Business Without BS

EP 404 - Can improv and humour make you a better leader - and even grow your bottom line? Neil Mullarkey (Comedy Store Players co-founder with Mike Myers, seen on Whose Line Is It Anyway and Austin Powers) shows how improv’s “Yes, And” mindset, listening with intent, and affiliative humour boost leadership, sales, creativity, and team culture. We unpack practical tools Neil teaches at London Busin...

EP 403 - AI is being sold as a miracle productivity tool​, but is it actually killing our ability to think? We revisit our conversation with AI expert, author​ and speaker​ David Birss who explores the hidden dangers of generative AI - from outsourcing imagination to the slow erosion of human originality. We explore the myth of AI productivity​, unpacking why most companies are implementing AI the...

EP 402 - Is the UK stock market dying or is it the biggest bargain in global investing? This week we welcome back investor and author Andrew Craig who argues that British equities are deeply undervalued and overlooked by international investors. From political uncertainty to structural challenges, Craig explains why the UK is seen as “on sale” - and why that could be a once-in-a-generation opportu...

EP 401 - Recent UK government changes to trust law could have major implications for wealth protection, estate planning, and business ownership. In Tax Without Bullshit pt. 2, Andy sits down with Oury Clark tax experts Jeremy Coker and Emma FlorentinLee to break down what the new rules mean, who they affect, and how to decide if a trust is still worth it. From common myths to practical strategies,...

EP 400 - Is confidence the real reason men succeed more in business - or are women holding themselves back? Entrepreneur and Dragons’ Den success story Rachel Watkyn OBE joins us to share her unfiltered take on gender, ego, and the hidden dynamics behind success. From male “peacocking” and the confidence gap to the barriers facing female founders, she challenges what we think we know about busines...

EP 399 - July's guests - Lucy Parker, Mark Field, Victoria Dunford, and Luis Gosalbez - discuss and debate the legitimacy our BOB quiz cards - drinking at lunch, corporate away days, in-office fitness classes, and universal basic income to equal paternity leave and corporate gifting all make the shortlist! Chapters: 00:00 Business or Bullshit QUIZ 00:55 Debate: Drinking at Lunch 04:49 Corporate Aw...

EP 398 - Spain looks like a dream for startups: sunny, affordable, and full of talent. But beneath the surface, founders face a slow, fragmented system that often blocks growth instead of enabling it. In this episode, lawyer, founder and managing partner of Metricson Luis Gosálbez explains why Spain’s business environment frustrates entrepreneurs, from endless bureaucracy to region-by-region polit...

EP 397 - In Moldova, thousands of disabled children and adults remain unseen - hidden away by a system that offers them little support. In this episode, Andy speaks to humanitarian and social entrepreneur Victoria Dunford, founder of MAD-Aid, who is fighting to bring dignity, inclusion, and opportunity to those left behind. From transforming hospitals to changing laws, discover how one woman is ch...

EP 396 - Are supermarkets controlling more than just prices? global food expert Mark Field reveals the hidden secrets of the food industry, exposing how Big Food shapes what we eat, drives up costs, and impacts sustainability. Learn how corporate power influences your choices - and what it means for the future of food. *For Apple Podcast chapters, access them from the menu in the bottom right corn...

EP 395 - Can big business actually change the world or is it all just PR? Andy speaks to Lucy Parker, Senior Advisor at Brunswick and co-author of The Activist Leader, on why CEOs need to stop playing it safe and start thinking like activists. From Gordon Brown’s task force to boardrooms at Maersk and Walmart, Lucy shares how companies can bridge the gap between profit and purpose, and why the fut...

EP 394 - This week Andy meets Bernard Savage who leads professional services business development consultancy - size ten and half boots. We have a wide running chat about how AI means that now, more than ever, professional services firms need to embrace sales. Luckily it’s also going to free up their time to do it. I’m not sure he persuaded Andy that sales wasn’t a dirty word. But we definitely bu...

EP 393 - June's BOB quiz lineup sees Elizabeth Varley from the Department of Business and Trade, Silent Disco Company founder and CEO Toby Burns, and ex-Special Forces author and speaker Sarah Furness tackle topics including climate change, office nap pods, AI-created content, team-building exercises, and mandatory lunch breaks. Strap in! Chapters: 00:00 Introduction to the Business or Bullsh...

