James and Stephen chat to Jessica Flinn about the growth of her jewellery businesses and how she's done things differently to the norm. She tells us about her 20% rule and how it keeps the brand on its toes! Plus we dig into some talk about where Sheffield is heading. Steel City Business is brought to you by audio marketing experts Sound Media . Find all episodes and loads more about us at steelcity.business and get in touch by email to james@steelcity.business...
Jun 10, 2025•54 min•Season 3Ep. 34
James and Stephen head to Victoria Quays to visit Rebecca Knight at Ovo Spaces. On the agenda for discussion is how workspaces have changed, how businesses use their offices now, and what the workplace of the future might look like. It's great to hear more about Rebecca's journey as well, along with her role with the Sheffield Property Association, and to explore some other topics including the area around Victoria Quays and the impact of an office on business culture. Steel City Business is bro...
May 13, 2025•47 min•Season 3Ep. 33
Steel City Business UNCUT returns for 2025 and our first guest of the year is the awesome Hannah Duraid. You may know her for The Great Escape, Gameshow Allstars, Sheffield Business Runners - or maybe one of the other many things she's involved in. Or maybe you don't know her at all yet. Regardless, you'll learn something new about Hannah in this conversation with James and Stephen. Steel City Business is brought to you by conversational marketing experts Sound Media . Find all episodes and load...
Apr 01, 2025•54 min•Season 3Ep. 32
James and Stephen meet Jan Gardner, Strategy Partner at Pavement Creative. We explore Jan's journey including two spells at Jaywing among other roles. Among the topics of conversations are home working - something Jan has been an advocate of since long before the lockdown days. Steel City Business is brought to you by audio marketing experts Sound Media . Find all episodes and loads more about us at steelcity.business and get in touch by email to james@steelcity.business...
Dec 10, 2024•47 min•Season 3Ep. 31
Charlotte is celebrating 25 years in PR this year (congrats!) So we got together for a look back over her career so far, including her perhaps inventing podcasting before it was a thing. We discuss how things have changed and what the future of communications might have in store. Steel City Business is brought to you by audio marketing experts Sound Media . Find all episodes and loads more about us at steelcity.business and get in touch by email to james@steelcity.business...
Nov 19, 2024•34 min•Season 3Ep. 30
James and Stephen chat to B2B sales and marketing specialist Rob Taylor. It's not all sales and marketing chat though - they discuss Rob's niche in working closely with businesses in the lubrication space, his early working life in the music and entertainment industry, all things Sheffield, and his community Dads in Business. Steel City Business is brought to you by audio marketing experts Sound Media and supported by The Kurious . This episode was recorded at the offices of the wonderful Ride S...
Nov 05, 2024•57 min•Season 3Ep. 29
We're in Sheffield's start-up world for this episode of Steel City Business. James meets Daniel Blaney to talk about the story of Ferrio, but also to discuss his role as organiser of the Sheffield Start-Up Meet-Up. Steel City Business is brought to you by audio marketing experts Sound Media and supported by The Kurious . This episode was recorded at the offices of the wonderful Ride Shotgun . Find all episodes and loads more about us at steelcity.business and get in touch by email to james@steel...
Oct 29, 2024•33 min•Season 3Ep. 28
Steel City Business heads in a different direction in this episode as we chat to Tim Neale about his journey to Rise & Shine. It all starts with being told off for something he didn't do at junior school. You'll here reference to another podcast James and Tim recorded together during this episode and you can find that here > https://player.captivate.fm/episode/85859c17-3a99-4db4-b259-0ecd94ef657f/ Steel City Business is brought to you by audio marketing experts Sound Media and supported b...
Oct 22, 2024•39 min•Season 3Ep. 27
Maria Vardy joins James Marriott and Stephen Kenwright to talk all things agency in this episode of Steel City Business Uncut. Maria's had a long career in marketing dating back to the early 90s and we probe how things have changed - and interestingly, how they haven't. Among other topics of conversations are the rise of the fractional role, avoiding paralysis by analysis, and whether mega agencies are on a problematic path. Steel City Business is brought to you by audio marketing experts Sound ...
Oct 01, 2024•48 min•Season 3Ep. 26
Mattress Online has been going for more than 20 years. In that time, ecommerce has changed entirely, and the sleep industry has been through something of a revolution as well. Join CEO Steve Adams as he takes us a fascinating journey through the last two decades, including all the ups and downs including one moment where a simple coding error led to half the business' pages being wiped off Google. Steel City Business is brought to you by audio marketing experts Sound Media and supported by The K...
