Johnny Hornby and Jenny Halpern Prince Host Annual Who’s Who of Media and Marketing

Advertising and PR entrepreneurs Johnny Hornby and Jenny Halpern Prince were last night joined by the great and the good of business, media and advertising at their annual Christmas drinks do at Annabel’s in Mayfair.

Guests in attendance at the festive industry get-together included Goodwood Festival founder the Duke (and Duchess) of Richmond; journalist Rachel Johnson; former Minister of Culture, Communications and the Creative Industries Ed Vaizey; Dragons’ Den ‘dragon’ Tej Lalvani; and Crystal Palace co-owner Steve Parish with new girlfriend Susanna Reid. 

Carphone Warehouse co-founder Sir Charles Dunstone were also in attendance, as were News UK COO David Dinsmore; former M&S chairman Lord Stuart Rose; and WPP’s new CEO Mark Read.

Hornby and Halpern Prince joined forces in 2013, when CHI&Partners co-founder Hornby launched The&Partnership – an international, WPP-backed network of agencies spanning all marketing disciplines. Hornby bought a 50.1% stake in Halpern, adding PR expertise to a suite of specialisms already including advertising agency CHI&Partners, media planning and buying agency m/SIX and digital engagement agency AllTogetherNow.

Since 2013, The&Partnership has significantly influenced adland’s direction of travel – leading the way in an industry trend towards ‘in-housing’, with on-site and in-house agencies helping advertisers contend with new pressures including squeezed marketing budgets, proliferating channels, and an increasingly data-and-tech dominated digital media landscape.

The network has grown from £200 million to £550 million over that time, growing its presence across four continents and building on-site agencies for clients including News UK and TalkTalk in London, RBS in Edinburgh, The Wall Street Journal in New York and telco TELUS in Canada, as well as a pan-European network of on-site agencies for Toyota across 19 European markets. The&Partnership has most recently significantly expanded its European footprint, as well as winning new business with Toyota in Canada and with Lexus in Asia.

Hornby was also this year appointed Chair of Sentebale, the charity co-founded by HRH The Duke of Sussex and Prince Seeiso of Lesotho to support children and young people affected by HIV in Southern Africa. This year, Sentebale teamed up with Sir Cameron Mackintosh to host a charity gala performance of ‘Hamilton’ as part of its new fundraising initiative ‘Sentebale Nights’. The event was attended by TRH The Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

Halpern Prince, meanwhile, has over the past two years welcomed new clients including tech start-up Bumble and Asian sensation Din Tai Fung to her PR shop Halpern as well as curating the Google Curiosity Rooms for the launch of the new Pixel 3.

This April, Halpern Prince was made Chair of the Lady Garden Foundation, with the mission to scale the charity, whose Lady Garden Campaign, fronted by influencers including Cara Delevingne, Naomi Campbell and Charlotte Tilbury has been a game-changer. Other initiatives from the Lady Garden Foundation include the annual Lady Garden Run in Hyde Park, which this year broke its fundraising record. Halpern Prince is also founder of young people’s social mobility charity Access Aspiration, which she last year merged into the Mayor’s Fund for London, of which she is now a trustee and board member.

Also representing The&Partnership at the event were Sarah Golding, UK CEO of The&Partnership, who as President of the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising has led adland’s response to artificial intelligence with her ‘Magic & the Machines’ agenda; Nick Howarth, European CEO of The&Partnership, who has led the network’s expansion across Europe; Global Chief Technology Officer Ross Barnes; and Jess Burley, Global CEO of media agency m/SIX.