The GAIN Industry Leaders Podcast

Our latest Industry Leaders episode features Dani Palmer, Chief Marketing Officer at Loqbox, a mission-led business focused on financial health. They help enhance people’s financial profile, knowledge and security. This enables them to build healthy, lifelong financial habits, and improve their relationship with money. Dani brings us into her way of thinking, and the enormous challenges in society...

Our latest Industry Leaders episode features Tom Barber, Cofounder of Original Travel. From the early days behind the launch of this unique travel business to adapting to industry shifts and embracing innovation, Tom shares the strategies that propelled Original Travel to the forefront of bespoke travel experiences. There are some wonderful destination ideas in there too!

Our latest Industry Leaders episode is a fascinating chat with Jane McFadzean, Director of Global Sustainability and ESG for Trip.com Group. It's inspiring to hear how Jane and the Trip.com team are raising the bar for sustainable travel across the industry

Join us for this inspiring and personal story of building the wonderful luxury accessories brand Elizabeth Scarlett from scratch with founder Elizabeth, and CEO Alex Petrides.

We are delighted to have the brilliant Alex Lodeweyckx sharing the remarkable growth journey of Loop Earplugs. Loop Earplugs have become a worldwide phenomenon, growing mainly through social media and digital performance. The brand has become a case study in how to scale a brand globally through social channels and Alex has been at the heart of it.  This is essential listening for any growth marke...

Lauretta and Antony each have more than 25 years of experience in the field having held senior roles in major market-leading businesses such as WGSN, Birchbox, Retail Week, Drapers and Management Today. Both are lifelong fashion and beauty obsessives and are driven by a shared goal of creating a forward-looking platform that supports and unites the industry as it navigates the seas of change. Let&...

This week we're talking to Kate, Founder and Managing Partner and Jonathan, Operating Partner at Forme Partners, an Executive Search & Growth Advisory firm serving Europe’s equity backed, technology enabled businesses. Kate and Jonathan give us an expert perspective on leadership talent - how fast growth companies can define the capabilities they need and find, or develop, the right people...

On the podcast with us this week is Giles Mountford, Drinks Marketing Manager at Hall & Woodhouse! Hall & Woodhouse is an independent regional brewer with a beautiful collection of pubs. In this episode, Giles talks about launching their first new product in over 240 years, modernising a heritage brand, and how they work to find that special little spark that makes people buy their drinks...

We were delighted to have Duncan Rutherford, Head of Ecommerce at EE come onto our Industry Leaders podcast! EE is one of the largest mobile network providers and they are on a mission to be the most personal and customer-focused brand in the UK and in this episode, Duncan shares how they are doing it. Duncan shares the behind-the-scenes of rebranding BT Shop to EE, how they are innovating retail...

We're so excited to have Lucy Greenwood, Co-Founder of Lucy & Yak join us on our podcast this week! Lucy spoke about how Lucy & Yak started on a beach in New Zealand to fund their travels and how it's now grown to 7 stores across the UK (with plans to open more) and a cult fanbase with the likes of Greta Gerwig and Ed Sheeran fans of the brand. We hope you enjoy this episode ! Conn...

We are delighted to have Neil Campbell, Chief Growth Officer at Smol on our podcast this week! Neil takes us behind the scenes of Smol who are on a mission to clean up the planet with plastic-free cleaning alternatives. We find out how they're disrupting the industry from creating innovative products that work to how they stand out against household names, plus lots more. We hope you enjoy thi...

Welcome back to The Industry Leaders podcast! We're so excited to kick 2024 off with this interview with Chris Goward, President & Strategic Advisor at Conversion, the world's leading experimentation agency. In this conversation, Chris shares why brands need to do more experimentation, common mistakes brands make on their websites (including iconic global brands), how to get more conve...

For our latest episode, we spoke to Founder of Kettlewell Colours, Melissa Nicholson! In this episode, we discover the power of colour as Melissa shares how Kettlewell helps women feel good by finding the colours that suit them best. They have clothes in over 300 colours available, all year round. Melissa shares the journey from starting the business to today, opening up their Colour Studio store,...

