Business Daily

Alastair Leithead and his wife Ana moved to Portugal during the Covid pandemic. They live off-grid, meaning they have no access to mains electricity or water supplies. They also have to manage their own waste water and sewage. Now the former BBC correspondent is embarking on an ambitious project to build and run a hotel, meaning their solar powered utilities will not only have to work for them, bu...

In the first of a two part series, we're in the Alentejo region where people are buying land and empty properties in an area without power or water supply. Former BBC correspondent Alastair Leithead is one of them - he has moved there with his wife, and is trying to build and run a hotel. He travels around the region and speaks to his neighbours about their experiences. Plus - what do local people...

Pakistan's first female architect came out of retirement to help rebuild her country after the 2005 earthquake. Now she's helping communities devastated by the 2022 floods. Dr Lari talks about her experience starting out in a male-dominated field, the changing focus of her career, and her mission to build a million flood-resilient homes in Pakistan by 2024. Produced and presented by Emb Hashmi. (I...

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan heard Turkish voters back in May when they said they wanted change in the economy. So, he appointed a new finance minister and central bank governor to lead the charge. Despite the president’s strong opposition to using higher interest rates to cool rising prices, he’s allowed rates to rise in each of the last six months. While that’s helped bring about an economic t...

Despite the name, Bolivia is actually the world's biggest exporter of Brazil nuts. We travel to the hot and humid north of the country to look at the production process which can be extremely dangerous. Plus we hear how the business of Brazil nuts is helping stop deforestation in the Amazon. Presenter: Jane Chambers Producers: Jane Chambers and Helen Thomas (Image: A worker unloading Brazil nuts f...

When private companies around the world want to raise cash, they can do so by starting a process to list on a stock exchange. This is known as an IPO, or initial public offering. Analysts watch such public listings to gauge the health of an economy. In 2021, IPOs were booming, but in 2023 there's been a big drop in activity - with a record low number of companies choosing to offer their shares pub...

Shoplifting has long been a concern for small and large retailers worldwide, but many believe the issue has recently increased - including incidents of retail violence. Sam Gruet speaks to some of these retailers in New Zealand, India, Pakistan and the UK, to explore the possible reasons behind the rise in retail crime and what measures they’re introducing to respond to the escalating issue. These...

Niccolo Ricci is the CEO of Stefano Ricci, a luxury clothing brand whose suits are worn by the rich and powerful. The firm was established more than 50 years ago by his parents, and now, Niccolo, and his brother Filippo, run the family business; supplying high-end luxury attire to clients all around the world. It's a brand that counts heads of state and business magnates among its patrons. In an e...

The COP 28 climate talks in Dubai have closed with a deal to "transition away" from fossil fuels. So what does this mean for the future of oil, gas and coal companies? Sam Fenwick talks to two companies who sent representatives to COP 28; the Norwegian energy giant Equinor and the Middle East's oldest private energy company, Cresent Petroleum. Do they plan to ever abandon fossil fuels entirely? An...

One month before pivotal elections in Taiwan, Ed Butler meets ordinary citizens getting ready just in case growing threats of a Chinese invasion do come to pass. First-aid and weapons training are top of the list. But why isn’t the government doing more to get people ready? Presented and produced by Ed Butler (Image: A first aid training exercise)

The military threat from China, which claims Taiwan as its own, has dominated global headlines of late. But ahead of elections, most voters here say it’s low wages and property prices that are preying on their minds. Are politicians listening? We also explore Taiwan's low birth rate - is it a financial decision for young couples not to have children and get a pet instead? Produced and presented by...

Sitting just a few kilometres away from mainland China, the tiny Kinmen islands are in an unusual situation. Beijing says they and Taiwan are a part of China, they're a breakaway province, and it wants them back, by force if necessary. As tensions rise, Ed Butler visits Kinmen to discover how this most exposed population feels about Beijing's claim - and hear about plans to build a bridge to conne...

