Serial entrepreneur Luke Johnson to headline VAC 2016
by Tom Anstey | 12 Sep 2016
Johnson has headed organisations such as Channel 4, Pizza Express and Strada / Risk Capital Partners
Business mogul Luke Johnson will deliver the keynote address at this year’s Visitor Attractions Conference (VAC) in London, sharing his insights on how to manage a successful venture.
Johnson, who has headed organisations such as Channel 4, Pizza Express and Strada, is co-founder of investment company Risk Capital Partners. Through his chairship of the Eclectic Bar Group, one of Johnson's most recent high-profile acquisitions was that of Brighton Pier, which was sold in April in a deal worth £18m (US$25.6m, €22.5m).
In addition to managing multiple successful business ventures, Johnson is the chair for both The Institute of Cancer Research and StartUp Britain, and created a think tank in 2013 called The Centre for Entrepreneurs. In the media world, he also writes a weekly business column for The Sunday Times.
Run by the industry and for the industry, VAC has been firmly established since its inception as the key place to meet and network with contemporaries, while also featuring a series of thought-provoking sessions to the attractions market.
A number of leaders in the visitor attractions and tourism sector are also scheduled to speak at this year’s event, including VisitBritain interim director Andrew Stokes, Tourism Alliance director Kurt Janson and Eleanor Harris, chief executive of the recently opened world-first i360 tower in Brighton.
VAC 2016 takes place at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre on 6 October. For more information, click here.
Luke Johnson Risk Capital Partners Visitor Attractions Conference Sunday Times Tourism20 Sep 2006
Risk Capital to control Patisserie Valerie
29 Jan 2004
Johnson takes the chair at Channel 4
12 May 2003
Johnson drops offer for PizzaExpress
27 Feb 2003
Pizza Express agrees to takeover
Business mogul Luke Johnson will deliver the keynote address at this year’s Visitor Attractions Conference (VAC) in London, sharing his insights on how to manage a successful venture. Johnson, who has headed organisations such as Channel 4, Pizza Express and Strada, is co-founder of investment company Risk Capital Partners. Through his chairship of the Eclectic Bar Group, one of Johnson's most recent high-profile acquisitions was that of Brighton Pier, which
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