Sep 24, 2024•42 min•Season 3Ep. 25
Prepare to geek out a little bit in this episode, as James goes to meet Andy Jeffries, head of projects at Stream 7, a Sheffield based streaming business. We discover how much the lockdown years accelerated the development in the space, as well as finding out what kind of projects they work on - from annual company conferences to streaming live surgery in hospitals. Steel City Business is brought to you by audio marketing experts Sound Media and supported by The Kurious . Find all episodes and l...
Sep 17, 2024•28 min•Season 3Ep. 24
James and Stephen meet Christina King, Chief Commercial Officer at Tribosonics, in a Steel City Business first - she's the first guest who neither of us had met before the recording. Christina has had an amazing and unusual journey - from building tanks to breaking world records - which she shares with us. We also talk Tribosonics, the tech scene in Sheffield and the north, and female leaders in the sector. Steel City Business is brought to you by audio marketing experts Sound Media and supporte...
Sep 03, 2024•57 min•Season 3Ep. 23
We head to Victoria Quays in Sheffield to meet Andy Weir. There's a few threads here, as Ride Shotgun is the temporary home for the podcast with our usual studio out of action. And it also just so happens to be the new workplace of our co-host Stephen Kenwright, back in the world of work after 18 months mainly watching Disney, by the sounds of it. But aside from those factors, there is a great story here of an agency which started life with a laptop and mobile phone in Andy's spare room, and now...
Aug 06, 2024•1 hr 2 min•Season 3Ep. 22
Tom wears a couple of hats here, as we find out about the forthcoming Leah's Yard development on Cambridge Street, alongside his role as CEO at the Tech Parks. It's super exciting hearing all about Leah's Yard ahead of its opening on 24 August - something unique, contemporary, and with that Sheffield 'secret sauce'. Much of the conversation is spent discussing the future for Sheffield City Centre as we stand at an exciting crossroads with tons of development going on and starting to fruition. St...
Jul 30, 2024•41 min•Season 3Ep. 21
Nick Tyrone joins to discuss a new project from Jobs Foundation, including a report he led centred around Sheffield. There's some really interesting key findings - lots of positivity, along with a few challenges. Find the report here: https://thejobsfoundation.com/sheffield-forging-steel-and-embracing-tech/ Steel City Business is brought to you by audio marketing experts Sound Media and supported by The Kurious . Find all episodes and loads more about us at steelcity.business and get in touch by...
Jul 23, 2024•31 min•Season 3Ep. 20
Emily is a freelance graphic designer and art director and pet parent to 'chaotic spaniel' Maggie who becomes the first (hopefully of many) Steel City Business dog. She chats to us about her journey into freelancing and her many and varied extra curricular activities including Sheffield Creative Mornings and Sheff Girls Lift. She does a lot of stuff! Steel City Business is brought to you by audio marketing experts Sound Media and supported by The Kurious , where this episode was recorded. Find a...
Jul 16, 2024•48 min•Season 3Ep. 19
It's a pleasure to welcome our first returning guest to Steel City Business as James Biggin joins James and Stephen - nearly five years after his original appearance on the show. Fair to say plenty has happened in that time, not least a ruddy big pandemic! But James' business has changed lots - but what hasn't changed much recently is his team. It's this which prompts a long conversation about culture and staff retention. At the time of recording, it was just a few days after James returned from...
Jul 09, 2024•1 hr•Season 3Ep. 18
25 years in business is a rather amazing achievement and that's exactly what Vivid Creative are celebrating this year. Gerry tells us about the company's journey and the huge changes in the marketing world since 1999. And to mark the anniversary, they're giving away time - have a listen to find out more. Steel City Business is brought to you by audio marketing experts Sound Media and supported by The Kurious , where this episode was recorded. Find all episodes and loads more about us at steelcit...
Jun 11, 2024•37 min•Season 3Ep. 17
James Marriott and Stephen Kenwright are joined by Jonty Ward, fresh from an American adventure exploring new business opportunities for Reach Technology Group. This leads us to a discussion generally about doing work stateside, growing pains, hiring and firing, and some unpopular opinions on marketing and technology (and lots more, of course). Steel City Business is brought to you by audio marketing experts Sound Media and supported by The Kurious , where this episode was recorded and filmed. F...
Jun 04, 2024•54 min•Season 3Ep. 16
Nelly's an amazing and unique photographer who has developed a specialism in capturing weddings, and especially queer weddings. As it's ten years since the law allowing them was introduced, and also Nelly's ten year business anniversary, it seemed the perfect time to get together for a chat. Nelly took James' wonderfully colourful headshots a few years back and they've become mates since so expect a very friendly conversation with no subject off the table. Steel City Business is brought to you b...
