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What happens after you reach the top? In the fourth instalment of our five-part series, Exeter Chiefs claim their first Premiership title but then face a new challenge: staying there. We explore how a solid culture can negate complacency, how focusing on what they could control got Chiefs through a major scandal and the Covid lockdown and much more. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Gordon Sanghera, the co-founder and chief executive of Oxford Nanopore Technologies, has announced he will step down as boss after more than 20 years of building the business into a £2bn unicorn at the forefront of science and technology. In this classic episode of the Business Leader Podcast from early 2023 (back when it was called Business Studies!) Graham Ruddick speaks to Gordon Sanghera about the story behind Oxford Nanopore... Business Leader is sharing classic episodes throughout August i...
What do you do when you've come so close, only to fall short again and again? In this third episode of our five-part series, we dive into Exeter Chiefs’ toughest year, which included four major heartbreaks in 14 months, a painful Premiership final loss and a crisis of confidence. We find out about the behind-the-scenes team meeting that changed everything. It’s a raw and inspiring look at resilience, accountability and the power of emotional reset. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more...
You asked, we delivered. Our fantastic Business Leader audience is growing fast and you have been asking us to share our favourite episodes from the back catalogue. So throughout August we will be doing just that and re-publishing some of our best founder and scale-up stories. This episode on Monzo is a classic scale-up story. How do you turn a popular consumer brand into a business that actually makes money? Graham Ruddick met TS Anil, the chief executive of Monzo to find out. Under his watch, ...
Simon Sinek, the best-selling author of Start With Why and Leaders Eat Last, joins Richard Harpin and Graham Ruddick to discuss how to build a successful business. To listen to previous episodes of How to Make a Billion and get updates when new episodes go live, subscribe to the series via the links below: Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/how-to-make-a-billion-in-9-steps-with-richard-harpin/id1825363917 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5aPBAfRKnqW8A2kN44X37w In this show, Richa...
This is the second episode of our five-part series, where we revisit the night Exeter Chiefs rewrote their destiny. From underdog mentality to promotion glory, hear how grit, resilience and leadership took this Devon side into the Premiership for the first time. Discover how strategy, culture and character won out over money and reputation, and what business leaders can learn from one of sport’s most unlikely success stories. In this episode, we look at the galvanising effect of being counted ou...
Nike historian Scott Reames joins Graham Ruddick to discuss the story of how the world's biggest sports brand was built. They discuss: -The origins of the Nike name and swoosh logo -What Phil Knight was like as a founder and chief executive -How challenges in the 1980s lay the foundations for Nike to go from good to great -The other key people who helped build Nike, such as Rob Strasser -What the film Air gets right and wrong about the story of how Nike signed Michael Jordan in 1984 -Why Nike ha...
What does it take to turn around an organisation? Take it from struggling to thriving? Rock bottom to the top? The Turnaround will tell the stories of the organisations and people who have done just this. In series one, we look to the world of sport and the remarkable story of how a small rugby team in Devon went from amateurs to English and European champions. That team is Exeter Chiefs. You will hear from the management, coaches, players and those who were watching it as it happened. You will ...
What causes CEO burn-out? What can be done to avoid it? And how do you help CEOs who have burned out? Welcome to the Paracelsus Recovery clinic, which has been treating CEOs in Zurich since 2013. Patients are assigned therapists who live with them during their stay and are on-call 24/7. A team of 15 people, including psychiatrists, nurses, nutritionists and personal chefs, are responsible for each client. Clients may stay for up to two months at a time and get VIP treatment that costs around £85...
In this new podcast series, Richard Harpin, who built Homeserve into a £4.1bn business, explores his nine steps to building a billion-pound business. In episode two, Richard speaks with Steve Hewitt, the former chief executive of Gymshark, about three of his steps. These steps are: -Bricks, clicks and paper -Hire your replacement -Go global with locals To find out more about Richard’s nine steps and how to build a successful business you can buy the book How to Make a Billion in 9 Steps at Amazo...
