A victim of the “resource curse”, Liberia is one of the poorest countries in the world, in spite of being rich in natural resources. Rubber is one of the country’s biggest exports but few Liberians have benefitted from this multimillion dollar business. In this Global Business, Josephine Casserly meets a retired Californian policeman, James Cooper, who has returned to his grandfather’s farm, determined to revolutionise Liberia’s rubber industry. But in a country with a struggling economy and end...
Oct 12, 2019•27 min•Transcript available on Metacast Why have politicians gone from cosying up to businesses, to turning a deaf ear to their concerns? Jeremy Schwartz – a CEO himself – finds that the love affair was starting to become toxic long before Brexit, and asks whether it’s really such a bad thing if governments no longer care what business leaders think. Contributors include: Andrea Leadsom – Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Frances O’Grady – General Secretary, TUC Iain Anderson - Executive Chairman, Cicero ...
Sep 29, 2019•28 min•Transcript available on Metacast Flying, for many of us, is now routine. For a few of us it is a weekly, maybe even daily, event. At the same time global protests, concerned with the pressing danger of climate change and the need to reduce CO2 emissions, are gaining attention and causing alarm. So, will we ever get to a point where we can indulge our flying habit and our keep our conscience clear? Katie Prescott talks to the flight refuseniks and assesses the impact they are having. Is the long term solution to change minds or ...
Sep 19, 2019•28 min•Transcript available on Metacast Online retail spending has increased more than four fold in the last ten years - it now accounts for almost one in five pounds we spend shopping. But whilst times are tough for our high streets, e-retailing is far from a licence to print money. With widespread discounting and a growing cost of delivery and returns, margins are being squeezed and many are finding it a struggle to survive. In this programme, Adam Shaw investigates how the economics of e-commerce work, what the move to predominantl...
Sep 08, 2019•29 min•Transcript available on Metacast India has emerged as one of the world’s fastest-growing fashion markets and is expected to touch $60 billion by 2022, which will make it the sixth largest in the world. This is due to its rapidly growing middle class and tech savvy consumers, who are buying online, as well as from a plethora of shopping malls which have mushroomed in the country’s bigger cities. International brands are trying to step in and take a share of this demand – some 300 of them are planning to open stores in India with...
Sep 07, 2019•27 min•Transcript available on Metacast Twenty million Brits give their time for free each year. From the National Trust to the hospice coffee morning, the Samaritans to the local football club, huge parts of our world rely on volunteers. But how easy is it to manage a workforce who can walk out at a moment's notice? How can you ensure people perform well - or even turn up - without the "carrot and stick" of pay and disciplinary procedures? Presenter Claire Bolderson knows both sides of this: she volunteers at a food bank, but also ch...
Aug 29, 2019•28 min•Transcript available on Metacast Strawberries at Christmas? No problem! And as cheap as ever? Yes, of course! Many of us have become used to buying whatever fruit and vegetables we want, whenever we want, no matter the season. Strawberries, raspberries, blackberries and blueberries are available in supermarkets all year round. Until recently that was not the case. So what does it take for this to happen and what’s the cost? John Murphy peels back the layers of the berry industry, which has grown massively in recent years. Despi...
Jul 06, 2019•28 min•Transcript available on Metacast Chinese technology company, Huawei, is the world’s biggest supplier of network telecoms equipment, and with a research budget of up to $20 billion, its ambition is to be even bigger still. However, it’s also one of the most controversial businesses of our time. The United States and others have banned its involvement in their critical infrastructure, fearing that Beijing might use the company to spy, steal trade secrets, or even wage cyber warfare. Huawei insists that its networks are as secure ...
Jun 29, 2019•27 min•Transcript available on Metacast Climate-change scientists have warned that the clock is ticking, environmental campaigners are blocking the streets, but until now the world of business has kept itself out of the fray. That is changing. From multi-billion dollar investors, to leaders of international companies, to banking bosses, the call is going out for business to take more responsibility for the way the world runs, and the way businesses run themselves. And it’s not just their environmental impact that’s coming under scruti...
Jun 22, 2019•28 min•Transcript available on Metacast One thing Germany does well, you might assume, is infrastructure and transport. Think again. For Global Business on the BBC World Service, Chris Bowlby’s had a rare behind the scenes tour of Berlin’s new airport. It’s billions over budget, already seven years late in opening, and is still being rebuilt before a single plane’s landed. So what’s gone so wrong in a place supposed to be the capital of efficient engineering? And is the Berlin airport fiasco a warning for infrastructure builders every...
