Unlocking growth: What business leaders can learn from Barry Hearn

Speaking at the S&W industry leaders conference 2026, the founder and chairman of Matchroom Sport shared stories spanning more than five decades in business, from qualifying as a chartered accountant and nearly losing everything, to creating one of the world's most successful sports promotion companies.

What emerged wasn't a polished business framework or a neatly packaged growth strategy. Instead, Hearn offered a candid perspective on entrepreneurship, leadership and long-term success, shaped by experience rather than theory.

The result was a masterclass in resilience, commercial instinct and recognising opportunities when they appear.

One of Hearn's recurring themes was the role that luck plays in business. As someone who openly credits a number of pivotal moments in his career to good fortune, he argued that success is rarely as linear or controllable as many would like to believe. The difference, in his view, lies in recognising opportunity and being willing to act when it arrives.

This is a rather stark reminder, reminiscent of the famous quote from South African golfer Gary Player: “The harder I practice, the luckier I get”.

Hearn, a keen golfer who, ironically, has never infiltrated the world of golf professionally, adapted his own version: "Identifying your moments of luck is the thing that differentiates the doers and the thinkers from the people that just dream."

Reflecting on the launch of Matchroom in 1982, he described how a six-week attempt at retirement quickly gave way to a new business venture built on little more than ambition and a desire to enjoy the journey. The years that followed brought significant setbacks, including substantial financial losses and mounting debt. It wasn't until the arrival of Sky Television that the business found the platform it needed to grow.

Hearn's point isn't really about luck. It's about readiness. Plenty of opportunities pass people by every day, but they only become meaningful when someone is willing to act on them. Growth often depends on factors outside our control – markets change, technology evolves and new partnerships emerge.

While luck may create the opportunity, preparedness and decisive action determine whether organisations can, ultimately, take advantage of it.

Despite his considerable achievements, Hearn repeatedly downplayed the notion that success stems solely from talent, intellect or even, rather contradictory, luck. Instead, he pointed to determination, consistency and an unwillingness to give up.

Raised in a working-class household in Dagenham, he described how his mother encouraged discipline, hard work and self-belief from an early age. Those habits remained throughout his career and continue to inform the culture within Matchroom today.

Hearn’s mantra echoes his ethos of work: “You're not gonna be the smartest kid on the block, but you can outwork anyone. You'll get there in the end."

An observation that, arguably, resonates far beyond sport and entertainment.

Businesses frequently focus on innovation, strategy and competitive differentiation, all of which are important. Yet sustained performance often comes down to something less glamorous: consistently doing the work, learning from setbacks and maintaining momentum when others become distracted.

Hearn's own story illustrates that success isn't necessarily reserved for those with the greatest natural advantages. More often, it's those who remain in the game long enough to capitalise on opportunities that ultimately pull ahead.

Perhaps one of the most memorable takeaways from the session centred on personal visibility.

Reflecting on his early accounting career, Hearn recalled deliberately finding ways to stand out in what was then a highly traditional profession. The specifics may belong to a different era, but the principle remains highly relevant. Hearn states: "If you're good, tell. Because no one else will tell for you. Don't be a secret."

For business leaders, visibility matters. Whether securing investment, attracting talent, winning clients or building a professional reputation, organisations cannot rely solely on the quality of their work speaking for itself. Commercial success increasingly depends on communicating expertise, articulating value and ensuring key audiences understand what sets a business apart.

It's a challenge many firms will recognise. Expertise alone rarely creates growth if prospective clients never encounter it.

As Matchroom expanded internationally, Hearn recognised a limitation faced by many entrepreneurs. No matter how capable the founder, growth eventually depends on building a team that can scale beyond one individual.

His approach has been to identify potential early, invest in people and create an environment where high performers are given responsibility quickly. Throughout the session, he shared stories of employees who joined the business at the beginning of their careers and went on to lead major divisions within the group. These stories were echoed during the recent Netflix documentary on Matchroom.

Importantly, he emphasised the value of incentivisation and rewarding performance: “Don't tell me what you're going to do. Show me what you've done."

The philosophy is grounded in accountability, yet also trust. Rather than creating dependency on leadership, the goal is to develop individuals who can own outcomes, drive growth and create value independently.

For organisations managing succession plans or preparing for their next stage of expansion, this presents an important challenge: are you building a team that supports the founder, or a team capable of outlasting them?

While much of the discussion focused on growth, Hearn also spoke at length about trust.

Throughout his distinguished career, he has remained committed to a straightforward principle: honour commitments, treat people fairly and never go back on your word. Whether discussing partnerships, shareholders or customers, he repeatedly returned to the importance of reputation and long-term relationships.

One story in particular illustrated this philosophy. Recalling his acquisition of shares in professional darts, Hearn described how a small investment made by an ordinary supporter from Sunderland eventually transformed into a life-changing financial outcome for the shareholder's family. What stood out wasn't the return itself, but his pride in ensuring the process remained transparent and fair.

In an environment where businesses face increasing pressure to deliver short-term results, the ability to play a longer game remains a significant competitive advantage.

Touching upon his many years in business, Hearn's curiosity remains undiminished. Whether discussing new ventures, agriculture, property investment or emerging technologies, he consistently returned to the idea that leaders should never stop learning. He emphatically says: "I have been a learner all my life."

That mindset may have been one of the most valuable lessons from the entire session.

The businesses that continue to grow are often those whose leaders remain open to new ideas, challenge their assumptions and adapt to changing circumstances. Experience matters, but so does the willingness to evolve.

For all the stories of television deals, investment decisions and global expansion, Hearn's message was ultimately a simple one. Business growth isn't only about capital, strategy or market conditions – it starts with mindset.

Resilience, self-belief, curiosity, accountability and the courage to act when opportunities arise all featured prominently throughout the discussion. Underpinning everything was a refusal to be defined by setbacks or constrained by conventional thinking.

Perhaps that's why Hearn's message resonated with the audience. It wasn't a story of flawless decision-making or carefully constructed growth plans. It was a story of backing yourself, recovering from setbacks and being prepared when opportunity arrives.

After more than five decades in business, his advice remains refreshingly uncomplicated: work hard, keep learning and don't wait for someone else to notice your potential.