For our latest episode, we spoke to Co-Founder of Unplugged, Hector Hughes. Since launching their digital detox cabins in 2020, they've expanded to 20 cabins across the UK, 11 employees and sold out months. We discuss why Hector and his Co-Founder Ben started Unplugged, their interesting growth story - from funding to growing their team, and Hector's advice for people looking to start thei...

Our latest guest on the Industry Leaders Podcast is Mike Barry. He spearheaded Marks & Spencer's Plan A initiative and was their Sustainability Director for 20 years. He now consults businesses, big and small, on sustainability. He is a Senior Associate at the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership, a Trustee at Blueprint for Better Business, and co-chaired the Consumer Goods Fo...

From pre-pack administration deal in 2019 to a record-breaking financial year, Nathan Williams explains how he and his team turned Mamas and Papas around. It really is an inspiring and must-listen for anyone working in a direct brand. We hope you enjoy listening! Follow more2 on LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/company/more2/

For the latest episode of Industry Leaders, we are joined by Molly Freshwater and Harriet Mears. Sisters and Founders of Secret Linen Store. We get to hear more about how Secret Linen Store started in just 6 months, and the different ways they stand out as an online business. They also share more on their sustainability initiatives from how they're using every scrap of material, natural dye, a...

Justin Stead was the Former CEO of Radley London and Founder of Aurelius Foundation.  ​ ​This episode is quite different to our usual as we dive into stoicism and particularly, how Justin uses the philosophy in business and his personal life. He shares more about the 4 principles of stoicism and how this all works to create a happy and fulfilled life. We also find out more about sustainability at...

Claire Watkin was 29 years old when she took over as Managing Director of Trendsetter and The Fine Bedding Company, a fourth-generation family business.​ In this episode, we discuss how Claire became to be the MD, the dynamics of a family business, Claire's collaborative leadership style, and brand expansion. ​ Plus, we cover sustainability and how (and why) they became B-Corp certified, the...

Our latest guest on our Industry Leaders Podcast is CEO of Pennies, Alison Hutchinson.  This is a fantastic episode that makes for an inspiring listen, especially in current times. Alison shares the story behind Pennies, how it started, and how they got their first brands on board, including Dominoes. We talk about the huge impact of donating pennies to charities, the difference micro-donatio...

This week we sat down with Adam Brown, Founder of Orlebar Brown. Known for their original tailored swim shorts and loved by everybody from 007 to Michael Fassbender.  In this episode we cover Adam's early career figuring out what he was good at, how the idea for Orlebar Brown came about, and being acquired by Chanel. Adam also shares more about the brand ethos, how his target customer doesn’t...

As COO of FatFace, Mark has been responsible for modernising their retail approach and starting out their transformation journey. In this episode he discusses this in more detail, from how he drives change within a brand with such history and employee tenure, why ideas shouldn't always come from head office, and the critical role stores play.  Plus, we cover important leadership traits, how F...

This week on the podcast we spoke to Don Williams, Partner, Retail Sector at KPMG. Don is an expert in retail with a particular focus on supply chain, international expansion, online and digital transformation, and harnessing data to build businesses for the future. This episode gives DTC businesses lots of valuable insights and actionable tips as we discuss the data and context behind the headlin...

We were excited to speak with Georgia Metcalfe, Founder of French Bedroom, for our latest episode. We discussed how Georgia started French Bedroom, the reality of being a retailer for the past two years, including a shipment that was stuck on the now infamous Ever Given ship, creating customer experiences, and so much more. We hope you enjoy this episode!

This week on our podcast we speak to Nayna McIntosh, Founder & CEO of Hope Fashion. We talk about knowing when to move on, the inspiration behind Hope Fashion, the reality of raising investment, the importance of mentors, and lots more.  We hope you enjoy this episode!