Jun 15, 2019•26 min•Transcript available on Metacast The last eighteen months have seen a global public backlash against plastic. Everyone talks about the huge impact that Sir David Attenborough and the BBC's Blue Planet series has had in raising public awareness about the damage that 8 million tonnes of plastic which enter the ocean every year is having on sea life. It was one of the triggers for consumers, governments and companies to decide that action needed to be taken. But what does it mean for businesses which depend on plastic as a core ra...
May 23, 2019•28 min•Transcript available on Metacast Guyana, a country of just 750,000 people wedged between Venezuela and Suriname on the north-east coast of South America, has never had an oil industry. But a series of recent discoveries in its waters has revealed billions of barrels of oil beneath the ocean, potentially one of the world’s biggest reserves. Next year, the oil is due to start flowing and the impact on business is already being felt. A shoreside oil service industry has popped up; workers who previously struggled to get by are fin...
May 18, 2019•29 min•Transcript available on Metacast The face-to-face interview can be life-changing. But it comes with risks attached, of bias on the part of the interviewer, or nerves on the part of the candidate. Lesley Curwen looks at the fast-changing process of getting hired in companies, big and small. Large companies are increasingly using recruitment tools including artificial intelligence to weed out the weakest candidates, in order to find the right candidate for the right job. But there is resistance in some quarters from some small em...
May 02, 2019•28 min•Transcript available on Metacast Can the United Arab Emirates grow its own food? The Desert kingdoms today import 90% of their own food, at great cost. And each year consumption increases by 12%. This raises issues of food security, price and environmental damage – flying in fruit from California is not environmentally sustainable. This is a region with little soil and few water resources. On average it rains just five days a year. So why is agriculture now considered one of the most exciting growth areas in the UAE? Farmers he...
Apr 25, 2019•28 min•Transcript available on Metacast The relationship between landlord and tenant is an important, often unseen, dynamic that most of us don’t give much thought to. And yet, it's reshaping high streets up and down the country. High rents are blamed for the collapse of so many retailers - they appear unsustainable yet they are the vehicle through which much of our pension wealth is invested. In this programme, Ruth Alexander looks at different models of ownership: from the big financial institutional investors through to the origina...
Apr 18, 2019•28 min•Transcript available on Metacast Its top stars can earn millions of dollars a year, without breaking into a sweat. They train for hours a day and have legions of fans, who fill stadiums to watch them. But these aren't normal sports stars. They're part of one of the fastest growing industries - known as Esports. And, as John Murphy discovers, the distinction between real physical sport and this online, virtual version is narrowing, as major companies and some of the world's most famous football clubs are signing up the top Espor...
Apr 11, 2019•28 min•Transcript available on Metacast Much has been made of the death of the high street, but some places are staging a comeback. The government has announced this Spring a £1.6bn Stronger Towns Fund to help less well-off areas. Six hundred million pounds of that will be shared out to towns which can come up with credible plans to help their high street adapt to the rapidly changing retail environment. So what does it take to turn a town around? In this programme, Ruth Alexander visits two towns in Cheshire - Northwich and Altrincha...
Apr 04, 2019•28 min•Transcript available on Metacast As the global economy slows and the search for new areas of growth becomes more intense, many countries are looking beyond their coastline to the vast, untapped potential of the sea. The “Ocean Economy” is now attracting attention from governments, businesses and investors, not only in traditional industries like fishing and shipbuilding but also in new areas like biotech and robotics. Integration is the watchword and one country, Portugal, is now taking this seriously enough that its government...
Mar 09, 2019•26 min•Transcript available on Metacast There’s more money spent on innovation today than ever before. Yet the process by which we come up with ideas is still poorly understood. If only we had a better grasp of how great ideas are generated, we would have the key to unlock huge new waves of innovation and productivity. Adam Shaw looks at the growing study of innovation to uncover its secrets and looks at what companies and individuals are doing to make them more innovative than ever before. Presenter: Adam Shaw Producer: Smita Patel E...
Mar 02, 2019•26 min•Transcript available on Metacast Five years after Uruguay became the first country to allow the sale of recreational marijuana, what does a legal cannabis industry look like? When the small South American nation of Uruguay made it legal to grow and buy marijuana for fun, an entire industry had to start from scratch. For producers, regulators, investors, and consumers, it was a blank canvas. Now, as Canada and more and more US states follow in Uruguay’s pioneering footsteps, what can others learn from Uruguay’s approach? And as ...
