Jon bounces back with his digital agency

Jon Payne, 46, who grew up in Titchfield, said he felt an ‘abject failure’ after he lost everything to an unsuccessful web design business venture and had to move back in with his parents.

But his dad David, who himself missed out on the possibility of recording Webber’s and Tim Rice’s Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, taught him to be resilient.

Today Jon runs digital marketing company Noisy Little Monkey, which makes nearly £400,000 annual profit and aims to grow into a multimillion-pound agency.

Jon said: ‘For a couple of years I felt like an abject failure. I’d gone from living the high life to moving back home.’

His dad David’s failed record and publishing company led to bailiffs knocking on their door, the loss of two houses and his savings.

The family then moved in with Jon’s grandparents in Titchfield.

David’s comeback started with a picture framing shop, to which he added a marketing consultancy firm.

Then at the age of 55, he decided to try acting. He now tours with his acclaimed show An Evening with CS Lewis.

David said: ‘I gradually came to see failure as a door – a door that could open to new opportunities.’

David became an inspiration to Jon – instilling accountability, an appetite for learning.

When Jon’s web design company venture failed to take off, he moved back home and took on temping jobs to make ends meet.

His family and wife Nicola pointed out that Jon was good at getting clients’ websites to the top of Google rankings.

He said: ‘At first I’d been too blinkered to see the opportunity. But the more I looked into it, the more I could see that search engine optimisation had potential to be a lucrative business.’

In 2007 Jon set up what has since become Noisy Little Monkey.

Since then he has from a one man band to a team of 12.

It plans to become a £5m profit agency in five years, possibly expanding across the country.

But their main ambition is to make sure they keep work fun.