James Sinclair

Sinclair has said he started doing magic shows at children’s birthday parties when he was about 15, and that he had a very strict upbringing in which he had to earn any money he wanted; he has said he was never a fan of the education system and has instead educated himself largely by reading books on practical subjects.⁠[1][1][1][1]

As his popularity as an entertainer grew, he built an agency supplying children’s entertainers, then moved into corporate entertainment and equipment hire. He has said that he entertained adults and children together, breaking with traditional children’s entertainers who entertained only the children; but because earning money with his own hands had a ceiling, he decided to build a business that worked without him doing the day-to-day.⁠[1][1][1]

At 20, without venture capital, Sinclair raised £700,000 from 21 separate lenders to open his first soft play centre in Basildon, which reached £1 million in turnover within a year.⁠[2]

Since May 20, 2017, Sinclair has been a director of PARTYMAN GROUP LIMITED, and as of October 2026 he was its only current director.⁠[3][3][3]

As of 2018, Sinclair was founder and chief executive of The Partyman Company and Partyman World of Play, and co-founder of the Entrepreneurs Network, set up to connect start-up founders. Over twelve years his business had grown from two employees to 350, with annual turnover of more than £10 million.⁠[1][1]

His businesses included a chain of about ten self-managed indoor play centres, a chain of day nurseries, a family adventure park on the beach at Eastbourne that he bought as a failing business and turned around, and a build-your-own soft toy business, Teddytastic; the largest was Marsh Farm Animal Adventure Park, a 70-acre destination in Chelmsford, Essex. He has said the businesses share management, databases, knowledge, and space, so that each helps the others.⁠[1][1][1][1][1][1]

He said at the time that rising VAT, business rates, and employment taxes were eating into profits, and predicted that businesses would automate transactional tasks and use some of the savings to invest in entertainment staff who make customers feel good.⁠[1][1]

In May 2023, Party Pieces, the party supplies company founded in 1987 by Carole and Michael Middleton, fell into administration and was sold through a pre-pack administration to Teddy Tastic Bear Co Ltd, one of Sinclair’s businesses; the price was not disclosed. At the time, Sinclair’s businesses spanned leisure, childcare, outdoor attractions, commercial property, arts and crafts manufacturing, and Rossi Ice Cream, one of the UK’s oldest ice cream companies.⁠[4][4][4][4]

Party Pieces was insolvent and more than £2.5 million in debt at the time of the acquisition; the Partyman Group subsequently reported turnover of around £40 million.⁠[2][2]

On April 28, 2025, The Venture Room released a street-interview video filmed on Bond Street in London in which Sinclair was one of the interviewees. He said he had started out doing balloon modelling and children’s magic shows and built that into an agency that kept growing; he said in the interview that his businesses would generate around 50 million in revenue that year across the group.⁠[5][5]

He also argued that, with more people turning 65 than turning 20 for the first time in the UK’s demographic history, well-off and healthy over-50s holding much of the country’s property and cash represented a major opportunity for businesses.⁠[5][5]

“Look for businesses where there is love, want, and need.” He gave day nurseries as an example: parents love their children to be educated, want them to be educated, and also need them looked after so they can go to work; a designer handbag, by contrast, is only love and want. (at 10:22 in the video)⁠[5][5]

“Find businesses where people transact with you four times in quick succession.” He said this makes customers less fickle and cash flow much more predictable. (at 10:49 in the video)⁠[5][5]

“Start by swapping time for money, build a nest egg, then buy a business from a retiring owner using vendor finance.” He suggested first offering a service people will pay well for, then flipping stock with the savings, and then buying a business that a retiring baby boomer has run for more than ten years, paying the seller over time. (at 11:24 in the video)⁠[5][5][5]