EP 392 - This week we meet Sarah Furness, whose self described superpower is being “just enough of a bitch”. If you want to know what she means by that, stop reading and start listening. Sarah was the first female helicopter pilot to lead special forces missions in Iraq. These days she is bringing battlefield hardened insights to business problems, helping leaders to create healthy behaviours and...

EP 391 - This week we are joined by Toby Burns, immersive events pioneer and the man behind Silent Disco. He has some quite spicy things to say about how the UK treats entrepreneurship and flags an innovation that he would love to see the UK copy from China. Yep, we should copy China. You’ll have to listen in to find out how and why. But you will also get some real nuggets of business wisdom (in h...

EP 390 - Something a little different this week. We took BWB on the road to meet James Duckenfield, CEO of Glass Pharm and tour their state of the art facility for growing pharmaceutical grade cannabis. We learnt a lot of fascinating stuff - including that the only way that you are likely to die from cannabis, certainly medical cannabis, is if someone accidentally drops a ton of it on your head. F...

EP 389 - This week we meet Elizabeth Varley. As founder and former CEO of Tech Hub she has played a pivotal role in shaping London’s Tech scene. In her role with the UK Government’s Global Entrepreneur Program she continues to influence our start and scale up business culture today. As you’d expect she has a lot of hot tips for founders, some of which we weren’t expecting. Such as “undergoing ther...

EP 388 - May's quiz round up sees Daniel Priestley and Fernando Sordo Madaleno play the game to see if they think Brexit, Crowdfunding, Lobbying, Client Lunches, Paying for Top Talent and Diversity Quotas and are business or just complete tosh! *For Apple Podcast chapters, access them from the menu in the bottom right corner of your player* Spotify Video Chapters: 00:00 Welcome to Business or Bull...

EP 387 - We’re going back to the future this week with the excellent Akshat Rathi and his optimistic take on climate change. Akshat is a Bloomberg Senior Climate journalist, and the author of Climate Capitalism: Winning The Global Race To Zero Emissions. We spoke to him about his book, and: Why climate solutions investment needs to be made in the developing world and emerging markets to help them...

EP 386 - This week we revisit our chat with Thomas Robson Kanu, who pivoted from a top level premier league and international football career into entrepreneurship, setting up family business the Turmeric Co. Based on a formula that he and his father developed to aid his recovery and pain relief (he was pain free in six weeks of consistent consumption) Thomas is now taking the same drive that fuel...

EP 385 - Our guest this week is Fernando Sordo Madaleno, a third generation architect working in the family firm Sordo Madaleno.  Originally from Mexico City, Fernando is now based in London, spearheading the firm’s expansion as an international architecture studio. As well as discussing life in the family business we had a fascinating chat around architecture, the built environment. Fernando...

EP 384 - This week Daniel Priestley discusses how we build a new role for Britain post Brexit (yes, we dropped the B-Word in 2025). Basically Britain faces a choice between being that, a lapdog for the US or the sixth best Scandinavian country. The way he says it, it makes sense. Particularly when he is talking about how hard it is now to grow a business with “escape velocity” in the UK these days...

EP 383 - Jonathan MacDonald is back on the show and keener than ever to get you interested in Ethical Tech. We discuss why now, more than ever, people need to be given the tools, and moral frameworks to inform their interactions with increasingly opaque technology. How things like social media are seemingly set up to keep us amused, distracted and rob us of our critical thinking faculties and what...

EP 382 - April's quiz round up sees Alex Edmans, Anand Menon and Psyfer play the game to see if they think Brexit, Labour Government, GDPR, Crowdfunding, Lobbying Client Lunches and are business or just complete tosh! *For Apple Podcast chapters, access them from the menu in the bottom right corner of your player* Spotify Video Chapters: 00:00 Is it Business or Bullsh*t? 00:45 Brexit 01:37 Labour...

EP 381 - This week we talk to Alex Edmans about how you make decisions in a world full of misinformation. Alex is a Professor of Finance who has written and spoken extensively about subjects such as ESG (why those three letters don’t belong together) and why cognitive, rather than demographic diversity is a better indicator of business success. He’s managed to do all that without getting cancelled...

EP 380 - This week we're trying a cultural experiment - to start an occasional series called Business Without Baggage that helps people understand the nuances of doing business across different cultures.  To kick us off, we invited accomplished French corporate Lawyer and expert on cultural intelligence Olivier Lopez onto the show.  We asked him to explain the nuances of doing business w...