How failing as a theatre producer set this CEO up for long-term success

In his early 20s, Matt Wreford was running the biggest production company at the Edinburgh Fringe – and then he lost his business. He explains why it’s proved a blessing in disguise

If you start your career by creating and running a successful theatre production company, it might feel strange to look around 20 years later and see that you’re leading a supply chain finance firm. But such is life for Matt Wreford, CEO of Demica and former co-founder of Fat Bloke Productions. 

The secret behind this apparent diversion? Failure. 

The story begins at the University of Oxford, where a 19-year-old Wreford was studying chemistry. A friend had set his sights on directing a show and needed a producer. Wreford volunteered and went on to put on seven more, paying his way through university with the proceeds. After graduating, he teamed up with two friends to build the biggest production company at the Edinburgh Fringe. By late 2001, their firm was employing about 100 people and turning over nearly £500,000 a year. Serious business for beginners still in their 20s. 

So what are three ambitious young entrepreneurs wont to do? Aim higher, of course, and take their sold-out show to London. 

“We were really starting to believe our own marketing, which is always a risk,” Wreford recalls.

Unfortunately, the adult mime show that had proved such a hit in Edinburgh didn’t work in the venue they chose. The mistake proved costly, losing the firm three years’ worth of profits in eight weeks. 

The co-founders faced a tough choice: cut their losses and pay off their staff, the venue and their advertisers; or move to a new theatre and risk losing everything. 

“I began to realise that making a really successful career in the theatre business is very difficult,” Wreford says. “It was an existential crisis moment. To have a full reset back to zero was hard.”