Joyce and Raissa de Hass used to make tonic waters and mixers for their friends. That passion became a university project, which then turned into a successful start-up. In the early days, the twin co-founders from the Netherlands were releasing batches of products they weren't really keen on, but now they think they've found a winning formula for premium mixers. They've won awards for their drinks...

When Star Wars launched, it helped usher in the era of the blockbuster. In the wake of the film, came the figures. Forty years on from their launch, the original toys have now become highly sought after - some fetching a few hundred thousand dollars. We head to the largest toy fair in Europe dedicated to buying and selling Star Wars figures. We look at how much the toys are now worth and speak to...

In this episode of Business Daily, the latest in our series on women, sport and business, it's all about the merch. We'll explore how important replica tops and kits actually are for women’s sport in terms of fandom, participation and of course money. We ask what female sports fans and participants actually want to wear and whether they're being adequately catered for. Dr Katie Lebel is Professor...

Could Africa reduce its dependency on imported rice with the help of South Korea? The continent's appetite for rice is growing fast at over 6% per year. And even though rice is grown in about 40 out of 54 countries in Africa, the production only covers about 60% of the demand. This results in 14 to 15 million tonnes of rice being imported each year costing over $6bn. To remedy this, a new rice var...

After the catastrophic financial crisis, early signs of stability are returning to Sri Lanka. But there’s arguably a more entrenched economic dilemma in the country that had the world’s first female prime minister - the lack of women in work. With first-hand testimony of harassment and social exclusion, this programme examines the barriers holding women back. Presenter Laura Heighton-Ginns also vi...

More than a quarter of all clothes made are never actually sold - where do they go? We look into new legislation being finalised by the EU, to try and make fashion more sustainable. There will be a ban on the incineration of unsold goods and each product will need a digital passport so it can be tracked and its lifetime monitored. Hannah Mullane speaks to businesses across Europe about whether the...

Konrad Bergstrom comes from a family of seafarers. And as a business leader, he wants to make navigating the seas environmentally friendly. His business, X Shore, has been dubbed "the Tesla of the seas". Konrad is now considered one of Sweden's leading entrepreneurs, having also founded Zound industries - the tech company that produces electronics for Marshall Amplification and Adidas. But it's no...

Greenhouse gas levels have never been higher. If we're to limit global warming, businesses have a crucial role to play because they operate in sectors that need to radically change, like energy, transport and finance. Thousands of company bosses are touching down in Dubai for this year's COP28 climate change talks. But environmentalists claim many businesses are not acting fast enough. They're inc...

It’s the world’s largest user of coal fired energy, and the biggest polluter. However, China is also the world’s biggest producer of green energy. How can it reconcile the two and keep its next zero promises? Presenter: Rahul Tandon Producer: Lexy O'Connor (Image: Thermal power and solar power in Shanghai. Two power generation methods in one photo. Credit: Getty Images)

It’s the week of the Climate Change Conference or COP28, and as leaders from around the world meet in the UAE to talk about how to tackle global warming, we take a look at one urgent issue: air pollution. According to World Health Organisation data, nearly seven million lives are lost prematurely each year due to harmful air. In this edition. Devina Gupta explores the air problem affecting major c...

Spain is trying to position itself as the centre of renewable energy production in Europe, particularly in green hydrogen. The country already boasts one of the first centres worldwide where green hydrogen is produced. But while it rushes headlong with several projects in the pipeline, we examine the economic viability and the impact of producing green hydrogen. (Image: A green hydrogen manufactur...

We find out why he's a controversial appointment for the COP28 presidency. Sultan Al Jaber’s appointment has been widely questioned because he’s also the boss of Abu Dhabi’s state oil company Adnoc. But supporters point to his work as founder of the green energy giant Masdar. Is he compromised or uniquely qualified? We speak to people who’ve interviewed him, worked with him, and can give us the in...

They are the cables that run along the sea bed to move power where it’s needed for a cheaper price. Business Daily’s Rick Kelsey goes to the site of The Viking Link - the longest one ever built - just before it goes live between the UK and Demark. We’ll be hearing what these cables may do for our electricity costs and how safe they are from sabotage. Rebecca Sedler Managing Director for NG Interco...