The financial crisis nearly destroyed Britain's banks, but from the remnants of this chaos the Business Growth Fund was created. BGF, backed by the biggest UK banks, is now the most active investor in small and medium-sized businesses in the country. If the UK is to turn more promising businesses into large companies then BGF will be key. It has already invested £4.5bn into more than 600 businesses since it launched. So now what? Graham Ruddick meets Andy Gregory, the chief executive of BGF, to ...
In this new podcast series, Richard Harpin, who built Homeserve into a £4.1bn business, explores his nine steps to building a billion-pound business. In episode one, Richard speaks with Touker Suleyman, the Dragons' Den star, about the first three of his steps. These steps are: -Copy and pivot -Get an investor -Get some coachment To find out more about Richard’s nine steps and how to build a successful business you can buy the book How to Make a Billion in 9 Steps at Amazon here: https://www.ama...
Sir John Hegarty is one of the most revered figures in the UK advertising industry. Starting out in ‘swinging Sixties’ London, he went on to be a founding partner of Saatchi & Saatchi in the 1970s and co-founder of Bartle Bogle Hegarty (BBH) in the early 1980s. With BBH he masterminded adverts that became part of the national conversation, including the Levi's 501 jeans adverts with model Nick Kamen stripping in a launderette. He also helped to create the famous "Vorsprung durch Technik" cam...
GoFundMe is one of the world’s biggest crowdfunding platforms. It focuses on charitable donations and has generated over $30bn in funds since it launched in 2010. It is based in San Diego, California and has more than 800 employees. But it has been led by a Brit, Tim Cadogan, since 2020. Dougal Shaw speaks to Tim Cadogan in the latest episode of the Business Leader Podcast. Cadogan grew up and studied in the UK, before moving to California in order to pursue his dream career in tech. After two s...
Kenny Wilson speaks to Graham Ruddick about the story behind how Dr Martens, the famous footwear brand, trebled its annual revenues to £1 billion while he was chief executive. It is a story that begins with Kenny Wilson as a promising footballer at Aberdeen while Sir Alex Ferguson was manager, involves learning about brand and leadership at Levi's, and has some challenges along the way... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
What are the business books you should be reading right now? What are the leading CEOs and founders reading? Josh Dornbrack, Graham Ruddick and Sarah Vizard get together to discuss what the business world is reading and what they would recommend to you. Plus, they do a blind-ranking of some all-time classics... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Who are the fastest-growing businesses in the UK and what are the stories behind them? Graham Ruddick, Sarah Vizard, Dougal Shaw and Robert Watts get together to discuss what Business Leader has founded by building the Growth 500, the most comprehensive guide ever to Britain's fastest-growing businesses Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Imran Hakim is a serial entrepreneur and has built Hakim Group into a collection of independent opticians across the UK. But he also found extraordinary success through Dragons Den and invented a toy that became one of the UK's most popular Christmas presents. In this episode of the Business Leader Podcast, Victoria Price speaks to Imran Hakim about building his business, Dragons Den and the challenge of being a parent and chief executive... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more inform...
Nick Grey is the founder and owner of Gtech, which he has built into a multi-million-pound technology business. Gtech started out with vacuum cleaners, but has since expanded into power tools, hair dryers and much more. Grey is the inventor behind many of its original designs, initially working from his home in Worcestershire. He founded Gtech in 2001 having previously worked as a window-fitter on building sites and a lab technician at Vax. Dougal Shaw went to meet Nick Grey at Gtech Community S...
Graham Ruddick and Sarah Vizard are joined by Rob Watts and James Whittaker, the head of UK wealth management and chief executive of Deutsche Bank UK, to discuss what it takes to build a billion-pound business in the UK. Who are the people who have done this? What are their stories? And what are the 56 businesses on Business Leader's list of Great British Billion-Pound Businesses? All this and more is covered in the latest episode of the Business Leader Podcast. This episode is sponsored by Deut...
