Matt Jones MBE Recognised in the 2026 New Year Honours List

Our CEO, Matt Jones MBE, has been awarded an MBE in the New Year Honours List for Services to Entrepreneurship and Advertising.

This recognition is not about a single business or a moment in time.

Matt’s career spans more than 16 years of building companies under pressure — often without safety nets, certainty or applause. Some ventures succeeded. Others didn’t. All required endurance, accountability and the willingness to carry responsibility when outcomes were not guaranteed.

From early-stage businesses built with limited resources, through national exposure on Dragons’ Den, international commercial work, and now building R4 as a performance-led media trading, planning and activation business, the throughline has been consistent. Not hype. Not shortcuts. Discipline, graft and standards held when no one was watching.

Those who have worked with Matt know this recognition was never pursued. It is the by-product of consistency — backing people early, opening doors, building teams, and doing the work properly even when it would have been easier not to.

The MBE acknowledges that contribution. Not image. Not noise. Not overnight success.

At R4, we are proud — not because of the letters, but because they reflect years of pressure carried quietly and a leadership approach grounded in accountability.

This is not a finish line.

It is a marker.

And the work continues.