Johnny Hornby

Johnny Hornby is an English marketing executive. He is the founder of the marketing and PR holdings company The&Partnership. Previously, Hornby was managing director at TBWA, the marketing company which managed Tony Blair's 2001 election campaign.

Early life Hornby's father, Derek Hornby, was a British business executive who was chairman of London and Continental Railways. His mother was a journalist. Hornby was born in Leamington Spa, but due to his father's work, he attended a state school in the south of France before moving to Connecticut. At the age of 14, Hornby's father sent him to board at Marlborough College in Wiltshire, England. He later studied history and politics at the University of Edinburgh. At 19 years of age, Hornby interned as a runner at the Cogent Elliot agency. Upon graduation, He worked at the Ogilvy & Mather agency before moving to CDP in 1995, where he gained his first senior position. Hornby offered Mandelson a role at his new agency in the hope that Mandelson's involvement might win other high-profile accounts. Later, after Charles Inge joined the firm, Clemmow, Hornby, and Inge combine their surnames to create the name CHI. Upon leaving TBWA, Hornby struck an agreement, allowing him to take one of TBWA's most valuable accounts, Sir Charles Dunstone, the former chairman of the mobile phone retailer, Carphone Warehouse. Dunstone allowed Hornby to run CHI from a loft above Carphone Warehouse's Marlybone Road shop in Northwest London, effectively enabling Hornby to create an agency with little or no start-up costs and one major client. By 2004 CHI had new offices in Wardour Street, Soho.

Following a string of successful pitches, the agency developed a client base ranging from drinks companies to financial services to radio stations. When Hornby came to sell a 49.9% stake in the company to Sir Martin Sorrell, he did so for £30 million. Following the deal, Hornby embarked on an acquisition spree. Hornby remains the largest shareholder of the company, with a 22% stake. the anti-HIV non-profit announced Hornby as its new chairman. Hornby remained in that position until his resignation in July 2023.

Personal life The British author Nick Hornby is Hornby's half-brother. He is married to founder of ME+EM, Clare Hornby. The couple live in Oxfordshire with their two children.