Business Leader

You haven't heard from anyone like Professor Sir Peter Donnelly before. He is a statistician, professor, a knight of the realm and an entrepreneur. Not only has he given a Ted Talk about statistics that has been viewed more than 1.5 million times, but he is now working on genetics tests that could save lives and change the world by helping people understand how predisposed they are to becomin...

Graham Ruddick meets Kiki McDonough to tell the story of how she built a luxury jewellery brand which has been worn by the Princess of Wales, the Queen and Princess Diana. But despite gaining worldwide recognition, Kiki McDonough has decided to only have one shop in London. Find out why in the latest episode of the Business Leader Podcast Business Leader is a membership community for ambitious CEO...

In a new limited series for the Business Leader Podcast, Victoria Price meets entrepreneurs from around the UK to hear the personal stories behind their success. Victoria Price is head of private capital at Alvarez & Marsal, the consultancy firm, and has spent over 20 years in professional services in a collection of senior roles.  In this first episode, she speaks to Tom Ryder, the found...

What do President Trump's tariffs mean for politics, the global economy, businesses and consumers? And what is going on in the corridors of power in the UK? The Business Leader team – Graham Ruddick, Sarah Vizard, Dougal Shaw and Josh Dornbrack – are joined by the political editor of The Times and Business Leader columnist Steven Swinford to cover what you need to know about the tariffs and the me...

Steve Jobs. Jeff Bezos. Taylor Swift? A new book makes a compelling case for why the world’s biggest pop star belongs in the pantheon of business masterminds. In this episode, Josh Dornbrack talks to Harvard Business Review senior editor Kevin Evers to explore the bold strategic decisions behind Taylor Swift’s rise, from redefining fan engagement to mastering reinvention in a disrupted industry. H...

Pip Murray founded Pip & Nut in 2013. Her original peanut butter recipe was based on a power snack she developed at home to help her prepare for long runs as a keen jogger. She wanted a natural recipe that avoided additives and palm oil. Her recipe proved such a hit with friends that she saw the potential to turn it into a business idea, believing there was a gap in the market. Peanut butter i...

Udemy is the San Francisco-based company changing how we learn new skills. Udemy offers online courses ranging from how to use Microsoft Excel to how to build high-performing teams. Now it plans to use new AI technology to provide personalised coaching and training. In the latest episode of the Business Leader Podcast, Graham Ruddick meets Udemy chief executive Hugo Sarrazin to talk about its plan...

What does Greggs look for in a shop location? What is the state of UK high streets? With more than 2,600 shops in the UK, Greggs is ideally placed to answer these questions. In a bonus episode that follows-up our main podcast interview with Roisin Currie, Graham Ruddick speaks to the Greggs chief executive about shops and high streets... Business Leader is a membership community for ambitious CEOs...

What is the secret behind the success of Greggs? How has this Newcastle-based bakery chain grown into a business with more than 2,500 shops and celebrity fans all over the world? Graham Ruddick travels to Greggs HQ in Newcastle to speak to chief executive Roisin Currie and find the answers... Business Leader is a membership community for ambitious CEOs and founders of mid-sized UK companies, desig...

Tired of cookie-cutter LinkedIn posts and empty personal branding advice? In this episode of the Business Leader Podcast, Josh Dornbrack sits down with Amelia Sordell, an online marketing expert and author of  The Personal Branding Playbook , to uncover the truth about building a personal brand that actually works. Forget chasing viral fame – Sordell reveals how authenticity, clear goals and...

Allica Bank has been Britain's fastest-growing company over the last few years according to a collection of different reports that track this. This growth has been driven by Richard Davies, the chief executive, who arrived at Allica in 2020 from Revolut to what was effectively a blank sheet of paper - the bank had a licence and funding, but its founder had departed and it made only £5m of loans. S...

The UK economy is stagnating, productivity is falling and fewer than one in 20 promising businesses goes on to become a large company. So how do we fix this? It is a question that politicians, economists, and investors are struggling to answer. But there are solutions. The Business Leader team - Graham Ruddick, Sarah Vizard, Dougal Shaw and Josh Dornbrack - get together to discuss the state of pla...