Dougal Shaw checks-in to a Yotel for a guided tour of the business with CEO Hubert Viriot. The brand is known for its compact, functional but stylish designs. It was started by British entrepreneur Simon Woodroffe, who also founded the Yo! Sushi food chain. Inspired by high-end, long-haul travel and the minimalism of Japanese hotels, he opened the first Yotel at Gatwick Airport in 2007. The idea was successful and expanded to other international airports. Hubert Viriot joined the business as CEO...
Bruce Bratley has gone from studying for a PhD to building one of the UK’s most successful recycling businesses. He founded the waste management and recycling company First Mile in London in 2004. It now has 200 employees, an annual turnover of £50m and helps more than 30,000 businesses around the UK with recycling solutions. Its clients include large companies like Pret, Caffè Nero, Netflix and Amazon, as well as small businesses ranging from clothes stores to restaurants. First Mile collects m...
Graham Ruddick meets Joe Lister, the chief executive of Unite Group, to hear the story behind how this business went from a student start-up in Bristol to a FTSE 100 company. Unite's unique culture is at the heart of it all... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Here are three business leaders who all have one thing in common - they lead US-based, SaaS companies valued at more than $1 billion. SaaS (software as a service) businesses are the lifeblood of the modern economy. Their products help with everything from sales calls and marketing to employee onboarding and supply chain management. These days all companies are awash with data, but artificial intelligence is making it easier than ever to put that data to use. Dougal Shaw speaks to the three CEOs ...
Highland Europe was founded on the basis that promising European businesses, including those in the UK, can take on the US tech giants if they get the right funding. In this episode of the Business Leader Podcast, Fergal Mullen, the co-founder of Highland Europe, explains what he looks for in founders and promising businesses (and what he avoids). And why Europe could take on the US by merging the major stock markets across the continent, including London Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy f...
Julia Pyke is joint managing director of the Sizewell C nuclear plant and she thinks nuclear power has an image problem. She blames a lot of this on The Simpsons cartoon and in particular, the evil character Mr Burns. However, as Pyke explains to Dougal Shaw, she is trying to challenge that stereotype while building Sizewell C in Suffolk, which is due to switch on in the mid-2030s. The UK hasn’t turned on a new nuclear plant for three decades. The climate crisis has made nuclear energy more appe...
Thomson Reuters is a modern news and information giant. It is worth more than $85 billion (£64 billion) and is one of the leading sources of news around the world. Paul Julius Reuter started Reuters with an office in 1851. Since then it was the first to tell the world about the sinking of the Titantic, the construction of the Berlin Wall and, in more modern times, that Mark Zuckerberg planned to float Facebook on the stock market. It's also won a string of Pulitzer Prizes. However, today, the bu...
Dougal Shaw takes a trip to the Comedy Store in central London to meet a legend of improvisational comedy, who has a few tricks he can teach businesses. Neil Mullarkey has been performing with the Comedy Store Players every week for three decades. He has also worked closely with Mike Myers, who starred in the Austin Powers films. These days, as well as performing unscripted comedy, Mullarkey runs staff workshops with businesses and coaches individual CEOs, showing how the tools of his trade can ...
Andrew Jones was the director of a FTSE 100 company and highly regarded in the business world. But he was concerned he was missing a big opportunity. So, inspired by Warren Buffett, Jones decided to risk his career and launch his own business. It proved to be a great decision. In this episode of the Business Leader Podcast, Andrew Jones tells Graham Ruddick what happened next - he built a new FTSE 100 company of his own... This episode covers: -The story behind London Metric (market capitalisati...
Jake Humphrey has spent years examining the habits of world-class performers. In this episode of the Business Leader Podcast, Graham Ruddick and Josh Dornbrack sit down with the Business Leader columnist and host of the High Performance podcast to find out how you can apply these principles to build high-performing teams and cultures. From managing confidence to maintaining momentum, he offers practical, powerful insights on what drives long-term success and what most leaders get wrong. We also ...
