vital for team building. Socialising is important, and we actively encourage the team to get to know each other in a way that isn’t solely work-based. This is also available to all, as we will sometimes send say, someone from accounts (in the UK) to assist at an Abilities Expo in the U.S., fulfilling a required role. But this allows them face-to-face interaction with the team they are communicating with and to see the business from a completely different perspective.
You’ve grown substantially in a short space of time, what would you say has been the biggest challenge?
When we were a smaller business and had to make decisions quickly, you needed to adapt and sometimes decisions were emotion or instinct-based. Part of growing has been having to put more justification behind decisions with proper processes, having to report on quite tedious things.
I wouldn’t say we’ve become ‘boring’, but we’ve had to become more business-minded, with more structure and rules in place. The challenge has been doing that without wrapping the company up in bureaucracy – maintaining pace is crucial. We don’t want to slow down the decision-making process or suffocate innovative thinking. We are an entrepreneurial business, we don’t want there to be fear around making mistakes, because that is how you learn.
As long as it is isn’t too big or costly(!) we want an environment where staff embrace new things, learn from failure and move on quickly. Empowerment comes from getting people to think for themselves. Sometimes there will be resistance, as people will believe that they should follow what Mike or I said, but we want people to step up and lead the way and not be tied to the weight of pressure of doing things our way. The balance of wanting to encourage failure, but not wanting people to royally screw up is quite a delicate one!
The company thus far has resisted the need to have a HR department. We do have a HR consultant and there are people in the business that do elements of HR, but there is a real steer from us away from that kind of bureaucracy. To keep it a fun, people-driven business, where people have the freedom to recruit their own people.
If you could choose a guest speaker that hasn’t been at any previous event for a future one, who would it be?
I think the whole team would be pretty keen on getting Usain Bolt to one of our events. It would be amazing to see him to talk to, inspire and meet with his fans at a show one day.