May 28, 2024•48 min•Season 3Ep. 15
Aira are leading a clean energy revolution right here in Sheffield. They're a Swedish company making heat pumps. Don't worry if you don't fully know what a heat pump is or how it works, all is explained by Matt. Steel City Business is brought to you by audio marketing experts Sound Media and supported by The Kurious . Find all episodes and loads more about us at steelcity.business and get in touch by email to james@steelcity.business...
May 21, 2024•38 min•Season 3Ep. 14
When the show relaunched, one of the stories we were keen to tell early on was that of Gravitate. Accountants, but doing things differently, and making a real impact along the way. Hosts James Marriott and Stephen Kenwright met up with founders Sam Newton and Mike Crocker to get the full lowdown on the business. Steel City Business is brought to you by audio marketing experts Sound Media and supported by The Kurious , where this episode was recorded and filmed. Find all episodes and loads more a...
May 07, 2024•54 min•Season 3Ep. 13
We meet Joada Allen, director of video production business Visualised It. But this isn't really a chat about video production or marketing. Joada tells James about her background and unlikely journey into becoming a business owner, and why helping young people is so important to her. Joada was a remarkable and inspiring guest - we hope you enjoy listening as much as we did recording. Steel City Business is brought to you by audio marketing experts Sound Media and supported by The Kurious . Find ...
Apr 30, 2024•43 min•Season 3Ep. 12
Simoda have had an incredible few years, winning awards left right and centre and making a real name for themselves. But, why? What are they doing differently? Well James went along to their HQ in Neepsend to meet founder Daniel Bumby and learn more about Simoda's secrets. It's not all tech talk - we also discuss space and the final frontier, why Daniel hates butter, a bit of music and football, and our mutual friend Dave. It's a really good 'un. Enjoy! Steel City Business is brought to you by a...
Apr 23, 2024•42 min•Season 3Ep. 11
We have some amazing print and promotional businesses in Sheffield and the surrounding area. Instantprint have recently announced a £5m investment in their sprawling factory at Manvers, so James went along to meet Laura Mucklow, head of Instantprint. We talk about some amazingly nerdy printing machines, female leaders in the print industry, future expansion plans and - of course - business cards. Steel City Business is brought to you by audio marketing experts Sound Media and supported by The Ku...
Apr 09, 2024•25 min•Season 3Ep. 10
James Marriott and Stephen Kenwright chat to Katy Powell, one of the founders of Bottled Imagination. Katy previously worked with Stephen at Rise at Seven, as one of the first employees of the agency, before her and two colleagues broke off to start their own. It's a really interesting story, with Katy not particularly having a long-standing aim to run an agency. We talk about the health of digital PR and the campaigns Bottled Imagination are working on, legal hurdles, how the trio make decision...
Apr 02, 2024•51 min•Season 3Ep. 9
Evoluted is a digital agency in Sheffield, and a smashing one at that. Giorgio Cassella and Sam Biggins are joint Managing Directors and join James to talk about their respective journeys and their work to turn it into a true people-first business. Plus they now have their own podcast which is ruddy marvellous (full transparency: James helped them set it up). You can check it out by searching for People Over Pixels in this very podcast app. And find out more about Evoluted at https://www.evolute...
Mar 21, 2024•38 min•Season 3Ep. 8
We love a good origins story on Steel City Business - and the moment Mike Kent met his future business partner is one of the best. No spoilers, but it's definitely worth a listen. James spent an afternoon at Kitlocker's huge operation near Attercliffe to find out more about the work they do for an impressive array of clients, ranging from seriously huge like the Premier League all the way down to grassroots teams and even individuals. Mike shares the full story of how they got here, worts and al...
Mar 14, 2024•30 min•Season 3Ep. 7
This month's Uncut episode features the awesome Amy Kilner. She joins hosts James Marriott and Stephen Kenwright at The Kurious studios to reflect on her background working at several agencies, including Rise at Seven, before starting her own design brand, Skyhi Creative. We talk about loads of stuff, including: Working with actual proper music stars including Fatboy Slim NFTs / digital collectables / monkey jpgs Building an agency vs being a freelancer Mental health Check out Amy's work here &g...
Mar 07, 2024•56 min•Season 3Ep. 6
We delve into the manufacturing industry for the first time in this week's Steel City Business. Adam Bradley is a familiar face on the networking scene around South Yorkshire and has quietly been leading an amazing period of growth and success at Corrosion Resistant Materials. James went along to find out more about Adam, the business, and the changing face of the wider industry. Steel City Business is brought to you by audio marketing experts Sound Media and supported by The Kurious . Find all ...
Feb 29, 2024•26 min•Season 3Ep. 5