David Abrahamovitch founded the Grind coffee brand in 2011 in Shoreditch, east London. Its pink branding made the company stand out in our coffee-obsessed world and it has built a cult following. Grind now has more than 14 physical locations serving coffee and food, as well as a huge roastery where it prepares its coffee. It has also expanded into a direct-to-consumer offer (which sends its compos...

LinkedIn is the leading social network for businesses around the world. Now it wants a stake in real-life interactions too. Dougal Shaw has been given exclusive access to its new Experience Centre, which has just opened in central London, where he meets Janine Chamberlin, head of LinkedIn in the UK. The space is designed to foster collaboration and knowledge-sharing in the new world of hybrid work...

Timo Boldt is the founder and CEO of Gousto, the company that sends out recipes in a box for people to cook at home. The business started in 2012 and now has annual revenues of more than £300m. In this episode of the Business Leader podcast, Boldt offers Dougal Shaw a tour of the company’s kitchens in west London where chefs experiment with new recipes. Boldt explains how AI tech has been deeply e...

Nicola Hodson is the chairman of IBM in the UK and Ireland and one of the most senior women in tech. IBM has a long legacy in pioneering technology. It’s working closely right now with British businesses to implement artificial intelligence, while also working at the cutting edge of Quantum computing. In this episode of the Business Leader Podcast, Nicola Hodson and Dougal Shaw discuss what could...

The turnaround of Sainsbury's under Justin King is one of the most famous in UK corporate history. This episode of the Business Leader Podcast is the story of how it happened. When King arrived as chief executive of Sainsbury's in 2004 the supermarket chain was in crisis. It had gone from the biggest food retailer in the UK to the third biggest behind Tesco and Asda, and sales were still falling....

Ever feel like you're stuck in a loop, doing the same things but hoping for different results? In this episode of the Business Leader Podcast, Josh Dornbrack sits down with Duncan Wardle, former head of innovation and creativity at Disney, to explore how breaking the mould can transform a business. From his humble beginnings as a Disney coffee boy to orchestrating some of the company’s most iconic...

Serial entrepreneur Marcia Kilgore has scored several hits in beauty and wellness since the 1990s, including Bliss Spas (sold to LVMH), FitFlop sandals and the Soap & Glory bath range (sold to Boots). Since 2016 she’s been working on Beauty Pie, a membership club that lets people buy cosmetics online, bypassing traditional retailers. This is her most disruptive concept to date. Beauty Pie curr...

It's the biggest debate in the modern business world: working from home versus working in the office. But do you know all the sides to the argument and the latest developments? In this special episode of the Business Leader Podcast, Graham Ruddick, Sarah Vizard, Dougal Shaw and Josh Dornbrack get together to discuss the history of the debate, who is on both sides of the battle, and what the resear...

Melanie Smith is the chief executive of the NEC Group, the owner of the NEC in Birmingham, the largest event venue in the UK. Before that she ran Ocado's retail business with Marks & Spencer and started her career with McKinsey. Originally from New Zealand from a family with little business background, Smith has fought her way to the top of the business world. In this episode we cover the "ext...

Jordan Schwarzenberger is just 27 years old but one of the most sought-after creative thinkers in the business world. He dropped out of university to join Vice and LADbible, before setting up his own social media talent agency. He was then talent-spotted himself to join the large agency YMU. He was a C-suite executive at age 20.    Schwarzenberger went on to co-found Arcade Media and man...

You may not have heard of Zenobe, but it is working on technology that could change the world. Zenobe is a British unicorn - a company valued at $1 billion or more - that is developing technology that will benefit our children and our grandchildren's generations, according to co-founder James Basden. Donald Trump, the US president, may have caused uncertainty for fast-growing technology businesses...

Who is the leader behind the turnaround of Marks & Spencer? And what does he think are the challenges still ahead? In part two of our interview with Stuart Machin, the chief executive of Marks & Spencer, he discusses his leadership style and why he has concerns about the UK economy and government in 2025. Marks & Spencer is probably the best-known business in Britain. But when Stuart M...

Marks & Spencer is probably the best-known business in Britain. But when Stuart Machin joined in 2018 it had been struggling for years. Since then he has led an extraordinary turnaround of the high street retailer. This is the story of how he did it, in his own words. Stuart Machin, the chief executive of M&S, talks to the Business Leader Podcast about how M&S is changing its shops, pr...