Feb 23, 2019•28 min•Transcript available on Metacast Caroline Bayley reports from Hamburg in Germany on how companies there are preparing for Britain's exit from the European Union. The UK is one of the port city's most important trading partners and one thousand firms in the area have business links with Great Britain. So it's not surprising that there's a flurry of activity in Hamburg in the final weeks before the UK's departure. But how do you plan for Brexit and a new trading scenario which has not yet been finalised? We speak to those who are...
Feb 16, 2019•27 min•Transcript available on Metacast Hungarian politicians have been the focus of protest since they passed what many have called a “slave law” last December. This legislation allows companies to ask their workers to do more overtime – and to delay payment for up to three years. But the government says the law gives businesses flexibility and employees the freedom to work more and earn more. Many think that this legislation is intended to deal with Hungary’s chronic labour shortage. With an aging population, hard-line immigration p...
Feb 09, 2019•27 min•Transcript available on Metacast The Chinese have long been involved – sometimes controversially - in Africa. But there’s another Asian economic powerhouse that is doing business there. Using South Africa as a springboard, South Koreans are seizing control of some of the key markets on the continent. There are four thousand Koreans living in Johannesburg, creating new businesses and developing established companies. Karen Allen talks to them about some of the challenges they face. Visiting the global electronics giant LG and th...
Jan 26, 2019•27 min•Transcript available on Metacast Since Bletchley Park and the enigma machine, Britain has been at the forefront of what would become cyber security. In GCHQ we have a world leader in threat detection and yet our industry lags far behind both the US and Israel. Jonty Bloom looks at what we could do to make this Brexit proof industry bigger and finds out why Belfast is at the forefront of the UK’s research and development to keep us safe online. He looks at Unit 8200 the Israeli Army’s elite cyber security unit which has spun off...
Jan 17, 2019•28 min•Transcript available on Metacast Potholes are a national obsession. But there's much more to them than you might think. Ruth Alexander digs deep into their costs for business and society - where fixing two holes in a motorway can cost half a million pounds. But she also finds all kinds of entrepreneurial imagination going into solving the problem. Everything from new data analysis to 3D printing drones may be the answer. Beneath it all lies a fundamental question. Can we learn to value roads, and maintain them as a vital nation...
Jan 10, 2019•28 min•Transcript available on Metacast Does the house building industry need to change? Manuela Saragosa meets the disruptors, the companies trying to transform how the vast majority of residential property is built. Across the country new factories are springing up - in a bid to manufacture our homes in much the same way as we do our cars. The risks are huge. Significant investment is required to get things moving and demand for these new homes has yet to be tested. But the disruptors claim that the house building industry must mode...
Jan 03, 2019•28 min•Transcript available on Metacast It’s been a challenging year on Britain’s railways with timetable chaos, over-running engineering works, cancelled trains and irate passengers, not to mention a private operator handing back control to the government. The transport secretary, Chris Grayling has announced yet another review of the industry. Meanwhile, Labour and many of the public want to see rail re-nationalised. Rail professionals point to the industry’s successes – a doubling in passenger numbers since privatisation, and a cur...
Dec 27, 2018•28 min•Transcript available on Metacast From innovative mattresses to personal sleep consultants, business is moving in on our nights under the covers. The sector is booming, thanks to a new understanding of the importance of sleep, with annual sales in the billions of pounds. And it’s not only our homes that businesses are targeting. In the workplace, managers are becoming more aware of the sleep needs of their teams and some are even installing pods to allow their employees to have a nap on the job. David Baker looks at the products...
Dec 20, 2018•28 min•Transcript available on Metacast Will life sciences lead Britain towards a new economic future? Brexit's causing uncertainty. But as Ruth Alexander discovers, there's a dynamic 'golden triangle' now linking medical and other cutting edge research at Oxford and Cambridge universities with London's political and financial power. The government's putting this at the centre of its vision for a transformed economy. So what's behind all this, and can this sector live up to the ambition? Producer: Chris Bowlby Editor: Penny Murphy...
Dec 13, 2018•28 min•Transcript available on Metacast Caroline Bayley delves into the booming industry of private tutoring.
Dec 06, 2018•28 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
